Quote of note:

Although the Caterpillar resolution is not expected to pass, supporters hope to get at least 6% of the vote; that would allow them to reintroduce it next year and continue their advocacy against the demolition of Palestinian homes.

Supporters of the shareholder resolution include two major Protestant denominations, the 3.6-million-member Presbyterian Church USA, and the 8.4-million-member United Methodist Church.

Jews Target Caterpillar Shareholder Effort
Divesting stock because of Israeli bulldozing of Palestinian homes is unfair, some leaders say.
By Teresa Watanabe
Times Staff Writer
April 13, 2005

Targeting a Caterpillar Inc. shareholder resolution set for a vote today, many California Jewish leaders are intensely mobilizing against efforts to use stock market pressure as a tool against Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

California Jews representing such organizations as the American Jewish Congress and StandWithUs plan to attend a meeting at Caterpillar Inc.'s corporate headquarters in Peoria, Ill., to speak out today against a shareholder resolution that would direct the firm to investigate the use of its bulldozers by the Israeli army to demolish Palestinian homes.

The resolution, brought by four Roman Catholic orders of nuns and the Berkeley-based group Jewish Voices for Peace, says that Israel has used the bulldozers to destroy thousands of homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It asks for an investigation into whether such use conformed with the company's code of business conduct.

Several Jewish organizations are leading a counter-campaign against the resolution, which they see as part of a broader movement that unfairly singles out Israel for economic pressure without holding Palestinians accountable for terrorism and other actions that have stymied the peace process.