Welcome, Tuesday 06 January 2009, 08:16

Church of England Debates Withdrawal of Caterpillar Investments 17/05/05 - Report from Ekklesia. Many thanks to Revd. Roger Pollard who first got hold of a list of C of E investments, spotted the Caterpillar investment and acted upon it. Thanks too to everyone who wrote in about it. Anti-poverty campaign group War on Want has welcomed the Church of England’s meeting to consider divestment from the construction firm Caterpillar. The Church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group will be examining whether the £197,000 of shares currently held in Caterpillar are consistent with the Church’s ethical investment policy, which prohibits investment in arms companies or companies making ‘weapons platforms’ such as naval vessels or tanks. Caterpillar has been singled out by the United Nations for complicity in human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. As detailed in War on Want’s recent ‘alternative report’ on Caterpillar, thousands of Palestinian homes and vast swathes of agricultural land have been destroyed by the Israeli military using armoured Caterpillar D9 bulldozers. Caterpillar bulldozers have also been used in the construction of Israel’s Separation Wall, ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in July 2004. John Hilary, Director of Campaigns and Policy at War on Want, said: “We welcome the Church of England’s decision to consider withdrawing investment from Caterpillar. Despite continued pleas from campaigns groups around the world, Caterpillar continues to supply the Israeli army with its bulldozers in the full knowledge that they will be used as military weapons against the Palestinian people. By breaking links with Caterpillar, the Church of England can send a strong signal that corporate complicity in human rights abuses is unacceptable.” Christian churches in the USA have already begun discussions over divesting from Caterpillar. The Presbyterian Church (USA) agreed last year to start a process of divestment from companies which benefit from Israel’s military occupation of Palestine, including Caterpillar, and the United Church of Christ will vote this summer on whether to follow the Presbyterians’ lead. Others such as the United Methodist Church and the Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican Communion) have also undertaken studies into divesting from Caterpillar, as well as supporting shareholder actions calling on the company’s directors to suspend sales to the Israeli army. N.B. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia.   Contact Webmeister: fuad@exeterpsc.org.uk All text and graphics © Exeter PSC 2003-7, and/or their respective owners.