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VIDEO: Josh’s 29th Birthday…Cottage Grove style
Aug 3rd
The prayerboats were sent off at dusk on Josh’s birthday, Main St, Cottage Grove, where the river flows sweet and straight right through town. We made 40 or more boats altogether during his birthday party. Kids, elders, Josh’s friends and family, some media, a couple that drove from out of town to leave a donation.
We sent the boats out to river in a line, handing them off like a firemen’s bucket brigade. Hand to hand. The first one, made of moss, caught fire and went out in a little boat blaze as it floated downriver. Josh would’ve liked that. Out to sea! Everyone stayed on the riverbank and the old covered bridge a long time. The the cloudy sky blazed in an eruption of pink and red fire – a sunset the likes of which we hadn’t seen for a long while.
Before the launch, we played games in the middle of large heart make of knotted scarves. We broke bread together. Sliced up a 10 layer cake baked in the shape of a Ziggurat. Sat in a circle around an altar full of flowers, candles, art, animal totems. We exchanged presents to honor Josh’s desire for a generosity based economy, trading with friends and neighbors. Everyone had stories of Josh and offered their gifts to the circle. We called the center of the circle “the fire” in memory of Josh ecstatically throwing his favorite shirt into a fire at at party.
Everyone cried when Alex threw Josh’s 2nd favorite shirt with the Zapatista red star on it, into the “fire”. At the end, our community put the t-shirt up on a wall at the bookstore. His brother took home a piece of 100yr old yew wood with a poem about surviving the fires that surround you. We agreed we should keep the rest for Josh.
We are so grateful for Josh’s life, we love him so.
Tegra Fisk and the Cottage Grove community
VIDEO: Happy Birthday Shane: Shane Bauer in the eyes of his loved ones
Aug 3rd
In the days leading up to a decision in Iranian courts regarding innocent hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, this video, first shown at a birthday tribute to Shane, takes a closer look at Shane’s work as a journalist/photographer before his captivity in Iran.
Here some of Shane’s closest friends, colleagues and family members talk about why Shane first traveled to the Middle East, why he began intensively studying Arabic when he was 19 and why he became a journalist and photographer.
Filmed by Natalie Avital and edited by Bobby Field. Additional footage from David Martinez and Jacqueline Soohen.
![Shane-Josh-header4[1]](http://fthblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Shane-Josh-header41-64x64.jpg "Shane-Josh-header4[1]")
PRESS RELEASE: Families of Shane Bauer & Josh Fattal Lead Rally of Hope & Prayer in New York
Jul 29th
July 29, 2011
FAMILIES OF SHANE BAUER AND JOSH FATTAL LEAD RALLY OF HOPE AND PRAYER IN NEW YORK TWO DAYS BEFORE THEIR “FINAL” COURT HEARING IN TEHRAN
Trial Session Timed for Second Anniversary of Their Detention
The families of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal will lead a peaceful rally of hope outside the Iranian Mission to the United Nations in New York at noon EDT on Friday, less than 48 hours before the two Americans are scheduled to appear in an Iranian court. Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi has said he expects the court to take a “final decision” in the case on Sunday, the second anniversary of their arrest.
Bauer, a freelance photojournalist, and Fattal, an environmental advocate, both 29, are charged with illegal entry and are falsely accused of espionage.
“If there is fairness in Iran’s legal system, their release is close at hand. I ask everyone here to pray for the next 36 hours until Shane and Josh walk into that courtroom, so that when they walk out they are finally free men and can begin their journey back into our arms,” Bauer’s father Al Bauer said in remarks prepared for the rally.
Bauer and Fattal were arrested with Bauer’s fiancée, Sarah Shourd, on July 31, 2009 on the unmarked border between Iran and Kurdistan, a safe and semi-autonomous area of northern Iraq where they were hiking during a vacation. Shourd, who is 32, was released last September after 410 days in solitary confinement.
Shourd, who had been living in the Middle East with her fiancé until their arrest, used her statement to wish Muslims in Iran and everywhere a Blessed Ramadan on behalf of the families of the two men. “Please, if you could make a little room in your prayers on the eve of Ramadan for my fiancé, my friend and our families, it would mean the world to us,” she said.
“I know in my heart that when Shane and Josh walk out of prison, they will hold no bitterness towards anyone. I pray that day is very soon. And I know their hearts will be filled with the same love and respect for the world that they had two years ago. If anything, they will have more,” Shourd added.
Bauer and Fattal were not formally charged until Shourd’s release last September and have appeared in court only once – on February 6 this year when they testified to their innocence verbally and in writing. Their last contact with their families was on May 22, in one of only three brief telephone calls home they have been able to make since their arrest.
Fattal’s mother Laura Fattal, Faraz Sanei, Middle East Researcher for Human Rights Watch and Shahid Mahmood, prominent Muslim-American from the New York area, were also scheduled to address the rally. Bauer and Fattal will be represented in court by their Iranian lawyer, Mr. Masoud Shafii.
“We do not expect to get much sleep between now and Sunday,” Laura Fattal said. “The judiciary in Iran says it will be the final hearing. We hope and pray that this is true. Josh and Shane are clearly innocent. 730 days is more than enough. It is time for them to get back to their lives. That time is now.”
Shane & Josh are tremendous people who deserve to be free ~ Becky Fisher
Jul 15th
Today, I am fasting in solidarity with Shane and Josh’s numerous hunger strikes in prison in Iran. I have known Sarah Shourd for many years, and I know Shane as well. I admired him when I first met him because of his intelligence and journalistic work. I admire him even more now. It takes a tremendous person to remain unbroken even after nearly two years in prison, and continue to fight, even if the only method for doing so is to refuse food. Shane and Josh are both tremendous people who deserve to be free. I hope that soon they will be.
~ Becky Fisher, SSJ friend
My birthday wish for Shane Bauer on his 2nd year unjustly held in Iran ~ Salina Abji
Jul 13th
Photo taken by Alex Fattal
Dearest Shane,
I am marking your second birthday by envisioning you walking out of Evin Prison a free man, full of courage, strength & gratitude. Fast forward to your wedding day with a radiant Sarah as your life partner & Josh standing strong beside you as your best man. Fast forward to your next birthday shared with your close knit family, full of joy & love & gratitude for your freedom. Fast forward to the day when you win your next award for humanitarian work that upholds the principles of justice, equality and peace.
On your birthday, I hope you can hear Sarah’s voice singing “all they can take from us is a piece of time” — and that you can feel us all hoping & praying that this challenging period will soon be well behind you.
Much love to you & Josh,
Salina
xoxo
PS. Friends, you can view some of Shane’s award-winning photojournalism here. My personal favourite is the series on residential housing projects in San Fran
Fasting for Freedom on Independence Day ~ Crystal Rene
Jul 7th
July 4, 2011
The 4th of July is Independence Day, a celebration of freedom for all Americans. Shane and Josh have been robbed of that freedom and independence now for 702 days. I’m fasting today to stand in solidarity with Sarah Shourd and the family and friends of these two Americans, who will spend Independence Day in a prison cell. On July 5th, I’ll go back to work. I’ll eat however and whenever I choose. I’ll run errands, plan vacations, and connect with friends and family. Shane and Josh will continue to sit in a cell. As life goes back to normal for me on July 5, I will be more aware of their struggle, and I will continue to honor and support them in any small way I can.
~ Crystal Rene
NB: For more information on the rolling hunger strike for Shane & Josh and how you can join in, please see http://bit.ly/SSJfast
They want nothing more than the freedom to continue making this world a better place ~ Nazanin Boniadi, Spokesperson, Amnesty International USA
Jul 7th
Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. By now those names should resonate somewhere deep in your psyche. They are the American hikers who were detained in Iran on July 31, 2009, while they were hiking recreationally near the Ahmed Awa waterfall in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Besides the obvious injustice, what makes the fate of these three young Americans even more tragic and ironic is that they embody all that is good in human nature. They are educators and peace-activists who have spent years serving others and helping indigenous communities. They want nothing more than the freedom to continue making this world a better, fairer place.
Their case has caused a global outcry by human rights defenders and organizations citing violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Iran is a signatory. After arresting them for illegal entry, Iranian authorities have broken numerous international laws by way of arbitrary detention, lack of due process, torture by isolation, and by denying them adequate legal counsel or consular visits.
Shourd was released in September 2010 on $500,000 (U.S.) bail, at which point she returned home to the United States and has been on a tireless campaign alongside the hikers’s families to free her fiance (Bauer) and friend (Fattal) ever since. If you Google the word “hikers” you will find that their “Free The Hikers” campaign website appears right at the top, second only to Wikipedia, a testament to just how far-reaching their collective efforts have been.
On June 3, 2011, I joined Shourd in Los Angeles for the campaign’s rolling hunger strike in solidarity with Bauer and Fattal. I was amazed by her courage, warmth and undiminished sense of hope in spite of all she has been through. It takes an extraordinary person to not lose faith in humanity when faced with such a grave injustice.
Bauer and Fattal remain in Iran’s notorious Evin prison on trumped-up charges of espionage. The hikers have not received a fair trial nor have they been formally charged with recognizable criminal offenses.
Media statements given by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suggest that Iran may be seeking concessions by holding Bauer and Fattal captive, an act tantamount to hostage-taking. In fact, for many, this may bring to mind the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis when fifty-two Americans were held hostage in Iran for 444 days, only to be used by the Iranian government as political bargaining chips in its dealings with the United States.
The world cannot stand by while the hikers’s rights continue to be sacrificed in this game of political oneupmanship. Iran is obliged to comply with the provisions of the ICCPR, abide by international standards for a fair trial and allow Bauer and Fattal to return home to their families and loved ones immediately.
Nazanin Boniadi
Actress/ Spokesperson Amnesty International USA
NB: For more information on the rolling hunger strike for Shane & Josh and how you can join in, see http://bit.ly/SSJfast
Rally for Shane and Josh at Bridgefest in #Minnesota on July 9th
Jul 2nd
Laughingstock Design presents the Twin Ports Bridge Festival on July 9, 2011 at Bayfront Festival Park, featuring a Free the Hikers Rally!
Let us know you are joining us by RSVPing on our facebook event page!
Josh showed me what it meant to be a good person ~ Oliver Human
Jun 29th
I am fasting for the release of Josh and Shane. It is a tiny act of solidarity for my friend who I’ve only had a short time to know. Food is actually the reason I came to admire Josh to the extent I have.
We were together one morning in a township in South Africa when he was on the IHP tour (this is where I met him). After a night of braaiing (barbequing) with the students, Josh and I were walking to class past the creche which hosted the braai. We dropped by to make sure that everything was in order from the previous night’s festivities.
When we walked in and asked, the response from the lady who ran the kitchen was that she had a problem and promptly led us to the kitchen sink which was blocked. Without even blinking an eye, Josh immediately set about the task of taking the kitchen sink to pieces in order to solve this problem (which in the end wasn’t even his). I was truly impressed and I think the lady who ran the kitchen even more so as this foreign visitor was so willing to get down on his hands and knees and fix the problem himself. It was a huge job of taking the plumbing apart to dislodge a chicken bone deep in the kitchen’s waste water outlet.
It is hard to describe to those who haven’t spent time in South Africa the truly impressive nature of this act in which a wealthy visitor gets his hands dirty to help somebody from the poorest strata of society without even a blink of an eye. I am fasting, if not for anything else, for this one small act of humanity in which Josh showed me what it meant to be a good person.
~ Oliver Human
Stellenbosch, South Africa
NB: For more information on the rolling hunger strike for Shane & Josh and how you can join in see http://bit.ly/SSJfast
