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LOCAL Announcement :: Protest Activity

Support needed for Caterpillar action Friday!!!

CALLING ON ALL SUPPORTERS OF PEACE, JUSTICE & HUMAN RIGHTS TO JOIN WITH US AND TAKE A ONE-DAY ROAD TRIP FOR JUSTICE ON A23!
Because Palestinian homes, olive groves and lives continue to be uprooted, displaced, destroyed and in many cases lost forever; and because the U.S.
government and corporations such as Caterpillar are complicit in these illegal and immoral actions; and because there is no more time to waste; and because there IS such a thing as too late; NOW is the time for each of us to put our principles into action and GET ON THE BUS TO PEORIA! This coming Friday, April 23, is the kick-off of an international campaign to demand that the Caterpillar Corporation cease its sales of armored bulldozers to the Israeli Government until such time as they come into compliance with various U.N. resolutions and principles of International Law and basic human rights and STOP using this equipment for punitive and destructive purposes.

People are traveling to Peoria by bus, car caravan and airplane from locations such as Los Angeles, Boston, Louisville, Detroit, DC, St. Louis, and Ohio. Buses are also leaving from Chicago and there are PLENTY of seats remaining. Buses leave from State Street and East 13th Street (one block south of Roosevelt/State) at 8:00am and return to the same location around 7pm. Lunch will be provided by Peoria and Chicago chapters of Food Not Bombs but there are also plenty of convenience stores and restaurants in the vicinity of the rally and march. Cost for the bus tickets are $0-20, whatever you can afford, no one will be turned away for lack of funds, we’d rather have you on the bus and in Peoria than not. Because the action is less than 3 days away and we still have PLENTY of seats remaining it is not necessary for you to buy the tickets in advance. Just show up at 8am and we’ll have a seat for you regardless of whether or not you can pay for it.

THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE DESPARATELY NEED YOUR SUPPORT SO PLEASE GET ON THE BUS!!!!

According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) more than 10,000 Palestinian homes have been destroyed by Israel, most using Caterpillar equipment (this is a very conservative estimate). Civilian home demolition is a crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which Israel has signed. Home demolitions since 1967 have left more than 50,000 people homeless. Since the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, Israel has razed the homes of 12,737 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the past two years the Israeli army deployed Caterpillar bulldozers to uproot 200,000 Palestinian olive trees. In April 2002 Caterpillar D9s demolished an entire neighborhood in the Jenin refugee camp.
Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist, was murdered by a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer on March 16, 2003 as she nonviolently tried to prevent it from destroying a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip. Caterpillar also profits from Israel's construction of a 25 feet high wall and fence that will confiscate approximately 40 percent of the West Bank under the guise of enhancing Israeli security. The wall separates Palestinians from their farmlands and cuts some villages off from the rest of the West Bank, rendering as many as 100,000 people completely isolated. Construction of the wall and the continued abuses of Palestinian human rights have been condemned throughout the world. Only in the U.S. is there such a division on this issue but as March 20 proved there is increasing support for the Palestinian cause in this country among both the peace and justice community AND among the public-at-large.

Caterpillar management is guilty of aiding these crimes, continuing to sell equipment for which the main purpose is home demolition. Join us on April 23rd for a legal, non-violent action to demand Caterpillar management end all sales to Israel until these gross human rights violations end.

At noon we will rally in downtown Peoria with a short list of about 8-10 speakers and musical performances from David Rovics and others. At 2pm we will march to CAT headquarters and demand that CEO James Owens meet with our delegation consisting of members of the Palestinian community as well as Craig and Cindy Corrie, the parents of Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old humanitarian volunteer murdered by a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer while attempting to prevent the demolition of a home belonging to a Palestinian doctor in the Rafah District of Gaza. While the delegation is inside meeting with CAT management we will form a massive picket line around CAT headquarters and there will also be street theater reenactments of home demolitions and the murder of Rachel Corrie. When the delegation emerges from CAT headquarters we will adjourn to a nearby rally site for a full report of the meeting. The event should end by about 4pm and then we’ll return to wherever it is that we came from to continue the struggle from our respective locations.

Flier with Caterpillar FAQ: www.stopcat.org/stopcat_A23_full.pdf
Arabic flier: www.stopcat.org/stopcat_Arabic.pdf
For more information, please visit www.stopcat.org

Stand up for Palestinian human rights!
Help end illegal home demolitions and all forms of collective punishment in Palestine!
Demand CAT CEO James Owens meet with our delegation!
Demand a fair contract for CAT workers!
 
 

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