Campaigners today blockaded Caterpillar's Peterlee plant in County Durham in protest over what they claimed was the company's support of Israel's destruction of Palestinian communities.
About 20 protesters chained closed the company's gates on the town's NW Industrial Estate bringing traffic to and from the firm to a halt.
Displaying banners and relaying messages over hand held megaphone's the campaigners called on Caterpillar to stop exporting large digging machines to Israel.
It was one of 40 protests taking place across the world and Helen Attewell of the County Durham Palestinian Solidarity Campaign said: "The blockade is to highlight Caterpillar's role in continuing to supply Israel with bulldozers.''
Ms Attewell, who has visited Palestinian communities claimed the large earth moving machines from the company had been used since September 2000 to make over 28,000 Palestinian people homeless.
As part of the protest the campaigners had transported along a half scale model bulldozer which they moved around the area on the back of a truck.
Ms Attewell explained that the action had been timed to pre-empt a Caterpillar shareholders meeting in Chicago tomorrow where one of the resolutions will be to call for a investigation into whether Caterpillar's bulldozers to Israel violates its own Worldwide Code of Business Conduct
After just under an hour police attended the scene of the Peterlee blockade and persuaded the campaigners to end their protest.
A spokesman at the plant said yesterday: "Caterppillar shares the world's concern over unrest in the Middle East and we certainly have compassion for all those affected by the political strife.
"However, more than two million Caterpillar machines and engines are at work in virtually every country and region of the world each day. We have neither the legal right nor the means to police individual use of that equipment.''
He added: "We believe any comments on political conflict in the region are best left to our governmental leaders who have the ability to impact action and advance the peace process.''
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