Actions archive

5 Apr 2004

stop the silence - START THE NOISE

A small but dedicated group of activists braved the rain today to shed light on the activities of Israeli arms manufacturer, Rafael. A noise demonstration was held despite police interference, involving the movement of activists into a pen across the street from their target, and one temporary arrest.

Today is significant because it marks the anniversary of the shooting of Brian Avery, an international observer who worked with the International Solidarity Movement.

The activists were present to show their support and solidarity with Palestinians and to target Rafael as an active suppressor of Palestinian livelihood. Rafael, the 43rd largest arms producer in the world, with annual sales of about $680 million, routinely tests its weapons on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians.

Aside from outfitting the Israeli army, Rafael also sells missiles to the United States, Turkey, Australia, South Korea and India, amongst others.

The decision to target Rafael was also taken because the activists learned that the landlord, following earlier protests, has threatened to terminate Rafael’s lease if there is any more trouble.

20 Mar 2004

anti-war demo London

ISM London used the opportunity of the anti-war demo on the 20th March to protest the Murder of Rachel Corrie by the Israeli Occupation Forces in Rafah on the 16th March, 2003. Rachel was crushed to death while trying to stop the illegal demolition of a Palestinian home by an Israeli army bulldozer made by Caterpillar.

16 Mar 2004

Caterpillar Targeted in Memory of Rachel Corrie

To honour Rachel Corrie, the US activist crushed to death by a D9 Caterpillar-made Israeli military bulldozer a year ago today, protesters intend to occupy Caterpillar Defence Industries in Shrewsbury, leaflet and dialogue with workers on the impact of their work, and grind production lines to a halt for a 3 minute silence in honour of Rachel’s life and the 2,859 Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation since the 28th of September 2000. Most of the Protestors have lived in Occupied Palestine with Palestinian families, and witnessed first hand the destruction of homes, olive trees, and lives by Caterpillar bulldozers. Some have felt the violence of the Israeli Occupation on their own bodies and seen friends, including children, shot to death by the Israeli army. Caterpillar is complicit with and aids these war crimes by supplying military equipment to the Israeli army.

Since 1967 Israel has used Caterpillar bulldozers to demolish nearly 9,000 Palestinian homes, leaving more than 50,000 people homeless. Since September 2000, Israel has razed 12,737 homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the past two years Caterpillar D9s demolished an entire neighbourhood in Jenin refugee camp and uprooted 200,000 Palestinian olive trees.

23-year-old American Peace Activist Rachel Corrie, was killed 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 profits from Israel’s construction of the 25 foot high Security Barrier (aka The Apartheid Wall) 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.

Protestors will remain in occupation until they have met the Director or Caterpillar Defence Industries where they will call on Caterpillar to respect human rights and international Human Rights law by terminating its supply contract with the Israeli Government.

20 Sep 2003

Street theatre in Trafalgar Square

 

The action was on Saturday near Trafalgar Square and with mix of ISM’ers, PSC and the Intifada group...
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16 Aug 2003

DSEi warm-up: Caterkillar HQ protest

Activists from Birmingham staged a roof-top protest at the headquarters of Caterpillar (UK), in Desford, near Leicester this morning. The action was in protest at the sale of Caterpillar D9 armoured bulldozers to Israel, and to highlight Caterpillar’s presence at the DSEi arms fair in London next week...
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16 Aug 2003

CATerpillar ‘Die-in’ protest in Brighton

 

ISM Brighton staged another action against CATerpillar on Sat 16th August. Activists staged a die-in outside Barrats Shoes, a shop supplying CATerpillar products, and handed out leaflets to passers by asking them not to shop there until they ceased trading with CAT. Activists held up a banner proclaiming ‘CATerkiller–Demolishing Palestine, Demolishing Peace’. The ISM had sent letters to all shops selling CAT goods in Brighton explaining CAT’s role in the occupation and asking them not to sell CAT product. The action was part of a concerted campaign in Brighton to alert consumers to CAT’s unethical sales policy.

15 Jul 2003

Report from anti-Sharon protest in London

Many thousands of people gathered outside Downing Street, London to protest against the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who was invited into the home of liar Blair..
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1 Jul 2003

Activists Occupy Caterpillar Stand at UK Trade Fair


Photo ISM UK - Josie

On 25 June, seven members of the International Solidarity Movement from Brighton and Birmingham staged a protest at the Caterpillar/Finning(UK) stand at the Hillhead 2003 “quarrying and recycling” trade fair, near Buxton in Derbyshire. Four of the protesters climbed onto the scoops of two Caterpillar bulldozers displayed outside the stand and unfurled a banner, reading: “Caterkiller–demolishing Palestine–demolishing peace”...
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5 Jun 2003

International Day of Action for Justice In Palestine

‘I am Tom Hurndall’ International Day of Action for Justice In Palestine June 5th 2003. The International Solidarity Movement, Jews for Justice for Palestinians and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign will be holding a vigil outside Downing Street from 5:30pm on Thursday June 5th (anniversary of 36 years of occupation). There will be a procession to Parliament Square
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5 Apr 2003

Caterpillar Action Brighton

 

Saturday 5th April will be an exciting day in Brighton. The day will start with a Caterpillar action organized by the International solidarity movement in memory of Rachael Corrie an american national who was Murdered by Israeli defence forces about two weeks ago. this action wil involve about twenty people wearing Israeli army uniforms and an imitation Cat bulldozer, doing various peaceful actions outside shops in Brighton that sell Caterpillar products. Basically a form of street theatre & protest.

Following this at 2pm at the Cornerstone community centre (next to Palmeira square) will be a presentation from four Brighton people who have returned from different parts of Palestine within the past two weeks, these people stayed in different parts of Palestine and witnessed various human rights abuses whilst their. Also their will be a guest speaker from the I.S.M London, who can explain about the I.S.M and answer questions from people wishing to help in Palestine. Following this may be a short film. Both of these events are on a donation basis.

15 Mar 2003

If you would like to go along to the BIG boycott action (also in Camden) then meet in the same place and one of the BIG organisers will provide more details.

Activists ‘GIVE CATERPILLAR THE BOOT’ in Camden Shoe Shops...

On Saturday 15th of March at 1pm, around 20 activists in hard hats will issue notices of demolition to Camden shoe shops that sell Caterpillar boots. The shops will be fly-posted with images of the destruction caused by Caterpillar bulldozers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. A giant Caterpillar bulldozer will be on hand to enforce the demolition notices.

Caterpillar has become a central target of boycott campaigners because of its role as Israel’s primary supplier of bulldozers–one of the most destructive weapons in the arsenal of the illegal Israeli occupation. This machinery is used to demolish Palestinian homes, public buildings, olive trees and crops1. More recently Caterpillar digging equipment is being used to construct Israel’s “security fence” (also known as the Apartheid Wall) on Palestinian land inside the West Bank.

This demonstration coincides with the announcement by Israel of the planned demolition of the entire Palestinian village of Al-Daba in the Qalqilya district2. The village consists of 250 Palestinians living in 42 houses. Sixty tonne armored Caterpillar D-9 bulldozers will make short work of 42 houses, 600-700 donums of agricultural land, a mosque, and an elementary school for 132 children.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s destruction of Palestinian homes, sometimes with their occupants still inside, has earned him the nickname of “the Bulldozer”3, while Israeli commentators have argued that the bulldozer has now become the true symbol of Israel–alongside the tank4. On September 11th, 2001, as the Twin Towers were destroyed in New York, Sharon and Caterpillar demolished three homes in Beit Hanina, West Bank. Not as dramatic as planes crashing into the Twin Towers, but Caterpillar bulldozers keep going, crashing into Palestinian houses all year, every year!

Activists are demanding that shoe shops ‘GIVE CATERPILLAR THE BOOT’. This is part of an international boycott of Caterpillar Corporation and other companies that are complicit with the Israeli occupation. A spokesperson for the activists said:“ Caterpillar claims to strive to contribute toward a global environment in which all people can work safely and live healthy, productive lives, now and in the future5. So to be selling bulldozers to Israel for the purpose of destroying Palestinian homes is at best hypocritical and at worst criminal. We hope that today’s action will send a clear message to Caterpillar that it cannot continue to support Israel’s criminal policies.”

Caterpillar Corporation have recently been selected as one of the ten worst corporations of 2002 by the US organisation Multinational Monitor6.

Notes

  1. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) frequently destroy the homes of already-impoverished Palestinian civilians. Since the beginning of Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank in 1967, Israel has destroyed over 7,000 buildings, leaving 50,000 men, women and children homeless. The IDF’s weapon of choice in its home demolition campaign is the specially designed Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer. Caterpillar bulldozers are used for more than house demolitions. Since the Intifada began, Israeli troops and settlers using Caterpillar equipment have uprooted an estimated 385,000 olive trees–as well as orchards of dates, prunes, lemons and oranges. The economic hardship this has imposed on thousands of Palestinians comes on top of already dire levels of unemployment and poverty in the Occupied Territories.
  2. www.jerusalem.indymedia.org
  3. During the April 2002 offensive in the Jenin refugee camp, in a little more than a week, at least 140 buildings were flattened and 200 more severely damaged, leaving an estimated 4,000 people homeless-more than a quarter of the camp’s population. Three decades prior to this Sharon ordered the bulldozing of hundreds of homes in Gaza, while the occupants were still inside. “The alley was just three feet wide before the Israeli army sent its heavily armored Caterpillar D-9 down what is now a rutted track,” Time magazine reported. “As you walk along it... your feet raise little puffs of dust from the rubble of what were once concrete homes. The path is covered with the litter of war-broken sea-green ceramic tiles, a punctured cooking-gas cylinder, a thin foam mattress, a blond-haired baby doll.”
  4. Jeff Halper–Israeli Committee against House Demolitions: www.icahd.org
  5. See: www.caterpillar.com
  6. See: www.multinationalmonitor.org

31 Oct 2002

Armed Badgers Storm Oxford Street Starbucks in Central London to Build Illegal Settlement–“If Israel can, we can”

On Thursday 31st October at 3.00pm, 30 badgers armed with waterpistols stormed the Starbucks on Oxford St claiming it as their ancestral home. Using the logic of Israeli settlers1 the badgers evicted some of the customers and erected the first badger settlement in London.

With placards proclaiming “If it works in Palestine why not here” and “It’s ours because we say so” the self-styled Badger Defence Force set up checkpoints to inspect shoppers and tourists for concealed weapons. “If they’re not a badger, they could be a terrorist” a spokesbadger said. They handed out copies of the badger bible which proves their ownership of Starbucks and a fact sheet which answered Frequently Asked Questions about their activities (see documents attached together with 9 photos).

The badgers have selected the store for their settlement because of the role of its CEO as a major supporter of the Israeli state. The company has become a prime target of an international boycott of companies with ties to Israel2.

A spokesbadger said “Since the chief executive of this company clearly believes it is ok for one group of people to grab land belonging to another and say they have a right to it, we believe they won’t mind if we take some of theirs”.

Notes

  1. The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank and Gaza is now almost 400,000 in 308 illegal settlements (www.miftah.org). These settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention and UN resolutions.
  2. This action forms part of a growing international campaign, styled on the anti-apartheid movement of the 70s and 80s, to end the illegal occupation by Israel of Palestinian territories. This has included the disruption of Israeli cultural and sporting events in the UK as well as non-violent actions in Israel and Palestine. Many participants in this action have travelled to Palestine as part of the International Solidarity Movement to act as human shields for Palestinians. In April this year, 6 of its members were shot by the Israeli Defence Force and some of its members entered the Church of the Nativity during the Israeli siege. The group is committed to non-violence.