13 December 2003

The Wheels of Justice countrywide bus tour recently has been accused of espousing anti-Semitism for its attempt to educate Californians about the current realities of life in Iraq and Palestine. A Davis High School teacher who had invited people on the tour to speak to six of his and his colleagues’ classes was forced to withdraw the invitation due to pressure from some Davis residents.

“Operating on the dual pillars of universal human rights and nonviolence, the Wheels of Justice tour brings into communities eyewitnesses who have seen the effects of war and occupation on civilian populations in Iraq and Palestine,” said John Farrell, a speaker on the tour. “Our programs have included multimedia presentations, talks and nonviolence education at public schools, churches, and community centers.”

The tour began four months ago in Chicago and will ultimately visit the 48 contiguous states. Wheels of Justice is sponsored by Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), Voices in the Wilderness, Al-Awda (The Palestinian Right of Return Coalition) and affiliates of the International Solidarity Movement.

Rabbi Greg Wolfe was the principal spokesman for the segment of the Jewish community in Davis that opposed the tour. Don Winters, the U.S. history teacher who had asked Wheels of Justice to visit Davis High School, offered Wolfe a chance to share his perspective with students at a later date. In an email to Winters, Wolfe declined to organize a presentation as a response to the Wheels of Justice tour and instead urged Winters “in the strongest way” to cancel the tour’s visit.

“It is a shame that students at Davis High School have been denied the chance to meet, speak with and learn from activists who have traveled to Iraq and Palestine and witnessed the suffering of the people living under military occupation there,” said Lauren Anzaldo, a speaker on the tour who lived for two months this summer in Jenin, occupied Palestine. “They have truly lost a great interactive learning opportunity.”

The Wheels of Justice tour has faced opposition in other California cities. In Palo Alto, two protesters came to a Human Rights Day rally dressed as suicide bombers. An organization called Dafka had urged opponents of the tour to stage such a demonstration. The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), a Bay-area group, managed to bar the bus from visiting an after-school program in San Francisco.

The spurious allegations of anti-Jewish sentiment seem to arise from the tour’s position on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to the homes they were expelled from in 1948 when the state of Israel was created and in 1967 during the Six Day War. Some consider the right of return, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and United Nations resolution 194, a threat to Israel because it would undermine Jewish majority and Jewish control of the state.

“There is nothing in the bus’ message that is anti-Semitic,” said Mitchell Plitnick of Jewish Voice for Peace in Oakland. “The bus criticizes Israeli government policy but says nothing derogatory about the Jewish people.”