The New School Students for Justice in Palestine demands divestment over usage of Caterpillar machinery
The New School Students for Justice in Palestine have criticized their institution for alleged connections to Caterpillar Inc., claiming Israel uses Caterpillar bulldozers for various operations.
The New School’s Students for Justice in Palestine group is calling on the university to divest from Israel over allegations that the country is using construction machinery in Gaza.
Students for Justice in Palestine at The New School referenced in an Instagram post a recent CNN article where two IDF soldiers claim that they have used Caterpillar bulldozers in Israeli military operations; including running over dead and alive terrorists.
Using the article from CNN to revive their calls for The New School to divest from Israel, the SJP stated in a post on Instagram that “Caterpillar has been supplying the Zionist entity with heavy machinery since the 1950s, which has been weaponized to demolish Palestinian home, build illegal settlements, murder unarmed protesters, carry out extrajudicial executions, and desecrate the bodies of the dead-among other war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
The group’s calls for divestment draw on the specific targeting of Caterpillar Inc.’s D9 bulldozers. The group criticizes the Israeli Defense Force’s use of the machinery, alongside criticizing The New School for being “[I]nvested in Caterpillar Inc.,” and that the school profits from alleged crimes.
One of the alleged crimes that the SJP outlines is how the Israeli Defense Forces used Caterpillar bulldozers following a military operation in December of last year.
In the post, the SJP states: “Caterpillar machinery has been widely used for house demolition and settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territory, as well as for the construction of the Separation Wall in the occupied West Bank and the barrier surrounding besieged Gaza.”
The group also voiced criticism of a military strategy used by the IDF to “[P]ressure a wanted person who fortifies in a house or other structure, to come out.” The SJP criticizes how the IDF uses D9 bulldozers in such “Pressure Cooker” operations to “[D]emolish the structure with the person still inside, even in the case of that person being killed in the process.”
Administrators at The New School overruled the Student Senate’s decision in August to suspend funding to student groups on campus until the university divests from Israel.
