The Iowa City City Council unanimously voted against a resolution to move forward with the purchase of a Caterpillar trash compactor for landfill operations Tuesday.
City councilors voted down the purchase following an Aug. 5 boycott resolution stating the council would block any future investments in companies supporting Israel, including Caterpillar.
In the resolution prepared by Equipment Superintendent Dan Striegel and reviewed by Public Works Director Ron Knoche and City Manager Geoff Fruin, the new trash compactor would replace a 2015 Caterpillar that has reached the end of its use.
Caterpillar is a U.S. corporation and leading global manufacturer of construction and mining equipment.
According to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Caterpillar has been approved to continue to supply the Israeli military with D9 bulldozers used for engineering tasks in combat and path clearing.
Several constituents and council members spoke at the meeting, voicing concerns that buying a trash compactor from Caterpillar would be counterintuitive to the mission of the boycott resolution.
District C Councilor Oliver Weilein initially voted to pull the item from the consent agenda for discussion. Weilein was also heavily involved in the process of adopting the boycott resolution.
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“One thing that always comes from taking action like this is that there’s always obstacles, there’s always hurdles, uncertainties in the future,” he said. “I think it’s just about not being afraid of those things and maintaining that character, that commitment.”
The public expressed their disapproval for the resolution, citing Rachel Corrie, a pro-Palestinian activist who was crushed by a D9 bulldozer on the Gaza Strip in 2003, according to NPR.
“The parents of Rachel held a lawsuit against Caterpillar,” Newman Abuissa, Syrian-born immigrant and Iowa City City Council candidate for the Nov. 4 election, said. “And the court dismissed the lawsuit that Israel is using Caterpillar equipment as weapons. It’s your choice to side with the corporation or to side with the people.”
The council plans to do more research on alternative company options to provide equipment that is compatible with the current landfill systems.
Mayor Pro-Tem Mazahir Salih was supportive of additional research.
“I would really prefer for the staff to look for an alternative and vote no for this today and put it on the agenda for purchases with someone else that’s not killing Palestinian people,” she said.