CPTnet
July 2, 2002
CHICAGO CPT walk challenges Boeing and Caterpillar to put children's lives
first

During the current upheaval in Israel and Palestine, CPT's Hebron team has
witnessed the Israeli government's Boeing-made Apache attack helicopters
used as a weapon against Palestinian civilians, including children. For
several decades, the Israeli military has used Caterpillar bulldozers to
destroy Palestinian homes and dispossess thousands of families.

In response to the ongoing devastation, CPT will hold the Saturday July 6
vigil at Boeing to launch an eight day, 170-mile faith walk to the
Caterpillar plant in Peoria, IL. The walk will be led by CPTers Michael
Goode , who was denied entry into Israel and Palestine by Israeli
authorities on June 24 and Cliff Kindy, who was denied entry in 2000. They
will visit churches along the route and urge Boeing and Caterpillar to
place the lives of Palestinian and Israeli children ahead of profits.

The current fleet of Israeli Apaches has already proven far too lethal to
Palestinian children. Nonetheless, the government of Israel has announced
its intention to upgrade its current fleet of helicopters with Boeing's
AH-64D Apache Longbow, a helicopter Boeing claims is the world's deadliest
-- 400% more lethal than previous Apache models. CPT believes that selling
more and deadlier weapons of destruction to the government of Israel will
escalate the conflict, adding still more to the number of dead and injured
Israeli and Palestinian children and their families.

Caterpillar manufactures the bulldozers the Israeli military has used to
destroy systematically thousands of Palestinian homes in the past two
decades. CPT has documented over one hundred such demolitions in the Hebron
district over the past seven years. Thousands more Palestinian children are
at risk of being left homeless and hopeless by impending demolitions.

Kindy and Goode will begin their walk heading south and west on Ogden
Avenue. They will spend the first night in Bridgeview, IL, visiting with
the local Arab-American community and a local mosque. The walk will end
Sunday, July 14, at the Caterpillar plant in Peoria.

CPT invites its constituency to participate in the vigil or join Goode and
Kindy for any part of their journey. For more information, please call
1-312-455-1199. During their walk, Goode and Kindy can be reached at
1-312-933-8986.

People not in the vicinity who wish to support the walkers are encouraged
to ask their congregations to observe a moment of silence on Sunday, July 7
to pray for the children of Israel and Palestine. Familes are encouraged to
observe this moment of silence in their homes as well with parents
explaining to their children why they are doing so beforehand.