Thursday, April 14, 2005

 

Israel's Caterpillars keep demolishing

April 13th, 2005

Just Hours Before Caterpillar Shareholders Meet in Chicago Caterpillar Excavation Drills Destroy Palestinian Homes in East Jerusalem: Two homes demolished by Caterpillar excavation drills in Anata; demolitions underway in Kfar Akab.

At approximately 8:00 am, less than 12 hours before Caterpillar shareholders were scheduled to meet in Chicago to discuss a resolution concerning sales of bulldozers to Israel, 60 Israeli soldiers accompanied two Caterpillar excavation drills to the Yamani home in Anata on the outskirts of East Jerusalem. The family of 12 was given 30 minutes to remove their belongings from the 80 meter home. It took approximately 30 minutes for the Caterpillar excavation drills to destroy the home along with the animal stable alongside the house.

The home was built three years ago on land owned by the Yamani family with the help of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. It was located in Area C of the West Bank in an area where it is virtually impossible to receive a building permit from the Israeli authorities. This was the reason given for the demolition: that the home was built without a permit.

At around 9:30 am, once the demolition of the Yamani home was complete, the Caterpillar excavation drills moved on to the Dahalia home half a kilometer away. The house has served as the residence for the 22 members of the Dahalia family, 15 of them children, for the past two decades. After an hour, the home was reduced to a pile of rubble. The reason given for this demolition was the same as the first: it was built without a permit (in an area where it is almost impossible to receive permits). Both of these actions violate international law.

As this is being written, more homes are being demolished with Caterpillar machinery in Kfar Akab, between Jerusalem and Ramallah.

To join an action against Caterpillar TODAY, April 13th, or to find out what you can do to force Caterpillar to stop selling home crushing machinery to Israel, visit www.catdestroyhomes.org


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