WHEELS OF JUSTICE TOUR VISITS COLUMBIA

By Melanie Knight

The Wheels of Justice (WOJ) Tour rolled into Columbia, SC, late Tuesday, January 11^th, 2005, and a whirlwind of activities followed.

On Wednesday night, Mike Miles and Dave Lippman spoke at USC. Mike began by telling the story of Omran, a little boy who was accidentally killed (along with his sheep) by a US bomb. After reading coverage of Omran's death, Voices in the Wilderness and the Middle East Children's Alliance were inspired to buy a bus, name it in his honour, and travel from San Diego to British Columbia, telling the story of the impact US sanctions have had on Iraq.

Later, members of the group traveled to Omran's village. Omran's brother told them "your coming here changes everything... (We thought) all Americans were barbarians." Through the efforts of Voices, they were able to see that all Americans aren't like that. Omran's mother took the only photo she had of her child, and, kissing it goodbye, gave it to the group to use in their efforts to spread understanding.

Since the attacks of September 11th, 2001, Mike said, "It's all bigger than (the sanctions) now." Two years ago, the Wheels Of Justice Tour was formed. "We're not academics or with the foreign service. We're people just like you." The tour travels to schools from May through September. Tour members are required to have gone to Palestine or Iraq.

Dave explained that he had originally joined the tour as an entertainer, not a speaker. But last summer, he went to Israel and Palestine, "and now I'm not very entertaining." He admits to being "biased" in favour of human rights. As a Jewish boy, Dave had been told to give money to plant trees for Israel. One of the most painful things to see on his trip there was that Israel is now tearing down Palestinian olive trees and importing non-indigenous trees to hide The Wall.

He then gave a song and slide presentation, "The Star of Goliath," singing, "The Star of David has become the Star of Goliath" and "The only way to guarantee a life for yourself is to guarantee a life for your neighbour." The slides depicted life in Palestine and Israel, along with historic quotes, from people such as Ben-Gurion and Gandhi. The presentation ended on a hopeful note, with Dave mentioning how quite a number of people are willing to go against their own myths and oppose occupation. Many people on both sides are working together to rebuild houses, replant olive trees, and prevent human rights abuses. In addition, some people who created the state/Zionists are now against it.

Mike said, "We heard from our own (US) president... (that) 'they hate us for our freedoms,'" but Al Qaeda says "look at what's happening here," to the children of this place. According to Mike, three main differences between how the US treats Israel versus Iraq drives resentment toward America throughout the world.

(1) Response to occupation: Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was met by a US-led attack and lasting sanctions, while Israel's long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is ignored, unsanctioned, and even supported.

(2) UN resolutions: Iraq was in violation of 7 to 9 resolutions and Bush said, the UN "can't be flaunted," even though it now appears that Iraq did indeed disarmed in 1991. Meanwhile, Israel is in violation of 65 UN resolutions, including occupation of lands not theirs. Yet, the Israeli government gets $5 billion in aid from US.

(3) WMD: Israel has tons of it, and won't sign treaties or allow inspectors. The one time that inspectors were allowed in, they were deliberately taken to the wrong places.

These are some of the problems that exist, and that we have to come to grips with.

In the 1991 Gulf War, the US dropped the equivalent of 7 ½ Hiroshima bombs on Iraq, mostly on the water supply (so that people would succumb in 6 months); electricity, bridges, communications systems, and grain storage systems were also targeted. Iraqis had previously had a fairly high standard of living, and were then reduced to a pre-industrial state; then sanctions prevented them from doing repairs. E.g., they couldn't get chlorine, because it could also be used to make weapons, so the water remained contaminated, and people died. 5000 children under 5 died each month.

For 13 years, "the US never stopped being at war with Iraq," Mike stated. Since the recent war began, the electricity is now still mostly out. "It all goes on to fuel... the hatred, the fear, the doubt about why the US is doing all this."

Members of Voices in the Wilderness went to Iraq to live under the sanctions, to see what it was really like. They shared almost everything the Iraqis had, but had to use their own water. They apologized for this, but the Iraqis understood it. When Mike visited Iraq, his group had "minders," but they got away with a lot of stuff, finding that people would talk freely if the minders were not there.

The "current weapon of choice" of US and NATO for destroying armour is depleted uranium (a misnomer, as it's not necessarily depleted). 350 tons were used by the US in the 1991 war--the first time that weapon was used, and the dust went everywhere. Since then, there have been many birth defects (e.g., babies born with no heads). The uranium gets into bloodstreams (so that semen is actually hot to the touch) and is transmitted to the infected person's partner, which can then causes birth defects in any children they may have.

Mike stated, "It's all about presence. (We need to) build relationships with each other, then build a presence." "There is no exit strategy [for the US leaving Iraq] because there is no exit strategy," he said chillingly. "We're never leaving Iraq." It will be like in Germany, where we left bases. He also pointed out that, "It's not just Bush and his administration (responsible) for the way things are over there. Clinton (who pushed using uranium) and the Democrats killed more Iraqis (than both Bushes combined)."

Once, Mike met a man with the license plate "USAF," who told him he was against the peace movement, because "all you people do is talk and stand on the side of the road with signs." Mike told him about people he knew who were DOING THINGS—beating swords into plowshares by putting their own blood in bottles and taking it to army bases to label bloody weapons while beating on bombers with hammers. The USAF man said, "I really admire the sacrifices you and your friends are willing to do for peace. I couldn't do it myself." Mike urged: You have to move from protest to non-violent resistance.

After visiting educational facilities such as Columbia College on Thursday, the WOJ group joined CPRC members in saying a regretful farewell to co-director Liz Gordon.

On Friday, the group visited local high school and USC classes. Prof. Jerel Rosati reports that the majority of his class responded positively to the presentation. Student R. Giancola wrote: "I thought this was a great presentation. The images were stark and vivid, combined with historical quotes and a catchy tune. Growing up I heard nothing but pro-Israel spin. It feels good to see the other side of the coin."

Despite suddenly frigid temperatures Friday night, a crowd of at least forty people gathered to hear the entertainment outside the El Burrito restaurant. Blankets and afghans (of the crocheted variety, not hounds) were distributed to protect the audience from frostbite, courtesy of Sara Williams. The SC Auxiliary of the Antifascist Band opened for singing CIA agent George Shrub. Sara Williams and Michael Berg performed his song, Here's To The State Of Dick and Dubya (based on a Phil Ochs tune); and Eboniramm, poet laureate of Sumter County, and bassist Tim Gannon joined Sara for other numbers, including Amazing Grace.

With a map of the world, and an increasingly large set of guns, George Shrub then took the stage to give us his point of view--the Right one--so that we didn't have to have one of our own. Shrub is the "world's only known singing CIA agent"—CIA in this case being the Committee to Intervene Anywhere. Shrub has also added the highly-coveted title of Cultural Director of the Department of Homeland Security to his resume. He won the title in a departmental contest. There were other entrants, but they... disappeared.

Saturday was a day of regrouping, planning, a little rest, and, for one CIA agent, a hike in the swamp with CPRC director, Michael Berg. Some members of the group also attended a King Day celebration in Sumter.

On Sunday, the tour rolled into its last stop in Columbia, at the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship. Dave gave his "Star of Goliath" presentation for a group of high school students. A spirited discussion followed. The students felt that they were only given the other side (pro-Israeli government) in the media, and appreciated hearing what the Wheels of Justice group had to say.

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