250 DAYS
Images, videos and reports from the 250 Days Hope Vigils, held on 11 April 2010.
250 DAY VIGIL: BROOKLYN, NY—BY SAMI FELD
Apr 23rd
I was lucky enough to travel with Josh Fattal last spring on the International Honors Program to India, China and South Africa, where Josh served as our teaching fellow on a public health-focused study abroad trip. Back in August, when I heard about Josh, Sarah and Shane and their detention, I connected with other friends of SSJ in the New York area who have, like me, been deeply impacted by Josh, Sarah and/or Shane and we have since began organizing to raise awareness here in New York. On April 11th, many of us here from the New York region gathered to mark 250 days that Josh, Sarah and Shane have been in detention. It was a true spring day in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. We gathered pages of signatures from passers by for the petition to urge the Iranian authorities to release Josh, Sarah and Shane, and we shared their story. We lit candles and sent thoughts and blessings of hope and strength, and shared in a delicious picnic. Check out what Scott C and Kristina L have to say about the day in the video below!
While I cannot fathom the fact that is has already been 8 and a half months—and the fear and loneliness and the distress that Josh, Sarah and Shane have been enduring—my sense of hope was renewed on this Sunday afternoon upon meeting and speaking with so many people who demonstrated such compassion for Josh, Sarah and Shane, and have committed themselves to seeing that they return home.
Scott & Kristina Talk About The Hikers
VANCOUVER VIGIL VIGNETTE
Apr 15th
More dispatches have been coming in from Hope Vigil organizers from around the world. The following is an email we received from Jackie, one of the organizers of the VANCOUVER 250 DAYS HOPE VIGIL:
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Jackie
Date: Mon, Apr 12, 2010 at 12:42 PM
Subject: Photos from Vancouver Hope Vigil
To: Alex, Farah
Here are some photos from our day yesterday. I will send a few with this email and the rest in another.
Signing the petition.
I would call it a success! There were many people on the trail when we were doing our walk and we stopped and talked to at least 40 of them and got many new signatures for the petition. If they didn’t sign right away, they at least took away with them the hand out with the website on it and promised to sign there after they had read more about it. Some people had heard about what is happening on the news, others knew nothing about it but everyone was very supportive and interested and I am sure will go out and spread the word themselves.
We raised $250 from our raffle. I will donate that through the website this afternoon.
We wrote postcards to the hikers and also letters to Ahmadinejad.
And then we just ate some really good food including Rachel’s vegan, fair-trade chocolate cake!
Alex, my mom won the “free the hikers” necklace in the raffle and she would like to give it to your mom.
Hope the day went well for you both. I look forward to reading about and seeing pictures of what everybody did on the website.
VANCOUVER 250 DAYS HOPE VIGIL
NOTE, HOPE & PICTURE FROM ZWELETEMBA, SOUTH AFRICA
Apr 15th
250 DAYS HOPE VIGIL: Zweletemba, South Africa—Community that Josh was part of at this time last year came together to send love & light to Sarah, Shane & Josh.
Here is a pic from the Zweletemba vigil…with more to come soon. I’ve encouraged Mira to write a blog post about it—and also asked her to encourage others from their group to write from their perspectives. Their internet connectivity is limited there so we shall see… I know that vigil has also impacted on our (IHP) group that was there a year ago—hopefully some of them can write something too.
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: MIra
Date: Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 9:02 AM
Subject: Zweletemba Hope Vigil
To: FarahHi Farah,
Picture from the Zweletemba, South Africa Hope Vigil
This is MIra, this year’s heath and community fellow. I also am a good friend of Josh’s, as we were students together in the International Honors Program 8 years ago.
We had a really nice vigil this past weekend in Zelethemba. I am attaching here one photo in the hopes you could upload it to the webiste. I hope to pass on more, but wanted to get you something to begin with. I have already put it on Facebook.
Thanks for everything you are doing!
I could feel everyone’s energy this Sunday and have a good feeling that this will be over soon.
TAI CHI TO FREE THE HIKERS
Apr 15th
OUR SURPRISE HOPE VIGIL AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE:
Tai Chi to Free the Hikers
Leah, Eric & Me
Tai Chi to Free the Hikers
Leah, Eric & Me
Two friends, Leah, Eric, and I organized a small event to mark 250 days on Sunday. We organized “Tai Chi to Free the Hikers” in which we advertised to the campus that there would be an opportunity to either learn or do tai chi as a tribute to Josh. We practiced on the steps of our student center so that people walking by might ask what the event was for, and so that we could spread awareness about the hikers’ detention. Unfortunately, we only got pictures of the three of us, and not the other students who participated. But it was a beautiful day to be outside and it brought back fond memories of IHP, Josh, and China!
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VIDEO: HIKERS STILL DETAINED IN IRAN 255 DAYS LATER
Apr 14th
REPUBLISHED FROM MONTGOMERY MEDIA:
Taken at the Elkins Park Vigil
Monday was the 255th day Elkins Park native Josh Fattal, 27, and his companions Shane Bauer, 27, and Sara Shourd, 31, had spent detained in Iran. Laura Fattal, mother of Josh Fattal, spoke to an audience of friends and family at the Curtis Arboretum Sunday to mark the 254th day her son has been detained.
Fattal mentioned a recent phone conversation with her son, after months without communication, which she said showed evidence that he remains in good health and has even kept his sense of humor. She said her son mentioned a family joke during the conversation proving to her that Josh remains in good spirits.
YES, THEY ARE STILL THERE!
Apr 12th
Yesterday was a gorgeous day in Prospect Park with Josh, Shane and Sarah’s amazing friends and supporters spreading the word about their ongoing. People were coming to us to ask for flyers and were eager to hear what is going on with SSJ. One question that came up quite a few times throughout the day was, ‘are they still there?’ Many people thought they had been released already. I wish!!!!!!!!!
On a sunny Sunday in Brooklyn with families out picnicking it is easy to forget the world is not as topsy turvy as it is. It is easy to forget that wrong is continually justified as right and that politics eclipse personal and human concerns. Maybe it was just all the bloom of spring that had everyone thinking that the hikers were now free to lounge with people they love. Or maybe it’s that they assumed that the hikers so blatantly pose no threat to Iran that they must have released them. But unfortunately the freedom of my brother and his friends continues to be unjustly denied. Neither the spring sun nor the logic has seemed to make a difference.
Thanks to everyone who came out and reminded the lovely Brooklynites we met that yes, they are STILL there! Hopefully, some of those people will now go out into their communities and do something to contribute to the efforts to bring them home soon. For those who need ideas, check out the Take Action section of www.freethehikers.org.
VIDEO: HIKERS’ MOMS SPEAK AT 250 DAYS HOPE VIGIL IN MN
Apr 12th
In this video, Shane’s mother, Cindy Hickey, and Sarah’s mother, Nora Shourd, are speaking to a crowd of supporters at the 250 Days Hope Vigil, held in Pine City, Minnesota on April 11, 2009.
Mother’s Day is less than a month away and while most moms are preparing for of pampering, brunches, and gifts, Pine City resident Cindy Hickey is fearing the day. Hickey fears that she will not be able to be with or even get a phone call from her son Shane. If Mother’s Day is anything like the past 255 days, Shane Bauer will spend May 9th in an Iranian Prison. He and two other Americans have been detained there since July 31st. Sunday, a vigil was held in Pine City in supporter of Bauer, his mother , friends and family.
—Sam Klemet Reports.
Cindy Hickey & Nora Shourd lead the way at the Pine City 250 Days Hope Vigil
LOVED ONES HOLD MN VIGIL FOR IMPRISONED HIKERS IN IRAN
Apr 12th
The hikers have been imprisoned for over 250 days
MINNEAPOLIS—Half a world away, friends and family members continue to fight for the freedom of three Americans detained in Iran. One of them is from the Minnesota. They’re accused of spying, but for the past 250 days, they have been waiting in an Iranian jail.
Supporters release 250 bio-degradable balloons at Shakopee Hope Vigil
To help the trio get home, the family of Minnesotan Shane Bauer released 250 balloons on Sunday to mark the 250 days he and his two friends have been held in Iran. The number is actually at 254 and Bauer’s whole family is keeping track.
Everyday, friends and family of Bauer, his girlfriend Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal find ways to not lose hope.
Al Bauer is Shane Bauer’s dad, and for 254 days, he’s been searching for ways to help his son and his two friends make their way out of Iran.
The government there has accused them of being spies. The three were captured after the hikers’ families say they unknowingly crossed into the country from Iraq.
Until then, the Bauer’s and their close friends will continue to lean on each other for help getting through the bad days. They are also sharing the hikers’ story on freethehikers.org . It is a website where people can track the latest developments and leave encouraging messages for the family.
Several of these vigils were held Sunday across the country, including the hometowns of the other two hikers.
RANDOM THOUGHTS!
Apr 12th
One day when my group and I were taking a class at Sarah and Shane’s, Sarah showed us an interesting view of Damascus. Before we started the class she took us to a roof of one of the buildings. The view was amazing. It’s indescribable. From that roof you can see Damascus. All Damascus: parks, mosques, churches, streets, clubs, everything. I still remember what we were talking about. we were talking about how unpredictable Damascus weather was, especially where Sarah and Shane lived—uphill. It was great time.
Me, Sarah & Shane together in Nabak, Syria
She had created this sort of bridge that no other teacher I had had did before. She was more than a teacher, more than a friend. I used to talk to her about virtually anything concerns me, whether class material, things we discuss in class, or generally life issues… I miss our talks; I miss you, Sarah!
I had you in my mind today during the vigil. It might sound absurd but I really wanted you and Shane sitting with me (I know, we will change the poster to something else, don’t worry) today. I know where you are now is kind of has warm weather, at BU beach today though it was great as the cool breeze started to get higher. After you get home, spend sometime with your family, you should definitely get here and sit at BU beach!
I will take you there… As you read this! Someday, soon…
Stay strong… Thinking about you..
CNN: VIGILS TO BE HELD FOR #USHIKERS DETAINED IN IRAN
Apr 11th
Friends and supporters of three American hikers detained in Iran plan to hold vigils in various cities across the United States on Sunday to call for their release.
Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd were detained on July 3.
Sarah Shourd, pictured in an undated family photo, is one of three American hikers detained in Iran since July.
Their families said they accidentally strayed across an unmarked border into Iran while on a hiking trip in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. They are being held on espionage charges.
Vigil organizers say that supporters will gather in 12 cities Sunday: The Cheltenham/Philadelphia area in Pennsylvania; Shakopee and Pine City in Minnesota; Berkeley and Los Angeles in California; Boston and Worcester in Massachusetts; Seattle, Washington; Cottage Grove, Oregon; Brooklyn, New York; Vancouver, Canada; and Cape Town, South Africa.
“Shane, Sarah and Josh have now been held for 254 days,” says a statement by their families that is expected to be read at the vigil. “The Iranian authorities seem to be trying to make it appear that they had some ridiculous motive for entering Iran when it is abundantly obvious that if they did cross onto Iranian territory, they had no intention of doing so.”
On March 9, the three hikers spoke to relatives for the first time since they were jailed.
“When Shane, Sarah and Josh finally were allowed to call home, they all wanted to know why their case is taking so long to resolve,” the family statement says. “We had no good answers and Iran does not have a good answer either.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has told the country’s semi-official Fars News Agency that the country plans to put the hikers on trial.
The United States has appealed to Iranian leaders to release the three as soon as possible, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
The hikers’ families said they have submitted a petition with more than 10,000 signatures to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations asking for their release.
Bauer and Fattal, both 27, are being held in the same cell in a Tehran prison; Shourd is in a cell there by herself but can visit the other two every day, the families said earlier.
Their mothers have applied for visas to travel to Iran to visit them in prison, but they have not yet learned whether they will be able to do that.
“We ask Iran to stop playing with our emotions,” the message continues. “The fear and uncertainty is taking a terrible toll on us and we can only imagine the terrible strain on our loved ones.
“Every night, we go to bed hoping that Iran has finally accepted that our loved ones are innocent and decided to allow them to return to us, but we wake up and the nightmare continues.”
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