Tell the National Building Museum: Don’t Reward CAT’s Destruction in Palestine!

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Around the world, Caterpillar has become a symbol of destruction wrought by Israeli occupation forces with its equipment against the Palestinian people. For years, the Israeli military has used Caterpillar bulldozers received courtesy of U.S. taxpayer-dollars to destroy Palestinian homes, uproot olive trees, construct Jewish-only settlements and the Apartheid Wall, and kill and maim unarmed civilians.

That is why we were shocked and disturbed by the National Building Museum’s decision to award CAT next month with a prize for “Innovation in Construction Technology” — awarded annually to recognize “an invention, an innovative methodology, and/or exceptional leadership by an individual or team of individuals in construction technology.”

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and its coalition member groups Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice, Jewish Voice for Peace, CodePink and the Washington Interfaith Alliance for Middle East Peace are teaming up to ask the National Building Museum not to reward CAT’s complicity in human rights abuses!

We need your voice! Please sign this petition — as an individual or an organization — to the National Building Museum today!
please act today!

Click here to tell the National Building Museum not to congratulate CAT’s involvement in the Israeli occupation.

Last week, the parents of Rachel Corrie, a U.S. peace activist who was crushed to death by Israeli soldiers operating a weaponized Caterpillar D9-R bulldozer, sent this letter (PDF) to the National Building Museum expressing their concerns. They requested a response but have not received a reply. That the museum chose to present this award in the midst of the Corries’ civil trial in Israel seeking justice for their daughter’s killing only adds insult to injury.

Let’s send a strong message to the museum that even the most gifted and innovative builders must meet their obligations as responsible global citizens. Let’s take another step to demand that Caterpillar does not continue to provide equipment to be used for Israel’s illegal, immoral, and destructive policies in Palestine.