TRISTAN ANDERSON’S PARENTS: “RELEASE #USHIKERS”

Tristan Anderson

Tristan Anderson is a longtime friend of hikers Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer. Following a peaceful protest against Israel’s Wall in the West Bank village of Ni’lin, Israeli troops hit Tristan, an American citizen, in the forehead with a teargas canister, critically injuring him. That was on Friday, March 13^th, 2009. More than a year later, Tristan, 39, remains hospitalized near Tel Aviv with a severe brain injury. It is not known when he will be able to be transferred back to the United States.

This is a letter of support that Tristan’s parents wrote to Iranian Authorities, imploring them to return the hikers to their families. In addition to being a heartfelt and moving statement of support, this letter explains that Shane and Sarah, like Tristan, are caring individuals of conscience, concerned with justice and the well-being of all people. Anyone who knows them as Tristan and his parents do, can attest to the fact that the accusation that the hikers are “spies” for the US government is not only ridiculous, but unthinkable.

Please note: Farsi and Arabic translations of this letter are also available as PDF documents.

LETTER OF SUPPORT BY THE PARENTS OF TRISTAN ANDERSON:

February 10, 2010

His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
President, Islamic Republic of Iran
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection,
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

His Excellency Ayatollah Sadegh Ardeshir Larijani
Head of the Judiciary
Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh / Office of the Head of the Judiciary
Pasteur Street
Vali Asr Avenue, South of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

RE: Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, & Josh Fattal

Your Excellencies:

As the parents of Tristan Anderson, an American citizen who was critically wounded while supporting the rights of Palestinians, we are deeply distressed by the continued detention in Iran of Tristan’s good friends Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal. We appeal to you to do everything in your power to bring about their prompt release.

Shane standing on the spot where Tristan was shot.

On March 13, 2009, our son Tristan was grievously wounded in the Palestinian village of Ni’lin. Tristan was taking photographs following a non-violent protest against Israel’s annexation wall when an Israeli soldier shot him from approximately 60 meters with a high-velocity tear gas projectile designed to travel up to 500 meters. Tristan survived multiple life-saving surgeries but remains in a Tel Aviv hospital, where he works daily to recover.

Upon learning of Tristan’s suffering, people throughout the world have embraced him for following his conscience and not the policies of his government. Shane, Sarah and Josh are close friends of Tristan’s who similarly follow their own consciences. With Tristan, they share common principles, projects and community. Before traveling to the Middle East, they worked together on social justice issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. Tristan was a regular guest at the house where Shane and Josh lived, and all four worked with Food Not Bombs, a food relief group that serves free meals to the homeless.

A few days after Tristan was shot, Shane, Sarah and Nora (Sarah’s mother) traveled to visit him in the hospital in Tel Aviv. They carried roses from Palestinian friends in Syria, where Sarah and Shane were living. Then, just before Josh arrived in Syria, and shortly before the group’s fateful hiking trip to Iraqi Kurdistan, Shane and Shon Meckfessel (the fourth hiker) returned to visit Tristan in the hospital to support us through a difficult time.

We empathize with the parents of Shane, Sarah and Josh. It pains us greatly, on top of the tragedy we have already suffered, to see Tristan’s close friends made to bear the burden of grievances between nations. They are not instruments of their government, but independent thinkers who set their own course and seek to explore beyond the rhetoric, clichés and propaganda which stain the lens and stifle debate. Tristan, Shane, Sarah and Josh all journeyed to the Middle East with the purest of intentions: to expand their cultural horizons, to learn the rich histories and customs of other people and to seek a common humanity. Please do not punish them for the trespasses of others.

With all our hearts, we implore you to return Shane, Sarah and Josh to their families.

Sincerely,

Nancy Anderson & Mike Anderson

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF OF THIS LETTER IN FARSI.
CLICK HERE FOR A PDF OF THIS LETTER IN ARABIC.