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June 26, 2012

Caterpillar Removed From Pension Fund over Ties to Israeli Occupation 
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The pension fund giant TIAA-CREF has removed the corporate construction
giant Caterpillar from its Social Choice Equity fund following long-term
protests by activists for Palestinian rights. The TIAA-CREF and other
pension funds have come under pressure to remove Caterpillar over the
company's ties to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Caterpillar has supplied the bulldozers that have razed thousands of
Palestinian homes, destroyed Palestinians' arable land, and notoriously
killed the U.S. activist Rachel Corrie in 2003. The decision removes
more than $73 million in pensioners' money from Caterpillar's stock. In
a statement, the group Jewish Voice for Peace said: "By selling
weaponized bulldozers to Israel, Caterpillar is complicit in Israel’s
systematic violations of Palestinian human rights. We’re glad to see
that the socially responsible investment community ... is starting to
take appropriate action."

 

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