[gcruse]

Why do these people have a problem with me? I don't even work for Caterpillar.

The author managed to use that sentence twice, the second time in association with people who worked in the cubicles.  They had to have been working for Caterpillar, so one is left to wonder if the purpose is to link people who don't work for Caterpillar, yet allow Israel to defend herself, with 'good Germans' who weren't Nazis, or anyone who excuses another's misdeeds by reason of not having direct involvement.  It's a sticky wicket but, unless this...

...forever turned off to the activists' cause, as if personally insulted by their righteous implications...

...is to be taken as sarcasm, then it's a fair cop.

[Who dat?]

They had to have been working for Caterpillar,…

They work for Peterson Tractor. Peterson Tractor is essentially a Caterpillar authorized dealership and Cat-authorized repair/maintenance facility, and participates in Cat apprenticeship programs, but they do sell and repair other-than-Cat products (and are "authorized" by those companies too, IIRC). Last I remember, the bulk of their business involved Cat machinery though.

But technically they don’t work for Cat – they work for Peterson. Peterson hired them, Peterson signs the pay checks... I'm pretty sure that's what they were referring to.

[ApplegateRanch]

I don't even work for Caterpillar.

They had to have been working for Caterpillar,

No, they do not work for Caterpillar, any more than the cashier or service writer at your local dealership works for Ford, GM, or any other manufacturer. Peterson Tractor Company employers them, and it is a Caterpillar dealership.

From Peterson's web site: It [Peterson Tractor Co.] was incorporated on November 16, 1936 as the Caterpillar Dealership for the five bay area counties: Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda and Contra Costa.

Peterson's service coverage has increased 90% with the acquisition of six older dealerships and now totals twenty-one counties in Northern California. These counties include:...

They are only a California dealership; they probably don't sell to Israel, either.