TESTIMONIALS
Testimonials of support for Shane, Josh and Sarah by their friends, family, colleagues and supporters.
“As we wandered together, Josh reminded us who we were and what we could be” ~ Leah Katzelnick
Aug 4th
On July 31, 2009, I had stumbled into a small Internet café in Managua, Nicaragua to read tidings from the United States. My inbox was flooded with the news that my mentor, teacher, and dear friend Josh Fattal, as well as Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer, had been taken into custody by the Iranian authorities. I circled around the block on that bright morning and cried with frustration on the curb. A blossoming tree embraced me with its laden branches; Josh’s imprisonment could not have seemed more strange and distant in that moment.
IHP is built on the principle of uprooting its students, casting them adrift in the magnificent, edifying school of the world. Our books were conversations, our classrooms villages and non-profits. Everyone we met was our teacher. In the midst of continuous change, Josh was a focus of stability, a pivot point in our transformative journey. He was there to make us laugh, to lead us on to the next adventure, and always to reflect with us. When our minds were unmoored he philosophized us into the docks of heightened awareness, when we were lonely he culled from within us memories that revived our wearied souls. As we wandered together, Josh reminded us who we were and what we could be, connecting our seemingly lost and our realized selves.
I have wandered a great deal since our journey together. I passed my summer after the International Honors Program to India, China and South Africa in Nicaragua; devoted my last year at university exploring what I had learned of NGOs and volunteering during my travels on IHP and in Nicaragua; spent a summer studying Dengue Fever in a lab in North Carolina; and passed the next year pursuing a Masters in Public Health in England. Not only did Josh help guide me towards this path, but his imprint on my thought process allows me to re-equilibrate as environment and ideas whirl around me in endless flurry. Yet, while I have migrated, he has been confined and restricted. In a dulled environment, he is deprived of that world of change, the world that moves and inspires and nurtures. His sustenance is memories and the few shreds of correspondence that reach his dank cell.
What Josh always provided us with was comfort amidst the strangeness of change, grounding and familiarity within the foreign. Josh, the most positive, optimistic, vibrant person I have ever met, is certain to search for this home within the foreign, comfort despite suffering. I cannot possibly imagine the courage this requires. We hope our fast and love for Josh will stir the unmoving, embrace him with the familiar, and sustain in him, and the world, a vision of freedom. We hope to act as a stimulus to bring him home.
~ 
Leah Katzelnick
IHP Health and Community, ’09
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.
MOTHER’S DAY APPEAL FROM CINDY SHEEHAN*
May 8th
Today is Mother’s Day and my heart goes out to Cindy Hickey and Laura Fattal, whose sons Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have now been unlawfully detained in Iran for more than 92 weeks. Shane and Josh are being made to suffer a harsh punishment for absolutely no crime. The Iranian authorities know that these young men are anything but spies; instead they embody the true spirit of justice and peace.
One of the most painful experiences any parent can have is being unable to help your child when he or she is suffering or in danger. You are overcome by a feeling of powerlessness which soon gives way to outrage. With strength, determination and support, we can transform our pain into positive action. This is what mothers do, whether it is fighting to protect their children from bullying in school or working for their freedom where there is great injustice, as in the case of Shane and Josh.
Cindy Hickey and Laura Fattal have taken that mother’s instinct and, with their families, they have fashioned themselves into powerful advocates for their sons on the international stage. It is an unexpected role for these two courageous women; one they must never have imagined would fall on their shoulders. But for all their weariness and despair, they press on.
Shane, a freelance journalist and fluent Arabic speaker, and Josh, an environmental educator, were detained by Iranian forces on the unmarked border with Iraqi Kurdistan, where they were hiking in the mountains behind a popular tourist destination at the end of July 2009. Shane’s fiancée, Sarah Shourd, who was arrested with them and released in September last year, was not wearing a headscarf when they were taken. That simple fact makes a mockery of Iranian allegations that they were on a spying mission since it is obligatory in Iran for women to cover their hair.
I do not think ‘prisoner’ or ‘captive’ is quite the right word for these two innocent men. It is common to hear the words ‘political pawns’ and ‘bargaining chips’ used to describe Shane and Josh but really the most accurate term is ‘hostages’. And, Iran should stop holding them for no legitimate reason simply because they are Americans.
Time is precious, especially time with your children. Cindy and Laura have had nearly two years of that time stolen from them by the actions of the Iranian authorities. For more than 21 months, Shane and Josh have been cut off from their families and the world. They have been allowed just two brief phone calls home and a short visit from their mothers.
Shane and Josh are accused of espionage but I cannot imagine two more unlikely US agents. Both men are peace activists who protested in the streets against the senseless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and have shown solidarity with the struggles of oppressed people across the globe, from South Africa to Palestine. These are precisely the sort of issues that Iran so frequently says it champions.
Shane and Josh will be put on trial on Wednesday. There is no reason for that trial to end in anything other than their acquittal and immediate release. I call on the Iranian judicial authorities to act in a spirit of justice and truth and return Shane and Josh to their mothers and families.
*Cindy Sheehan is an American peace activist who became a prominent figure in the anti-war movement after her son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed in Iraq in April 2004.
Rachel Rothman Testifies for Josh
Feb 14th
Josh teaches children in South Africa how to plant trees
Josh’s vision for a better world speaks volumes of his true character. His gift to see positive in any given situation demonstrates his fine nature. His quest for freedom is shared by compassionate humanitarians all over the world. A community that he has always been a part of, as he himself searches to find equality throughout the planet.
Josh lives by Mahatma Gandhi’s words:
“Be the change you want to see in the world”
I am lucky enough to have crossed his path and I can promise you that the world needs more people like Josh.
Rachel Rothman
Please Release my Friend
Feb 10th
Helena sealing a parachute cord bracelet onto the wrist of a fellow IHP student
I don’t wear much jewelry. The only piece I wear consistently is a bracelet on my wrist – a bracelet that is much more to me than a piece of parachute cord. This bracelet represents love and hope, fellowship and scholarship, friendship, curiosity and laughter, the necessity of travel, and blood, sweat and tears. This bracelet has withstood everything I’ve thrown at it – it survived jet lag and culture shock, survived the last 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail, and survived nearly two years of swimming in rivers and lakes, climbing up and down rocks, and skiing up and down mountains all over Maine. And I wear it, I wear it every day, every minute of every day, to remind me of the time I spent all over the world, meeting people and traveling with people who taught me about every one of the things that this bracelet represents, who continually showed me the depths that friendship and love and fellowship and curiosity can reach, to remind me of the people who redefined these things for me.
My friend Josh, he taught me more about life, more about the world, more about the importance of compassion for people and the environment, more about all of these things than I thought possible. My friend Josh, he’s a thinker, an activist, and a total sweetheart. My friend Josh is in custody right now, facing charges of espionage. I’m writing to push for his release, for the release of a man who is strong in his convictions and his belief that all people should be free. For the release of a man who flourishes in all sorts of different situations – a man who explained the physics and mechanics behind no-flush self-composting toilets to a classroom full of university students while we were in India, a man who danced and sang with me and my friends at a KTV in Changsha, a man who stood at a ticket counter in Hong Kong, patiently negotiating and renegotiating for upwards of two hours to make sure that all of his students’ bags would be on the right flight, a man who slept under the stars at an alternative school in Kerala.
He is a man who can speak to the enormity of the problems facing all of us today without overwhelming his audience, a man who imagines and strives to achieve solutions, who works to realize a better world for all of us. He is a man who I know in my heart is innocent of all charges. I implore you, Iran, treat him with the compassion that he showed his friends and students as we traveled the world, the compassion that he taught by example, the compassion that he would surely show you.
The weight of this bracelet is bringing me down and lifting me up, all at once – pushing me to learn, to teach, to listen as Josh would, but also reminding me every day, all day, that my friend Josh can’t share his gifts with the people he loves. Reminding me that my friend Josh is being tried for a crime that he would never think of committing. Reminding me that my friend Josh is not free. We need Josh. The world needs Josh. It is within your power to fix this situation. So fix this. Right this wrong, and show the world that you understand compassion, that you understand justice, that you understand all of the things that Josh stands for and believes in. Please release my friend.
Sincerely,
Helena Turner
IHP Health and Community 2009
Bates College 2010
New Things to Come: A Testimony to the Innocence of Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer by Sarah Shourd
Feb 6th
Josh, Sarah and Shane in Iraqi Kurdistan
During the last four and a half months of heart-wrenching separation from Shane and Josh, my mind often goes back to memories of prison. I see the three of us coming out bleary-eyed into the courtyard after three months of complete isolation, laying out a ‘feast’ of whatever food we had been able to store up to mark a holiday, or huddled under a blanket on the cold, stone floor marveling at the sight of snow falling around us.
Sometimes I see Shane and Josh’s eyes in my mind flashing with fear or strained with anxiety; other times I see them brimming with tears or beaming with love. I remember the day of our arrest when we linked arms and begged the border police not to tear us apart. “Please,” we begged, “let us stay together.”
Those of you that have been following my writing and appearances in the media since my release have heard me say a lot about how much I admire Shane and Josh as professionals, peace activists and global citizens. You have heard me say again and again that Shane and Josh don’t deserve to be in prison one minute longer that I was and never deserved to be there in the first place. When we went hiking in Iraqi Kurdistan we didn’t know that we were near an unmarked border with Iran. We were living, working and traveling in the region in order to increase our knowledge of its diverse cultures, lend a hand through our humanitarian work and promote more understanding in our communities back home.
Our misfortune on that fateful day of July 31st, 2009, has resulted in a huge misunderstanding. This is the antithesis of what Shane, Josh and I came to the Middle East to do. Josh and Shane agree with me that Iran is a great country with an ancient culture to be admired and learned from. In the arc of history Persia, dating back to 4000 BC, has demonstrated incredible resilience and strength. Iranian people have a reason to be proud as the progenitors of one of the world’s oldest civilizations.
Shane, Josh and I never intended to go anywhere near Iran and we certainly meant no harm to its people or their leaders or by hiking near its northwestern border with Iraq. None of us had ever studied Persian history, politics or Farsi until we found ourselves in prison. Shane and I both decided to study Arabic as part of a commitment to engage constructively with Middle Eastern peoples, in hopes of countering the destructive toll taken by a decade of war led by our country. Josh shares these values; that’s why he traveled thousands of miles to visit us in Damascus, Syria.
Sometimes my mind finds its way back to even more distant memories. The first time I visited Josh in Oregon we went hiking in the woods behind the environmental school, Aprovecho, where he taught and ran internships. A simple hike turned out to be a gauntlet of trials. First, I sank knee-deep into the mud and Josh pulled me out. Then, I was terrified to find that a tick had bored its way into the skin on my arm. Josh calmly and patiently instructed me how to burn it off. I also remember Josh arriving wind-blown at our apartment in Damascus after six months of teaching and traveling. He was so eager to immerse himself in our new world, he even signed up for an Arabic class at Damascus University that he was going to start upon our return from Kurdistan!
Then there was the time in Yemen that I suddenly got ill. Shane went to hail a taxi while the hotel manager and some guests wrapped me in wool blankets to try to stop my shivering. A few minutes later we were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and the cab couldn’t move an inch. Shane got out of the car and started yelling at the top of his lungs in Arabic, “Oh people. My dear fiancée is sick! Please my people, move to the side of the road so that we can pass and deliver her safely to the hospital! Thank you so much, oh people!” All of the cars moved to the side of the road. Even though my teeth were chattering and I was shaking with fever I couldn’t help smiling and thanking God for bringing this incredible man into my life!
Sarah talks to media at one year protest in San Francisco
I’ve never wanted anything as badly as I want Shane and Josh to be free. I want it even more than I wanted my own freedom those 14 long months at Evin. I want to see Shane walk off into the sunset with his arms wrapped around his younger sisters. I want to see their fathers’ smiles light up the room and tears of joy stream down their mothers’ faces. I want Josh’s brother to get his heart back. I want their grandparents to rest assured that their children’s children are finally free.
The problems of our world today are much bigger than we are as individuals. Shane, Josh and I will never blame any one individual for what is happening to us or for the toll it has taken on our families. The political problems that divide our countries are structural and have been accumulating for decades. I believe that each and every one of us has the opportunity to make a small dent in the formidable odds working against global peace. I want to beseech Iran’s religious and political leaders to set Shane and Josh free so that they can help make a difference. Give them a chance to do the good work in the world that they were destined to do.
I remember the moment in the prison courtyard when Josh asked me if he could call me his ‘sister’ and the moment that Shane asked me to be his partner for life. Last week, the engagement ring that Shane wove for me in prison from a shirt thread finally snapped. At first I was upset and angry at the loss, but then I told myself it was a sign of new things to come.
Tegra Fisk Testifies for Josh
Feb 6th
‘If the water in a pool is not moving, it becomes stagnant and muddy,
but if it stirs and flows, it becomes clear again; the same is true of a man on a journey.’~ Muhammed Asad, Le Chemin de la Mecque
Leafing through his wallet one day as we were hanging out, I discovered in Josh Fattal’s peculiars, a small note. It said something like, “If this is found after I have died, know that I loved my life and that I have lived well.” If I loved, respected and admired him before that moment, the feeling was deepened and intensified for good after it. Why would a vibrant 26 year-old be considering the end of his life? Why would he be moved to express to an unknown audience his understanding of its preciousness? Coming to know him well in the years that followed, I saw that his vibrancy, the immediacy and wholeheartedness with which he approached every act did not spring only from his natural joy for life. It was informed by a keen understanding of the cultural upheaval and the daily inhumanities of modernity. Josh is uncommonly well educated and tirelessly curious about history and the human condition. His every gesture and word testifies for a greater humanity, for both a return to and a leap into decency and generosity.
He is imprisoned in Tehran beyond reason for more than a year and a half now. Those of us who know him know he is working to make his captors laugh, to coax them out of their role as agents of repression. In spite of his solitude, because of who he is, the inevitable generosity of his being is surely beaming through the darkness. Sitting with Shane in his cell he is both student and professor of his private university. Even through the muddy waters of Evin Prison something is stirring and I can sense Josh’s dreams becoming more and more clear.
Tegra Fisk
Cottage Grove, Oregon
Richard Kim of @TheNation Testifies for Shane
Feb 5th
My name is Richard Kim, and I am Shane Bauer’s editor at The Nation magazine. I worked with Shane on a cover story he did for The Nation on the training of Iraqi Special Operations Forces by the United States government, and I would like to provide this testimony on his behalf.
Baghdad in the spring of 2009–when Shane reported the story–was not a particularly safe place for journalists. At least a hundred civilians were killed in bombings during those months; many more were injured. As a result of the US occupation, the city was divided into sectarian zones and extremely difficult and dangerous to navigate. Why would a young American journalist choose to go there? And why would he do so unembedded, leaving the Green Zone without the protection of the US military so that he could talk to ordinary Iraqis?
There are many ways to answer those questions. As a journalist, Shane Bauer believed in telling the truth. He was courageous in his reporting and unflinching in his assessment of the US occupation and the impact it had on ordinary Iraqis. He has a great passion for learning about other cultures, and his love for human diversity is evident in every article he writes. But most of all, Shane Bauer is a man of peace–and that is why he went to a place of war.
When Shane went to Baghdad in the spring of 2009, it was to talk to the family members of innocent Iraqis who had been killed by US-trained militias. He spoke to the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, children and grandparents of these victims in their homes, shared meals with them, listened to their stories for days. And then he told those stories to Americans here in the United States–so that we would better understand what was being done in our name thousands of miles away. Through working with Shane, I witnessed first-hand his fervent belief that every human life is precious, that it has dignity and deserves respect. I also believe that he hoped to play a small role in ending the war in Iraq and bringing about a meaningful peace by using his particular talent for listening and writing.
At a time of such conflict, the world needs more journalists like Shane Bauer. His freedom would be a gift–not just to him and his family–but to the world.
Richard Kim, Senior Editor
Tao Orion Testifies for Josh
Feb 5th
One thing I love about Josh is to find points of integration between seemingly disparate elements. In his time at Aprovecho, Josh was the visionary, the organizer, the grounding force, and the inspiration for so much that we did and continue to do to this day. He participated in many different elements of our organization, from curriculum development to teaching, trail building to consensus building, and I can testify that his work and who he is provides inspiration for every Aprovecho student, volunteer, and community member.
I remember once heading out for another day of work in the garden: weeding, watering, planting, tending. I knew Josh was working on planning the curriculum for the upcoming internship program, sitting in the office behind a computer. He saw me walking into the garden and asked where I was headed. I mentioned that I was going to plant the milpa: corn, beans, and squash that grow together in a bed, each of them providing something for the other and in turn receiving something that they need. Also known as the three sisters, this type of planting is traditional in Mexico and Guatemala, where Josh had spent time as an International Honors Program participant and as an Aprovecho stove consultant.
Josh was so excited to plant a milpa at Aprovecho that he dedicated time throughout the season, from digging beds to planting, weeding, watering, and harvesting, on top of the rest of his work, in order to learn about and participate in something that had a greater meaning for him. The milpa represented in a garden some of the basic tenets of a durable social theory also being worked on at Aprovecho: each person providing their unique insights and expertise in order to create a more abundant and resilient whole community. The harvests that year from the milpa fed us through the winter, and I look forward to the time when Josh can help coax the abundance from the garden and from our community again.
To imagine Josh, who gave so much to the people and the places that he loves, locked up in prison for 18 months is almost beyond comprehension. He wants to be out in the garden, out in the world, helping and inspiring people again. Everyone at Aprovecho and in the Cottage Grove and Eugene communities who knows him wishes him free with all their hearts.
Tao Orion
Co-Director, Aprovecho
Yogeeta Manglani and Sami Feld Testify for Josh
Feb 5th
We, Yogeeta Manglani and Samantha Feld, testify that Josh Fattal is an extraordinary teacher, activist and, above all, friend. He has been in prison 554 days too long.
Yogeeta and Sami in South Africa during the International Honors Program
As students of the International Honors Program, we spent four incredible months learning and traveling with Josh. He exposed us to new ideas and added an unimaginable depth to our studies through his knowledge and passion for learning. Without his support, unwavering strength and guidance, our experience would not have been the same.
During the eighteen months that Josh has been unjustly detained, we have gotten to know his friends and family through the campaign for the hikers’ release. We have been continually reminded of his generosity and the strong impact he is capable of having on all those he encounters.
The world needs more people who are willing to selflessly dedicate their time to the environment, justice and other peoples’ well-being. We need more people like Josh, who have a keen ability to bring people together despite cultural and geographic differences. The world has a lot of pressing issues that most people do not acknowledge. It is people like Josh whom we rely on to educate and to inspire. It is time for Josh to be released so he can continue on his journey and better the lives of those around him
