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. Find us on twitter at #uwCATfree.

Sources:
News on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Report, 2004: Link Here.
Amnesty International Report, 2004: Link Here.
Human Rights Watch Report, 2010: Link Here.
The Presbyterian Church USA Mission Responsibility Through Investing (MRTI)Committee Report, 2011: Link Here.

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. Fellowship of Reconciliation, USA
15. Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer
16. For a Democratic University, UW
17. Friends of Sabeel, North America
18. 14 Friends of Palestine
19. Free Palestine Movement, Northern California
20. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
21. Grassroots International
22. Tim Harris, Founder of Real Change
23. Hilton Head for Peace, Hilton Head, South Carolina
24. Rabbi Margaret Holub 
25. Interfaith Peace-Builders, Washington, DC
26. Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, USA
27. International Solidarity Movement, Northern California
28. Jewish Voice for Peace, National
29. Jewish Voice for Peace, Seattle
30. Jewish Voice for Peace, Portland
31. Jewish Voice for Peace, Tacoma
32. Lutherans For Justice in the Holy Land, Central Lutheran Church, Portland, Oregon
33. MidEast JustPeace, Traverse City, Michigan
34. Mideast Solidarity Project, Olympia
35. Rabbi David Mivasair
36. Monica Mendoza Castrejon, External Chair of Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlan (MEChA UW), Class of 2015
37. Network for Environmental & Economic Responsibility, United Church of Christ, Tennessee
38. New Profile, Israel
39. New Yorkers Against the Cornell-Technion Partnership (NYACT)
40. The Northwest Regional BDS Coalition
41. Olympia BDS
42. The Palestine Concerns Task Force, Seattle
43. The Palestine-Israel Working Group of Nevada County, California
44. Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane
45. Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Seattle
46. Shomer Shalom Network for Jewish Nonviolence
47. TESC Divest, The Evergreen State College
48. United Methodist Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel of the Upper New York Conference
49. University of Denver Students for Justice in Palestine
50. Utahns for a Just Peace in the Holy Land
51. UW International Socialist Organization
52. Vancouver for Peace, Vancouver, Washington
53. Voices for Palestine, Seattle
54. Rabbi Alissa Wise
55. Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation

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 School of Social Work
23. Devon G. Peña, 2013 NACCS Scholar, American Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, Program on the Environment
24. Michael Vicente Perez, Department of Anthropology
25. Chandan Reddy, Department of English
26. Sonnet Retman, American Ethnic Studies
27. Laurie Sears, Department of History
28. Clarence Spigner, School of Public Health
29. Sundar Srinivasan, Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine; Mechanical Engineering
30. Helene Starks, Department of Bioethics and Humanities
31. Amoshaun Toft, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
32. Jonathan Warren, The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies
33. Scott Winn, School of Social Work
34. 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, Class of 1996
3. Jean Darsie, BS Mathematics, Class of 1960
4. Selma Al-Aswad Dillsi, MSW, Class of 2010
5. Stefanie Fox, MA Public Health, Class of 2007
6. Aditya Ganapathiraju, BA Psychology; BA Philosophy, Dean’s Medalist in Social Sciences, Class of 2010
7. Naomi Goldenson, MS Atmospheric Sciences, Class of 2012
8. Geraldine Haynes, BS Nursing, 1964
9. Sarah Hartzell, MSW, Class of 2010
10. Shima Houshyar, BA Political Science and French, Class of 2011
11. Hanady Kader, BA Political Science, Class of 2007
12. Susan Koppelman, MSW, Class of 2005
13. Marc Krasnowsky, BA English, Class of 2001
14. Zarah Kushner, DNP 2012, MN 2010
15. Eden Lord, MSW, Class of 2011
16. Gita Mehrotra, PhD Social Welfare, Class of 2012
17. Vicky Kathleen Morris, MA English, 1970
18. Lawrence Mosqueda, MA Political Science, Class of 1973
19. Nathaniel Shara, MSW, Class of 2008
20. Wendy Somerson, PhD English, Class of 1999
21. Meghan Storms, MSW, Class of 2011
22. Yecelica Jaime Valdivia, BA with College Honors Anthropology; BA with College
    Honors Women Studies, Class of 2009
23. Tiffany Woelfel, BS Psychology; BA Spanish, Class of 2004
24. Sylas Wright, MSW, Class of 2013