by Clifton McQueen

TCAP would like to thank The Wheels of Justice Bus Tour for an informative and entertaining experience on May 25, 2004.

The day started off with presentations in Delta College's Lecture Theatre. Thanks go out to Delta College for hosting this event.

Jeff Leys opened the morning's activities with a presentation about Iraq. Among other things, he told us how most of the people who are arrested, shot in the streets or their homes, (or tortured, according to the Red Cross), are innocent of any crimes. Often, U.S. troops are sent to arrest a certain person. If that person is not to be found, then our troops arrest whoever they can find: other family members, neighbors, or someone walking by in the street. He related one story about our troops taking three men out of a house. While one soldier was watching the three Iraqis outside, one group of U.S. soldiers entered the house from the front entrance, at the same time that a second group of U.S. soldiers was entering the house from the back. The two groups of soldiers saw each other inside the house, and thinking that they were looking at "the enemy", opened fire on each other. The soldier outside, guarding the three Iraqi men, heard the gunfire, thought his friends had been ambushed, and so proceeded to execute the three Iraqis. Apparently, the "shoot first, ask questions later" method used by our troops has been responsible for many Iraqi civilian deaths and U.S. military casualties.

One thing that I learned from Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh's presentation about Israel & Palestine is that our U.S. tax dollars (billions every year) are being sent to Israel so that, among other things, Israel can turn entire Palestinian towns into prisons. The "fence" that Israel is building is actually more like the Berlin Wall. In some places it encircles entire Palestinian towns, thereby turning them, effectively, into prisons. People are not allowed out without permission from the Israeli government, and things like food, water and medical supplies are not allowed in. The rational behind this action is to make the Palestinians' lives so horrible that they leave Palestine. This is one of the things that our U.S. government is fully supporting, and we are paying for.

At the Media Workshop in the afternoon, we learned, among other things, how the U.S. media slants their stories to make it look like Israel is defending itself against terrorist attacks by the Palestinians, and does not report the truth, which is that Israel is engaged in the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians.

We also learned at the Media Workshop that the television media are not, in general, interested in "boring" media events, such as lectures. A much more effective media event would be an action that is very visual, such as one involving giant puppets. The WoJ people told of one event wherein the protestors all had duct tape covering their mouths, to represent the stifling of their free speech. The television media was happy to cover the event.

In the evening, back at Delta's Lecture Theatre, we were treated to some great bluegrass music, and then a performance by the World's Only Singing CIA Agent, George Shrub. For those of you who missed him, as well as the captivating performance of Dave Lippman, I can only say that you missed a great show.

TCAP would like to thank the Jeannine Coallier Catholic Worker. Not only for hosting the Media Workshop, but also for housing the Wheels of Justice folks during their stay in Saginaw.

This was a great event, involving some very educated, caring and entertaining people, who are doing a great job at bringing more Peace and Justice to our world. If you ever get the chance to enjoy the Wheels of Justice Bus Tour, please do not hesitate to do so. We thank them, and wish them well.