Us? We're Not Political or Caterpiller Grounds to a Halt

This is a stupid non-sensical statement:

Statement from the National Building Museum

We feel the environment for the 2011 Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Engineering has become politicized and this will divert attention from construction technology, which is the purpose of the prize and central to the Museum’s mission. We choose to remain apolitical, including avoiding any appearance of partisanship. With concern that the public program would be disrupted in light of potential protests and counter-protests, the Museum and Turner have decided not to hold the public ceremony.

The core values of the Museum are to be neutral and nonpartisan. We are neither a policy-making organization nor a political one. We hold dear our mission, which is to explore the building arts and sciences in an unbiased way.

--
Carol Abrams
Vice President for Marketing and Communications

Explanation:

Opposition to the award stems from Caterpillar's long history of complicity in widespread human rights violations within the occupied Palestinian Territories...In August, a coalition of organizations launched a petition and letter writing campaign, urging the National Building Museum to rescind its award to Caterpillar. The campaign is spearheaded by the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice, based in Olympia, WA. The foundation was founded to continue the work of Rachel Corrie, an American civilian who was killed in 2003 when she was crushed to death by a weaponized Caterpillar D9-R bulldozer as she tried to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing a family's home in Rafah, Gaza.

But if it's political, the only way to counter that political protest should have been to go on with the ceremony for otherwise, you are giving in to political pressure. And inviting couter-pressure. And admitting you yourselves are political by denying Caterpiller a neutral recognition based on technology and design and science.


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