Unlucky for some? Caterpillar Board Member to Address Washington Uni Class of '13

From the Rachel Corrie Foundation website:

Dear Graduates of 2013 and Mr. Jon Huntsman,

Congratulations to the UW graduating class of 2013! We – your fellow students, faculty, alumni, and members of the greater Seattle community – write to recognize your achievement but, also, to share with you and with commencement speaker, Jon Huntsman, our serious concerns about Mr. Huntsman’s connection to Caterpillar Inc. and to human rights abuses in Palestine/Israel.

The University of Washington has invited Jon Huntsman to give the Commencement keynote address that will set the tone for graduates’ first steps into their post-university lives. We know Mr. Huntsman most recently as one of the 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls. But in addition to a long and prestigious career in American politics, Jon Huntsman serves on the board of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), an American firm that manufactures and distributes bulldozers and civil engineering tools. The CAT logo has become ubiquitous on most construction sites around the country. Most students are not familiar with CAT bulldozers that are part of the daily lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

For decades, CAT has sold specially militarized equipment to the Government of Israel used in the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes, the death and injury of unarmed Palestinian and international civilians, the uprooting of olive trees and destruction of agricultural land, and the expropriation of Palestinian territory through the construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements and a separation-annexation wall. Amnesty International, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch have all reported on and denounced Israel’s breaches of international humanitarian law and CAT’s complicity in human rights violations. The CAT brand and its bulldozers have become a symbol of destruction in Palestine.

CAT’s responses to this overwhelming evidence have been inadequate and contrary to its own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct. CEO Doug Oberhelman has said, “How our customers use [the bulldozers] is their business. We can’t stop them.” But CAT designs the bulldozers to be weaponized. CAT has a choice. The corporation has a moral and legal responsibility to cease sales of CAT equipment used in a clear pattern of human rights abuses by the Israeli government and military.

In 2003, Rachel Corrie, a nonviolent human rights activist and observer, and Washington State resident, was killed by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer (operated by an Israeli soldier) as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip. A student at The Evergreen State College, Rachel did not live to attend her own graduation in June 2003. Numerous Palestinian civilians have also been killed when their homes were collapsed upon them by D9s. So, on the occasion of this UW Commencement, we ask both Mr. Huntsman and the graduating class to address the continuing harm caused by Caterpillar’s machines in Palestine.

We request that Jon Huntsman meet with UW representatives and the Corrie family to learn about the concerns of the Washington State and UW communities and to convey these to fellow Caterpillar Inc. board members. We are eager to share the profound impact the company could have by suspending sales to the Israeli military—implementing due diligence in their sales to any customer, until guarantees are received that their equipment will not be used to violate international law or commit human rights abuses.

To the Class of 2013 Graduates, again, our congratulations! Please use this momentous occasion in your lives to join us in encouraging Jon Huntsman to do the right thing! For more information on how to help, go to www.superuw.org. Find us on twitter at #uwCATfree.

Sources:
News on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Report, 2004: Link Here.
Amnesty International Report, 2004: Link Here.
Human Rights Watch Report, 2010: Link Here.
The Presbyterian Church USA Mission Responsibility Through Investing (MRTI)Committee Report, 2011: Link Here.

Signed,

1. Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER UW)
2. The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
3. Rabbi Alana Alpert
4. Amnesty International, UW
5. BDS-LA for Justice in Palestine
6. Boycott from Within, Israeli citizens for BDS
7. Chico Palestine Action Group
8. Cindy & Craig Corrie
9. CodePink, Seattle
10. CodePink, Taos
11. Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
12. Community & Middle East Peace Builders, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Washington
13. Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice, Tennessee
14. Fellowship of Reconciliation, USA
15. Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
16. For a Democratic University, UW
17. Friends of Sabeel, North America
18. 14 Friends of Palestine
19. Free Palestine Movement, Northern California
20. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
21. Grassroots International
22. Tim Harris, Founder of Real Change
23. Hilton Head for Peace, Hilton Head, South Carolina
24. Rabbi Margaret Holub 
25. Interfaith Peace-Builders, Washington, DC
26. Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, USA
27. International Solidarity Movement, Northern California
28. Jewish Voice for Peace, National
29. Jewish Voice for Peace, Seattle
30. Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland
31. Jewish Voice for Peace, Tacoma
32. Lutherans For Justice in the Holy Land, Central Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon
33. MidEast JustPeace, Traverse City, Michigan
34. Mideast Solidarity Project, Olympia
35. Rabbi David Mivasair
36. Monica Mendoza Castrejon, External Chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MEChA UW), Class of 2015
37. Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility, United Church of Christ, Tennessee
38. New Profile, Israel
39. New Yorkers Against the Cornell-Technion Partnership (NYACT)
40. The Northwest Regional BDS Coalition
41. Olympia BDS
42. The Palestine Concerns Task Force, Seattle
43. The Palestine-Israel Working Group of Nevada County, California
44. Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
45. Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Seattle
46. Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
47. TESC Divest, The Evergreen State College
48. United Methodist Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel of the Upper New York Conference
49. University of Denver Students for Justice in Palestine
50. Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
51. UW International Socialist Organization
52. Vancouver for Peace, Vancouver, Washington
53. Voices for Palestine, Seattle
54. Rabbi Alissa Wise
55. Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation

Faculty:

1. Philip L. Bereano, Emeritus professor, College of Engineering
2. Dan Berger, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
3. David Citrin, Department of Anthropology
4. Rachel R. Chapman, Department of Anthropology
5. Eva Cherniavsky, Department of English
6. Kate Cummings, Department of English
7. Karam Dana, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
8. James Barrett DeLong, School of Social Work
9. Raya Fidel, The Information School
10. Abraham D. Flaxman, Department of Global Health
11. Tom Foster, Department of English
12. Amy Hagopian, Global Health & Department of Health Sciences
13. Tracy W. Harachi, School of Social Work and Dept. of Global Health
14. Gillian Harkins, Department of English
15. Michael Honey, Haley Professor of Humanities, UW Tacoma
16. Moon-Ho Jung, Department of History
17. Aaron Katz, Health Services and Global Health School of Public Health
18. Danuta (Danka) Kasprzyk, Department of Global Health
19. Steve Leigh, Fiscal Specialist, Dept. of Biostatistics
20. Jamie Mayerfeld, Department of Political Science
21. Mary Anne Mercer, Departments of Global Health and Health Services
22. Diane M. Morrison, Director of Social Welfare Doctoral Program University of Washington School of Social Work
23. Devon G. Peña, 2013 NACCS Scholar, American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, Program on the Environment
24. Michael Vicente Perez, Department of Anthropology
25. Chandan Reddy, Department of English
26. Sonnet Retman, American Ethnic Studies
27. Laurie Sears, Department of History
28. Clarence Spigner, School of Public Health
29. Sundar Srinivasan, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; Mechanical Engineering
30. Helene Starks, Department of Bioethics and Humanities
31. Amoshaun Toft, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
32. Jonathan Warren, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
33. Scott Winn, School of Social Work
34. Robert Wood, Atmospheric Sciences

Alumni:

1. Danielle Abbott, MSW, Class of 2005
2. Linda Bevis, JD School of Law, MA International Studies, Class of 1990; MA of Education, Class of 1996
3. Jean Darsie, BS Mathematics, Class of 1960
4. Selma Al-Aswad Dillsi, MSW, Class of 2010
5. Stefanie Fox, MA Public Health, Class of 2007
6. Aditya Ganapathiraju, BA Psychology; BA Philosophy, Dean’s Medalist in Social Sciences, Class of 2010
7. Naomi Goldenson, MS Atmospheric Sciences, Class of 2012
8. Geraldine Haynes, BS Nursing, 1964
9. Sarah Hartzell, MSW, Class of 2010
10. Shima Houshyar, BA Political Science and French, Class of 2011
11. Hanady Kader, BA Political Science, Class of 2007
12. Susan Koppelman, MSW, Class of 2005
13. Marc Krasnowsky, BA English, Class of 2001
14. Zarah Kushner, DNP 2012, MN 2010
15. Eden Lord, MSW, Class of 2011
16. Gita Mehrotra, PhD Social Welfare, Class of 2012
17. Vicky Kathleen Morris, MA English, 1970
18. Lawrence Mosqueda, MA Political Science, Class of 1973
19. Nathaniel Shara, MSW, Class of 2008
20. Wendy Somerson, PhD English, Class of 1999
21. Meghan Storms, MSW, Class of 2011
22. Yecelica Jaime Valdivia, BA with College Honors Anthropology; BA with College
    Honors Women Studies, Class of 2009
23. Tiffany Woelfel, BS Psychology; BA Spanish, Class of 2004
24. Sylas Wright, MSW, Class of 2013

Follow Rachel Corrie Foundation on Twitter.

Rachel Corrie then Furkan Dogan, who's next?

This is from Alex Kane of Mondoweiss:

The deference to Israel “happened with Rachel Corrie. This happened with Furkan Dogan. And unfortunately from what we’re seeing, this might happen again, because the U.S. is not taking the safety of its citizens seriously,” said the CCR’s Lee.

Of course it's no worse that Israel kills Americans with impunity but when the US defers to Israel over the killing of its own citizens what chance do others have?

IMEU radio discussion with Rachel Corrie's parents

From IMEU

On Tuesday morning local time, an Israeli court dismissed a civil suit filed against the government by the parents of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer while trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes in Gaza in 2003. The suit accused the State of Israel of being responsible for the 23-year-old’s death and of failing to conduct a proper investigation, the latter charge supported by the US Ambassador to Israel, who was recently quoted saying that Israel’s efforts to investigate Rachel’s death weren’t credible. Following the verdict, the Corrie family and human rights advocates criticized the decision, which the Corries’ lawyer said they were considering appealing.

Join us as we discuss the verdict with Cindy and Craig Corrie, and what comes next in their seven-year long legal struggle to find answers in their daughter’s death. Corrie family lawyer Hussein Abu Hussein may also join the call if his schedule allows.

WHEN: Wednesday, August 29, 2012, at 11:30 AM ET.

GUESTS:

Cindy and Craig Corrie, Rachel’s parents and founders of the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.

LISTEN live by calling (347) 989-8355 or by visiting: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/imeu/2012/08/29/rachel-corries-parents-discuss-israeli-civil-suit-verdict

QUESTIONS may be posed live via telephone by pressing 1 during the call to be placed in the queue, by live chat on the press briefing Web page, or via Twitter by including @theIMEU in your tweet with your question.

IF YOU MISS THE CALL, the discussion will be archived at the link above or you can find it by visiting the IMEU at www.imeu.net. 

CONTACT: For quick access to sources in the US, Israel, and Palestine, for this and other developing stories contact Chris at (202) 903-3271 orchris@imeu.net, or Samer at (202) 615-2393 or samer@imeu.net. For a Palestine-based IMEU representative contact Diana at +972-547-559-734 ordiana@imeu.net, or Vivien at +972-597-220-838 or vivien@imeu.net.

* * * * * *

NONVIOLENT FOREIGN ACTIVISTS & OTHERS INJURED & KILLED BY THE ISRAELI MILITARY

In addition to the many unarmed Palestinian demonstrators injured or killed while protesting against the theft of their land and resources by Israel, a number of internationals, including Americans, have been seriously wounded or killed by Israeli forces while participating in or covering nonviolent protests. The following is a partial list of nonviolent foreign activists and others who have been seriously injured or killed by Israeli forces in recent years.

May 15, 2011 - 22-year-old Palestinian-American student Munib Masri is shot in the back with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers along the Lebanon border while he participates in a march to mark the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes during the establishment of Israel. The bullet destroys Masri's left kidney and spleen and broke apart in his spine. He remains in a wheelchair.

May 1, 2011 – 60-year-old American citizen Sandra Quintano suffers two broken wrists and a laceration to her head after being assaulted by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Izbet al-Tabib during a peaceful demonstration against the construction of Israel’s wall, which will cut off villagers' access to their land.

June 2010 - At a demonstration at the Qalandiya checkpoint in the occupied West Bank in 2010, 21-year-old American artist and student Emily Henochowicz is hit in the face by a tear gas canister fired by Israeli border police. The force of the impact fractures her jaw and orbital bone and causes the loss of her left eye.

May 2010 – American citizen Furkan Dogan is shot and killed by Israeli commandos who forcibly commandeer the boat he’s traveling on in international waters as part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla. Dogan is shot multiple times in his leg, foot, back, and twice to the head. A United Nations investigation concludes that he and five of the other victims have been shot “execution-style” at close range, finding that Furkan had been shot in the face after “lying on the deck in a conscious or semi-conscious, state for some time.”

March 2009 - Oakland native and nonviolent International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist Tristan Anderson is shot in the face with a high-velocity tear-gas canister by Israeli forces while participating in a demonstration against a section of the wall Israel is building on land belonging to the town of Ni’lin in the occupied West Bank. Anderson suffers multiple fractures to his skull, a severe injury to the frontal lobe of his brain, and a collapsed eye socket, causing him to lose sight in his right eye. He spends more than a year in a Tel Aviv hospital recovering before returning to the US, where he continues to suffer the effects of his injury and is confined to a wheelchair.

May 2003 - British cameraman James Miler is shot and killed by Israeli troops while filming in Gaza. According to witnesses, there is no other shooting or violenct activity in the area at the time Miller is killed.

April 11, 2003 - A week after American ISM member Brian Avery is shot in the face and seriously wounded by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, British ISM member Tom Hurndall is shot in the head by Israeli soldiers in Gaza while he attempts to help a group of Palestinian children to safety after Israeli soldiers began shooting in the vicinity. After nearly a year in a coma, Hurndall dies in January 2004. Following pressure from the British government and Hurndall's family, the Israeli army laid charges of manslaughter against a soldier who confessed to the shooting. However critics says the soldier, who is a Bedouin Arab, is a scapegoat for a series of violent attacks on foreign activists by Israeli soldiers.

April 5, 2003 – American citizen and ISM volunteer Brian Avery is shot in the face by Israeli soldiers in the city of Jenin in the West Bank. Lucky to survive, Avery undergoes a series of facial reconstruction surgeries and suffers severe facial scarring. After initially refusing to investigate the incident, the Israeli government subsequently agrees to an out of court settlement paying Avery $175,000.

March 16, 2003 - 23-year-old Washington State native and ISM volunteer Rachel Corrie is run over and killed by an Israeli military bulldozer while trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes in the town of Rafah in Gaza.

Divest from Caterpillar call follows bogus verdict in Rachel Corrie case

Just got this email from We Divest:

August 28, 2012

Press Contact:
Alissa Wise, National Coordinator, We Divest Campaign
info@wedivest.org
267-357-4314

Human Rights Advocates Intensify Call for Divestment as Israeli Court Fails to Provide Justice in Killing of American Peace Activist 

The We Divest Campaign, a national coalition demanding pension fund giant TIAA-CREF divest from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands, is intensifying its call for divestment from Caterpillar Inc. in the wake of an Israeli court ruling today siding with the government in the civil court case brought by the Corrie family. The case alleged that the State of Israel was responsible for the killing of 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed to death by a Caterpillar bulldozer as she attempted to use nonviolent civil disobedience to stop the destruction of Palestinian homes by the Israeli army in Gaza in March 2003. The court’s decision followed an Israeli investigation that the US ambassador to Israel recently criticized as lacking credibility.

In a series of actions timed to coincide with the issuing of the verdict, human rights advocates in cities across the US will protest in front of local TIAA-CREF offices this week and deliver a letter urging trustees to divest fully from Caterpillar and other companies that profit from Israeli human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories. The We Divest Campaign is supported by the Corrie family and the Rachel Corrie Foundation.

“At the time of her death, Rachel was trying to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes by Caterpillar bulldozers,” said Riham Barghouti, a member of the We Divest National Coordinating Committee. “Israel’s illegal policy of destroying Palestinian homes in the occupied territories, sometimes extending to entire villages, remains as urgent an issue today as it was when Rachel was killed. In Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and Hebron Hills, Palestinians continue to live with the daily threat of their homes and property being confiscated or demolished by Israeli authorities. If TIAA-CREF trustees want to live up to their motto of investing ‘for the greater good,’ they must stop profiting from companies such as Caterpillar that are enabling Israel to carry out such gross human rights violations.”

While TIAA-CREF recently dropped $72 million worth of Caterpillar shares from its social choice funds, following the lead of ethical investment ratings agency MSCI, which downgraded Caterpillar in February in part over concerns about the use of the company’s products by the Israeli military, it continues to invest over $1 billion in Caterpillar through its general fund. 

_______________________________________________________________________

The We Divest Campaign is a national coalition initiated byJewish Voice for Peace in July 2010 and includes the American Friends Service Committee, Adalah-NY,Grassroots International, the US Palestinian Community Network, and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

 Nothing to add

Rachel Corrie's alma mater urges divestment from Israel

This is from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:

(JTA) -- The student body of Rachel Corrie's alma mater voted to urge the college to divest from companies that supply equipment to Israel's military.

The student body at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. passed two resolutions. The first, which passed with nearly 80 percent of the vote, "calls for The Evergreen State College Foundation to divest from companies that profit from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine, as part of instituting a socially responsible investment policy." The second resolution, which passed with nearly 72 percent of the vote, "calls on the College to ban the use of Caterpillar, Inc. equipment from campus."

Student divestment bills did not pass in recent months at the University of California, San Diego and the University of California, Berkeley. At those universities, however, the bills were voted on by the student governments, whereas the Evergreen bill was voted on by the entire student body. In any case, the vote does not carry any actual authority; it merely urges the college do divest.

A Caterpillar bulldozer ran over and killed Corrie in 2003 in Gaza as she blocked a Palestinian house set for demolition with her body.

But what did Israel say?

Israeli authorities said the killing was accidental.

But no one believes them.

The website of The Evergreen State College divestment campaign is here.

Has Israel tried to crush Rachel Corrie again?

Oh how they try. The Daily Telegraph, (aka the Torygraph), once the most pro-zio newspaper in the UK, is running a report that Israel has sabotaged communications systems on the Rachel Corrie ship bound for Gaza.

The cargo ship, laden with building supplies, cement, medical and educational equipment and wheelchairs as well as Irish and Malaysian activists, set off on Saturday despite warnings from Israel that it would halt any attempt to break the blockade.

On Monday nine people were killed when Israeli commandos boarded the Turkish-registered Mavi Marmara, which was part of a flotilla of six ships attempting to dock at Gaza.

Named after a 23-year-old American activist who was crushed to death by a bulldozer during a protest in Gaza in 2003, the Rachel Corrie was nearing the coast when the systems went down.

Those on board include Mairead Corrigan Maguire, the Nobel Peace laureate and founder of the Northern Ireland Peace People and Denis Halliday, a retired Irish diplomat who was once United Nations assistant secretary-general.

Audrey Bomse of the Free Gaza Movement said: “The situation is we lost all contact with the boat.

“We assume this was sabotage by the Israelis.”

She went on: “As a result of these threats, we're going to pull Rachel Corrie into a port, add more high-profile people on board, and insist that journalists from around the world also come with us.

“We're hoping communications get turned back on so we can inform them of the decision.”

It is thought organisers are considering sending another boat alongside the Rachel Corrie if communications are not restored.

So will Israel try to crush Rachel Corrie again? Their star will fall further if they do.....and if they don't.