In Los Angeles, it’s much more common for a blown-up bus
to be in a movie than a tangible reality ““ but a local group
brought the remnants of a past terrorist attack in Israel to
Westwood Boulevard on Friday afternoon.
The blown-up bus was on the back of a big-rig, part of a
campaign run by Endworldterror.com, an organization aimed at
spreading awareness and ending terrorism worldwide.
The bus was bombed in Israel last year while it was on an
after-school route and had mostly children on board at the
time.
Bernie Massey, the campaign’s founder and a Los Angeles
native, said one of the reasons the image and story of the bus is
so powerful is because the children who were killed and wounded
were Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Seventeen people died in the
bombing and dozens of others were wounded. The bus was purchased
for $1,500 and shipped to the United States.
Few students saw the display Friday, but Massey said last week
was just a test run to let the drivers get used to maneuvering the
vehicles and to perfect the lighting and sound on the multimedia
display.
After months of preparation, Massey said he soon plans to begin
touring the country, going to universities, the Democratic and
Republican national conventions, and police and fire stations,
among other locations.
Massey is president of the Center for American Studies and
Culture, the larger umbrella organization under which
Endworldterror.com is situated.
The center has had different campaigns over the past six years,
each combating various social issues such as right-wing extremism
and hate groups.
Massey said he hopes the current campaign lasts for several
years, and that he is also concentrating on forming anti-terror
legislation and policy.
He said the project focuses on terror attacks that primarily
target civilians, and that the project isn’t intended to
highlight any one conflict, but the worldwide issue of terror.
“No matter who the victim is, it’s always wrong.
There has to be zero tolerance for it,” Massey said.
The multimedia display shows different terror attacks across the
globe, including Bombay, Mombasa, Moscow, Kidapawan, Jakarta and
many others.
Some passersby were strongly affected by the display.
“Hearing so much about terrorism on the news and media,
we’re kind of desensitized to it,” said Dorothy Harris,
a neuroscience graduate student.
“You’re able to imagine real people traveling on the
bus.”
David Keyes, media and information chair of Bruins For Israel,
agreed.
“The problem is students become sterile to the atrocities
of terrorism,” Keyes said. He added that it is hard for UCLA
students to understand how some people in other countries feel
about the threats of terrorism.
“Imagine being afraid of being blown up every time
you’re in a Coffee Bean or on a Big Blue Bus,” he
said.
“That’s what it’s like.”
Keyes said it is a possibility that Bruins For Israel would ask
Massey to bring the bus back to campus in the future.
Some passersby thought the display was poorly done and had
political motivations.
“When there’s a bus with Israeli writings all over
it, you’re only showing one point of view,” said Shekib
Jami, who graduated last year and is currently studying for the
MCAT.
“You could’ve shown any type of bus that was blown
up,” he said.
Massey said the bus was chosen because its physical dimensions
made it possible to transport and that the story of the bombing was
universal.
He added that he would see the project as a failure if it became
part of anyone’s propaganda.