Targeted for Divestment: Caterpillar Tractor

The Caterpillar Tractor Company is the number one target of the global Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement, and the 220^th General Assembly will debate a proposal for church-affiliated funds to divest Caterpillar stock. The company is targeted for divestment because it provides bulldozers to the United States government that are then re-sold to the government of Israel and utilized by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). BDS literature is filled with accusations that Caterpillar bulldozers are used in a large scale, systematic campaign to destroy the homes and property of Palestinian families.

A visitor to the West Bank today, however, is much more likely to see Caterpillar equipment being used to build homes and essential infrastructure for Palestinians than to witness demolitions. They will see Caterpillar equipment, owned by Palestinian contractors and government agencies, and operated by Palestinian construction workers, building homes, infrastructure, and a new planned city for 40,000 Palestinians.