Hi PEN-L:
In Davis, CA, one side of the Mideast story just got silenced. More info below.
Seth Sandronsky
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Bus Tour halted in Davis - Take Action Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2003 00:20:04 -0600
In this alert: Action Alert Events Dec 14-20, 2003
ACTION ALERT
The national Wheels of Justice National Bus tour (www.justicewheels.org), which seeks to educate and mobilize people around ending the U.S. supported occupations of Iraq and Palestine, was scheduled to give presentations at Davis High School on Monday, December 15. However, the school principal Mike Cawley received calls charging that the bus was anti-Jewish, a charge refuted (see below) by organizers of and participants on the bus (with whom Cawley did not speak). This appears to be part of a national effort of groups that support the Israeli occupation of Palestine to prevent the bus from getting its message out. The instructor offered to allow the anti-bus group to address students at another time, but this option was rejected and instead the visit cancelled.
Please call, write, fax, and/or email Davis High School principal Mike Cawley, the school board, city county and/or county supervisor (all contact information is at the end of this message) and express your concern that students have been deprived of a unique education opportunity, instead receiving a lesson about the repression of freedom of speech. Ask that he reconsider and let the bus come (it is possible the bus could come on Tuesday, 12-16).
You can also come and hear the bus participants speak Monday, December 15, 7pm at the Newman Center, 5900 Newman Center, Sacramento.
STATEMENT FROM THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE TOUR:
Wheels Of Justice Tour Responds To Spurious Charges Of Anti-Semitism In
Davis
Saturday, Dec. 13, 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. Wolfe declined and instead insisted that Wheels of Justice not come
to the school.
"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."CONTACT INFORMATION:
DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL (315 W 14th St, Davis) Mike Cawley, Principal Tel (530) 757-5400; ext 4; FAX (530) 757-5492 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
DAVIS JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD Phone (530) 757-5300 ext. 140; FAX (530) 757-5323 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ms. Joan Sallee, Chair Mr. B.J. Kline Ms. Keltie Jones - [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jim Provenza Marty West
COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Mariko Yamada (represents Davis, District 4) Tel (530) 666-8624 or (530) 757-5554; Fax: (530) 666-8193 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
DAVIS CITY COUNCIL Susie Boyd, mayor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone (530) 758-1435 ; Fax: (530) 758-1435
Ruth Asmundson (530) 753-7884
Mike Harrington [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (530) 759-8470; Fax: (530) 759-8476
Sue Greenwald [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: (530) 756-5831; Fax: (530) 756-1249
Ted Puntillo Phone: (530) 681-8044; E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
DAVIS HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Cecilia Escamilla-Greenwald, Chair; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
EVENTS December 14-20, 2003
Sunday, Dec 14, 12:30 - 2:30 pm, Conscientious Objection (CO): A Path for Peace. Brian Cross will conduct workshop to inform young people about conscientious objection to war. U. U., 2425 Sierra Blvd, Sacramento. RSVP(916)483-9283, ext 203.
Monday, Dec 15, 12:40pm, International Human Rights Conventions; Virginia Mueller. Einstein Center, 1935 Wright St, Sacramento. 12noon lunch $9; reservations by Dec. 12, (916) 444-7800.
Monday, Dec 15, 7pm, National Wheels of Justice Bus Tour comes to Sacramento, Newman Center, 5900 Newman Ct. Sac. (www.justicewheels.org). Featuring young activists who have lived and worked in Iraq and Palestine. Info: (916) 448-7157; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tuesday, Dec 16, 12noon, Rally for Inclusionary Housing, Sacramento County Supervisors hearing, 700 H St., Sac. Info: (916) 442-1198 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tuesday, Dec 16, 4 - 6 pm, Call for Peace Vigil, 16th & J St. Sac
Thursday, Dec 18, 7 - 9 pm, Chicano Liberation and Marxism: talk by Bill Gallegos, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Green Rm, Sierra 2, 2791 24th St, Sac. (916) 446-1758.
Saturday, Dec 20, 11:30am - 1:30pm, Peace Vigil, Fair Oaks & Howe, Sac
Saturday, Dec 20, 11am - 1pm, Continuing seminar on foreign policy and nuclear weapons, Hart Center, 915 27th St., Sac.
website: http://www.sacpeace.org email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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