Homeruns Not Home Demolitions

For Immediate Release

S.F. Giants’s Owner Profiting from Caterpillar’s Human Rights Violations

JOINING A WAVE OF INTERNATIONAL PROTESTS OF CATERPILLAR, CONCERNED COMMUNITY MEMBERS DEMAND THAT MAGOWAN: “STICK TO HOMERUNS NOT HOME DEMOLITIONS”

San Francisco. In observance of the International Day of Action Against Caterpillar Inc., concerned community members gathered at 7 A.M. and marched from Bush St. and Van Ness avenue to San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan’s home in Pacific Heights to protest his refusal as a member of Caterpillar Inc.’s Board of Directors to take steps to end or even investigate Caterpillar’s sales to the Israeli military – in violation of Caterpillar’s Code of Worldwide Business Conduct. “The American public needs to know about this and take action to stop these atrocities,” explained Maherah Silmi in advance of the action, a Palestinian-American member of the San Francisco Chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. “American-made bulldozers bought by Israel with U.S. taxpayer’s money are destroying the livelihood of Palestinians by demolishing their homes and razing their farmland.”

The marchers carried signs and banners all designed to draw attention to Caterpillar's destructive role in Palestine, and Peter Magowan's role on the Caterpillar Board. They chanted "The Mid East War will never cease while Caterpillars Bulldoze Peace!; Peter Magowan Here's our decision! Stick to Home Runs and Not Home demolitions!; 1,2,3,4, We won't Pay for Israel's War! 5,6,7,8 We Will Not Cooperate!" among many other chants.

Posh Pacific Heights does not see many demonstrations and joggers and people walking their dogs stopped in surprise as the marchers made their way to the Magowans’ home. A Stop Caterpillar sign was hung on the Magowan front gate, and the street theater began. A man very ably wielding a large cardboard Caterpillar bulldozer and wearing an Israeli Occupation Force helmet hectored and bullied a frightened woman eventually bulldozing her cardboard home to the boos of onlookers. Participants fanned out to the park across the street and passed out leaflets to passing motorists and pedestrians. Using a bullhorn, speakers from Jewish Voice for Peace, SUSTAIN, The International Solidarity Movement, Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice and Students for Justice in Palestine all decried Peter Magowan's role on the Board of Caterpillar. A disgruntled Giants fan suggested that maybe the team would not be tanking this year if he concentrated on smashing the Dodgers, not family homes.

Several speakers noted that on April 14, 2004, shareholders brought a resolution to Caterpillar’s annual meeting calling for an investigation of the company’s role in the violation of human rights in the Palestinian occupied territories. However, Magowan, along with his fellow board members, recommended a ‘no’ vote on the resolution.

The Jewish Voice for Peace speaker presented the STOP CATERPILLAR COALITION'S demands of Peter Magowan:

1.Meet with representatives of local Palestine solidarity groups and groups working for a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

2.Issue a public statement condemning Israel’s use of Caterpillar equipment to commit war crimes: the demolition of Palestinian homes, the destruction of orchards, and the killing of innocent civilians, including Palestinians and Rachel Corrie.

3.Support (or remain neutral on) the shareholder resolution when it is brought back next year.

4.Write to your fellow Caterpillar directors in support of a halt in sales to the Israeli military. 

 

Peter Magowan did not appear to be at home , so a copy of the demands were left at his gate. After 45 minutes or so, the group returned the way that they came, chanting, singing and passing out leaflets the entire time. This was definitely a break in the normal routine of Pacific Heights residents, and hopefully an eye opener too on business practices of their neighbor and local business icon, Peter Magowan. The police made a brief appearance at one point, but due to the peaceful nature of the protesters, had no reason to intervene or interfere. 

 

The Bay Area Stop Caterpillar Coalition is just one of many groups throughout the country honoring the International Day of Action Against Caterpillar In Peoria, IL, the parents of slain peace activist Rachel Corrie joined demonstrators at Caterpillar headquarters and demanded to meet with CEO James Owens, despite his refusal of their request for an appointment. On this day, activists and community members across the country are demanding that Caterpillar end all contracts with the Israeli military and make a public statement explaining this action.

Caterpillar sells bulldozers to the Israeli military through the US Foreign Military Sales Program, which forbids use of weapons to target civilians. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, since 1967, Israel has destroyed over 10,000 Palestinian homes, leaving an estimated 50,000 men, women and children homeless. Caterpillar bulldozers have crushed Palestinian civilians to death in their homes and a Cat D-9 crushed American peace activist Rachel Corrie to death as she tried to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist Dr. Samir Nasrallah and his family from demolition. Today, concerned community members will protest to bring attention to the highly destructive role that the Caterpillar corporation plays in the illegal Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Palestine and the responsibility that Caterpillar and its Directors has to end their support for Israel’s attacks on Palestinian communities.

In a recent letter to the Caterpillar CEO, Rachel Corrie’s parents wrote, “It is widely known and documented that Caterpillar bulldozers are used on a regular basis by the Israeli army to destroy Palestinian homes, to uproot olive trees and raze farmland, to build illegal Israeli settlements in the West bank and Gaza, and to construct the separation barriers that Israel is erecting within the West bank and on the Rafah border with Egypt. In fact, the bulldozer has become a symbol of the Israeli occupation.” The separation barrier, or Apartheid Wall as Palestinians refer to it, that Caterpillar is helping to construct in the West Bank does nothing to increase security for Israeli citizens, but rather will enable Israel to annex over half of the West Bank, including prime Palestinian agricultural land and water aquifers, increasing the destitution of already impoverished Palestinians. Israel’s attacks on Palestinian communities using Caterpillar equipment are illegal under international law specifically violating the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Rome Statute of the International Court and the Hague Conventions. 

 

On April 21st, members of the group organizing this action passed out 2000 fliers to Giants fans before the game, urging them to call Peter Magowan and tell him to “Stick to homeruns, not home demolitions and to smash the dodgers, not Palestinian family homes” by using his role on Caterpillar’s Board of Directors to sever the company’s ties with the Israeli military. 

 

Who Members of: Jewish Voice for Peace (www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org), SUSTAIN (Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now; www.sustaincampaign.org), American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC-SF, www.adcsf.org), The Northern California Support Group of the International Solidarity Movement (www.palsolidarity.org), Bay Area Labor Committee for Peace and Justice, and Global Exchange

More Information is available at www.stopcat.org and www.catdestroyshomes.org