According to the Jewish Voice for Peace, retirement giant TIAA-CREF has dropped all $73 million in Caterpillar stocks from their socially responsible investment fund.

For Jewish Voice for Peace the move is a major victory since it’s been campaigning for the change because Caterpillar bulldozers have been used to destroy thousands of Palestinian homes and orchards. 

The organization says they won’t stop there. The movement to pressure Israel to be accountable to international law is now on the verge of a historic breakthrough at the Presbyterian General Assembly in Pittsburgh next week the group claims. 

The Presbyterian Church (USA), one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S., will be meeting to decide whether to divest from Caterpillar and a few other companies profiting from the Israeli occupation. This may be by far the most contested divestment vote in the U.S. 

“We don’t have the hundreds of thousands of dollars for paid ads or celebrity speakers that our opponents have—but we do have committed, knowledgeable and dedicated Jews who can walk the aisles side by side with our Palestinian allies and tell Presbyterian voters face to face to go with their conscience and vote on behalf of justice for all people,” said Sydney Levy, Director of Advocacy for the Jewish Voice for Peace. 

To make a donation to support the group’s trip to  Pittsburgh visit its Facebook and Twitter page or info@jvp.org.