by Ceylon Mooney

I just returned from a brief stay on the Wheels of Justice Bus Tour in Dallas, Lafayette and Memphis. In those 5 days we spoke with hundreds of people in these states and drive our billboard (see pictures) past hundreds of thousands. Normally, my duties as co-coordinator are limited to scheduling and programming; my job is much like a booking agent for bands or touring performers. As you may have read below, the bus breathed its last gasp somehwere 60 miles west of Fort Stockton, TX.

We quickly shifted to our backup transportation, the Wheels of Justice van, which got a quick face-lift: “no war against iraq” on one side, and “end israeli occupation justice and human rights for everyone” on the other. I drove from Memphis to Dallas to meet the crew on March 17th.

In Dallas we did a few programs and met with some unbelievably organized and committed folks from all walks of life working for justice and peace in the middle east and in their own communities, from the Dallas Peace Center to the Crawford Peace House, just 8 miles away from the OTHER house in Crawford you might have heard of (hint hint hint…think of something FAR removed from “peace”). We relied on the love and hospitality of hosts, of friends old and new, in Austin, Crawford and Dallas to scoot our speakers and manager around the state for a few days while they waited for the WoJ van to meet them at a coffeeshop in Dallas.

If you ever wanted to see a SOLID analysis of media bias and Palestine/Israel coverage, visit www.ifamericansknew.org. So many of our presentations are to people VERY unfamiliar with Iraq or Palestine that we often have to really put our best foot foreward in addressing a sympathetic or well-informed audience. Well, media is something that not enough activists know how to navigate or how to work, and Alison Weir’s presentation lays it all out for you, the well-informed or the newcomer. Not only must we confront the media; we have to become the media.