WEEK OF ACTION: ONE MILLION VOICES FOR SHANE AND JOSH – July 25-29

Photo by John Soares from www.chomsky.info

“I’m Noam Chomsky and I’m deeply disturbed that this July 31 will mark two years that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have spent behind bars in Iran for no reason. Holding two people in prison due to their nationality is unconscionable and the conditions under which Shane and Josh have been held are deplorable. Please join A Million Voices in the week leading up to Shane and Josh’s slated trial date. Call on Iranian Authorities to show that they make a distinction between the American government’s policies in their country and these two, innocent, young American peace activists that they are holding by immediately releasing Shane and Josh.”

CALL TO ACTION! *PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY*

The San Francisco Bay Area supporters of Shane and Josh invite you to join One Million Voices for Shane and Josh; an international call-in blitz on the Iranian Interests section in Washington D.C. the week before their trial in Tehran.

Can you please help spread the word? Join the event on Facebook and invite your friends! If we are going to reach our goal of a million phone calls we need every one of you to mobilize all the people-power you’ve got!

For more information, please see the details below (including phone number and sample text) and our website: http://twoyearsistoolong.wordpress.com.

Share this flyer far and wide!

The week leading up to their trial in Tehran, join an international week of action to free the two American Hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. In 2009, Bauer and Fattal, along with Bauer’s fiancée Sarah Shourd, were arrested along an unmarked stretch of the Iranian-Iraqi border. While Shourd was released last Fall, the two men are falsely accused of espionage and could face many more years in prison if convicted.

One Million Voices for Shane and Josh is an international call in blitz on the Iranian Interests section in Washington D.C. We will remind the Iranian government that the whole world is watching and wants Bauer and Fattals’ immediate release to their family. Shane and Josh are expected to face trial on July 31st, 2011 the two year anniversary of their detention.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. CALL EVERY DAY the week of JULY 25th, 2011
Beginning Monday, July 25th, 8AM EST though Friday, July 29th, 5pm EST (the week before their trial in Tehran) call the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington D.C. at (202) 965-4990 with the following message:

“I am a supporter of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. I know that the two are not spies and urge you to release them and allow them to travel home to their families tomorrow.”

Please remember to remain polite and respectful.

For all of the International Supporters of Shane and Josh: Please support Shane and Josh by first calling the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington DC. It is most important for us to flood the American line but additional calls to your embassies in support of Shane and Josh would be appreciated.

TOM MORELLO CALLS THE INTERESTS SECTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

We’ll only know if we have reached our goal of a million phone calls if you let us know you have done your part! If you take action for Shane and Josh, please email amor.y.libertad@live.com and let us know about it.

3. URGE YOUR FRIENDS TO DO BECOME A VOICE FOR SHANE AND JOSH

• Email this call to action to your friends, contacts and list-serves you are a part of.
• Ask organizations you know to encourage their membership to participate.
• Change your Facebook and Twitter status to encourage your friends to participate.

4. ORGANIZE A PHONE PYRAMID AND/OR GATHERING

ONE MILLION VOICES FOR SHANE AND JOSH is right around the corner and we need your help! Please host a Phone Gathering and/or organize a Phone Pyramid THIS WEEK. Gather together a group of family, friends, and neighbors to motivate each other to call 10-20 personal contacts and in turn ask each of them to call 10-20 more of their contacts…. thereby creating a phone pyramid that will exponentially increase the number of calls demanding that Shane and Josh be released immediately!

HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO:

1. Invite 2-20 people to a specific place at a specific time.
2. Each of you call 10-20 people and tell them about  ONE MILLION VOICES:
3. Ask them to commit to calling the Iranian office listed below as many times as possible every day from July 25-29.
4. Ask them to call 10-20 of their contacts and get them to commit to making as many calls as possible to the Iranian office every day from July 25-29.
5. Print and distribute ONE MILLION VOICES fliers to all your guests.

TIPS

1. Use the script provided here if you like, or ad lib!
2. Try to talk with your friends directly, it’s much more effective than leaving a message!
3. Make a list of who you call, so it’s easy for you to follow the call with an email reminder before the A MILLION VOICES starts on the 25^th.

SCRIPT:

Hello. Have you heard about the American Hikers who have been held in prison in Iran for almost two years? Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are totally innocent, they’ve been held for 2 years without a trial and have never even been allowed to meet with their lawyer! Iran says they will finally have a trial this month, on July 31^st and we need everyone who knows how to use a phone to call the Iranian Interest Section in DC and tell them, “The hikers are innocent, please free them now”. Also, if you could call 10-20 of your friends and ask them to call the Iranian office that week, we can really fill the phone lines and make a huge impression.

CONTACT INFO:

Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington, DC

(202) 965-4990

Monday thru Friday 8:00am-4:30pm (Eastern Standard Time)