Write Caterpillar’s chief executive officer to demand the company immediately stop sales of its D9 bulldozer to the Israeli military. The bulldozer is the military’s primary weapon to raze Palestinian homes, shred roads, and level greenhouses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in violation of the laws of war.

Sample Letter:

James W. Owens
Chair and CEO, Caterpillar, Inc.
100 NE Adams St.
Peoria, IL. 61629-1425

Dear Mr. Owens,

I am writing to urge Caterpillar Inc. to stop all sales of D9 bulldozers, parts and maintenance services to the Israel Defense Force (IDF) so long as the bulldozers are used to destroy Palestinian homes and property in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in violation of international humanitarian law.

The D9 is the IDF’s main tool to destroy civilian homes. Israeli soldiers often give Palestinians no warning before they crash the massive vehicle through the walls of their homes. The rear blade, known as “the ripper,” tears up roads, pulling up water and sewage pipes. At least three Palestinians have been killed in recent years by the bulldozer and falling debris because they could not flee their homes in time.

Human rights organizations have documented the Israel Defense Force’s (IDF) systematic use of the D9 bulldozer in illegal demolitions throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The IDF has demolished over 2,500 Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip alone, most of them without military justification. Nearly two-thirds of those homes were in Rafah, a town and refugee camp on the southern border with Egypt. The Israeli military has used the Caterpillar bulldozer to raze over 10 percent of the town, and plans to demolish up to 20 percent more in connection with the government’s Gaza “disengagement” plan.

The IDF, which regularly comes under fire from Palestinian armed groups in Rafah, claims the destruction is militarily necessary. But human rights groups have documented the extensive destruction of homes and infrastructure that posed no genuine military threat.

I believe Caterpillar has an important obligation to ensure its products are not used to violate human rights. While sales to the IDF continue, Caterpillar is complicit in serious human rights violations against civilians.

Please consider your company’s responsibility in the suffering that results. Call on the Israeli military to use your equipment within the confines of the law, and refuse to sell them more bulldozers until you have evidence and assurances that illegal demolitions and destruction will desist.

Sincerely,

[YOUR SIGNATURE HERE]