University of Washington commencement speaker Jon Huntsman pressured over connection to Caterpillar

Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights and The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice are circulating the following letter in advance of the University of Washington commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 15. It currently has over 100 signatures including Amnesty International-UW, Code Pink, Jewish Voice for Peace, Boycott from Within, New Profile and Aaron Dixon, Author and Co-founder Black Panther Party, Seattle.

Dear Graduates of 2013 and Mr. Jon Huntsman,

Congratulations to the UW graduating class of 2013!  We – your fellow students, faculty, alumni, and members of the greater Seattle community – write to recognize your achievement but, also, to share with you and with commencement speaker, Jon Huntsman, our serious concerns about Mr. Huntsman’s connection to Caterpillar Inc. and to human rights abuses in Palestine/Israel. 

The University of Washington has invited Jon Huntsman to give the Commencement keynote address that will set the tone for graduates’ first steps into their post-university lives. We know Mr. Huntsman most recently as one of the 2012 Republican presidential hopefuls. But in addition to a long and prestigious career in American politics, Jon Huntsman serves on the board of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), an American firm that manufactures and distributes bulldozers and civil engineering tools.  The CAT logo has become ubiquitous on most construction sites around the country.  Most students are not familiar with CAT bulldozers that are part of the daily lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.

For decades, CAT has sold specially militarized equipment to the Government of Israel used in the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes, the death and injury of unarmed Palestinian and international civilians, the uprooting of olive trees and destruction of agricultural land, and the expropriation of Palestinian territory through the construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements and a separation-annexation wall.  Amnesty International, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, and Human Rights Watch have all reported on and denounced Israel’s breaches of international humanitarian law and CAT’s complicity in human rights violations.  The CAT brand and its bulldozers have become a symbol of destruction in Palestine.

CAT’s responses to this overwhelming evidence have been inadequate and contrary to its own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct.  CEO Doug Oberhelman has said, “How our customers use [the bulldozers] is their business. We can’t stop them.”  But CAT designs the bulldozers to be weaponized.  CAT has a choice. The corporation has a moral and legal responsibility to cease sales of CAT equipment used in a clear pattern of human rights abuses by the Israeli government and military.

In 2003, Rachel Corrie, a nonviolent human rights activist and observer, and Washington State resident, was killed by a Caterpillar D9R bulldozer (operated by an Israeli soldier) as she tried to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip.  A student at The Evergreen State College, Rachel did not live to attend her own graduation in June 2003. Numerous Palestinian civilians have also been killed when their homes were collapsed upon them by D9s.  So, on the occasion of this UW Commencement, we ask both Mr. Huntsman and the graduating class to address the continuing harm caused by Caterpillar’s machines in Palestine.

We request that Jon Huntsman meet with UW representatives and the Corrie family to learn about the concerns of the Washington State and UW communities and to convey these to fellow Caterpillar Inc. board members.  We are eager to share the profound impact the company could have by suspending sales to the Israeli military—implementing due diligence in their sales to any customer, until guarantees are received that their equipment will not be used to violate international law or commit human rights abuses. 

To the Class of 2013 Graduates, again, our congratulations!  Please use this momentous occasion in your lives to join us in encouraging Jon Huntsman to do the right thing!   For more information on how to help, go to www.superuw.org/events.  Find us on twitter at #uwCATfree.

Signed,

1. Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights (SUPER UW)
2. The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
3. Rabbi Alana Alpert
4. Amnesty International, UW
5. BDS-LA for Justice in Palestine
6. Boycott from Within, Israeli citizens for BDS
7. Chico Palestine Action Group
8. Cindy & Craig Corrie
9. CodePink, Seattle
10. CodePink, Taos
11. Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
12. Community & Middle East Peace Builders, Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, Washington
13. Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice, Tennessee
14. Aaron Dixon, Author and Co-founder Black Panther Party, Seattle
15. Fellowship of Reconciliation, USA
16. Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
17. For a Democratic University, UW
18. Friends of Sabeel, North America
19. 14 Friends of Palestine
20. Free Palestine Movement, Northern California
21. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
22. Grassroots International
23. Tim Harris, Founder of Real Change
24. Hilton Head for Peace, Hilton Head, South Carolina
25. Rabbi Margaret Holub
26. Interfaith Peace-Builders, Washington, DC
27. Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, USA
28. International Solidarity Movement, Northern California
29. Jewish Voice for Peace, National
30. Jewish Voice for Peace, Seattle
31. Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland
32. Jewish Voice for Peace, Tacoma
33. Lutherans For Justice in the Holy Land, Central Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon
34. MidEast JustPeace, Traverse City, Michigan
35. Mideast Solidarity Project, Olympia
36. Rabbi David Mivasair
37. Monica Mendoza Castrejon, External Chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MEChA UW), Class of 2015
38. Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility, United Church of Christ, Tennessee
39. New Profile, Israel
40. New Yorkers Against the Cornell-Technion Partnership (NYACT)
41. The Northwest Regional BDS Coalition
42. Olympia BDS
43. The Palestine Concerns Task Force, Seattle
44. The Palestine-Israel Working Group of Nevada County, California
45. Palestine Solidarity Committee, Seattle
46. Pax Christi, Maine
47. Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
48. People for Peace Justice & Healing, Tacoma
49. Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Seattle
50. The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign
51. Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
52. TESC Divest, The Evergreen State College
53. United for Peace of Pierce County
54. United Methodist Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel of the Upper New York Conference
55. University of Denver Students for Justice in Palestine
56. Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
57. UW International Socialist Organization
58. Vancouver for Peace, Vancouver, Washington
59. Voices for Palestine, Seattle
60. Rabbi Alissa Wise
61. Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation
62. Women in Black, Bay Area

Faculty:

1. Philip L. Bereano, Emeritus professor, College of Engineering
2. Dan Berger, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
3. David Citrin, Department of Anthropology
4. Rachel R. Chapman, Department of Anthropology
5. Eva Cherniavsky, Department of English
6. Kate Cummings, Department of English
7. Karam Dana, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
8. James Barrett DeLong, School of Social Work
9. Raya Fidel, The Information School
10. Abraham D. Flaxman, Department of Global Health
11. Tom Foster, Department of English
12. Amy Hagopian, Global Health & Department of Health Sciences
13. Tracy W. Harachi, School of Social Work and Dept. of Global Health
14. Gillian Harkins, Department of English
15. Michael Honey, Haley Professor of Humanities, UW Tacoma
16. Moon-Ho Jung, Department of History
17. Aaron Katz, Health Services and Global Health School of Public Health
18. Danuta (Danka) Kasprzyk, Department of Global Health
19. Steve Leigh, Fiscal Specialist, Dept. of Biostatistics
20. Jamie Mayerfeld, Department of Political Science
21. Mary Anne Mercer, Departments of Global Health and Health Services
22. Diane M. Morrison, Director of Social Welfare Doctoral Program University of Washington
23. School of Social Work
24. Devon G. Peña, 2013 NACCS Scholar, American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, Program on the
25. Environment
26. Michael Vicente Perez, Department of Anthropology
27. Chandan Reddy, Department of English
28. Sonnet Retman, American Ethnic Studies
29. David Rosenbaum, Radiology, UW School of Medicine
30. Laurie Sears, Department of History
31. Clarence Spigner, School of Public Health
32. Sundar Srinivasan, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; Mechanical Engineering
33. Helene Starks, Department of Bioethics and Humanities
34. Amoshaun Toft, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
35. Jonathan Warren, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
36. Scott Winn, School of Social Work
37. Robert Wood, Atmospheric Sciences

Alumni:

1. Danielle Abbott, MSW, Class of 2005
2. Linda Bevis, JD School of Law, MA International Studies, Class of 1990; MA of Education,
3. Class of 1996
4. Jean Darsie, BS Mathematics, Class of 1960
5. Selma Al-Aswad Dillsi, MSW, Class of 2010
6. Stefanie Fox, MA Public Health, Class of 2007
7. Aditya Ganapathiraju, BA Psychology; BA Philosophy, Dean’s Medalist in Social Sciences, Class of 2010
8. Naomi Goldenson, MS Atmospheric Sciences, Class of 2012
9. Geraldine Haynes, BS Nursing, 1964
10. Sarah Hartzell, MSW, Class of 2010
11. Shima Houshyar, BA Political Science and French, Class of 2011
12. Hanady Kader, BA Political Science, Class of 2007
13. Susan Koppelman, MSW, Class of 2005
14. Wayne B. Kraft, MA German Studies, Class of 1967
15. Marc Krasnowsky, BA English, Class of 2001
16. Zarah Kushner, DNP 2012, MN 2010
17. Eden Lord, MSW, Class of 2011
18. Gita Mehrotra, PhD Social Welfare, Class of 2012
19. Vicky Kathleen Morris, MA English, 1970
20. Lawrence Mosqueda, MA Political Science, Class of 1973
21. Katie Porter, MUP, Class of 2011
22. Anastasia Schemkes, BA Environmental Studies, Class of 2010
23. Nathaniel Shara, MSW, Class of 2008
24. Jack Smith, JD, Class of 1978
25. Wendy Somerson, PhD English, Class of 1999
26. Meghan Storms, MSW, Class of 2011
27. Yecelica Jaime Valdivia, BA with College Honors Anthropology; BA with College
28. Honors Women Studies, Class of 2009
29. Tiffany Woelfel, BS Psychology; BA Spanish, Class of 2004
30. Sylas Wright, MSW, Class of 2013