Washington Report, March 2006, page 63

Arab-American Activism

Litigation, Intervention and Multinational Involvement

THE THIRD Palestine Center conference panel was chaired by Noura Erakat, legal advocate with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Panelists included Gwynne L. Skinner, Esq., adjunct professor of law, international human rights, at Seattle University School of Law and litigant in the Corrie et. al v. Caterpillar case; Stephanie Koury, Esq., attorney and researcher with the University of London’s Hotung Programme in Law, Human Rights and Peace Building in the Middle East, who spoke about the “ICJ Ruling, Third Party Intervention and Multilateral Operations in Palestine”; and David Wildman, executive secretary of the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Global Ministries, who described the church divestment movement.

While the Corries are the first name on the lawsuit against Caterpillar, Skinner noted, there are four Palestinian plaintiffs who also are involved in the filing. While it is commonly understood that the Caterpillar D-9 bulldozers are exported to the IDF under the Foreign Military Sales Program, and therefore not subject to the U.S. Arms Control Export Act, Skinner disclosed that she has in her possession a letter from the State Department stating that the exports are not part of this program, meaning that Caterpillar sales are direct, with no export control license needed.

         —Matt Horton