FYI
“From a newly free Benghazi, I fast for Shane & Josh” ~ Karen Leigh
May 29th
If you’re going to attempt a solidarity fast while reporting from Libya, then you really have to believe in something. I went 36 hours without food in Benghazi this week in honor of Shane and Josh because I believe that two innocent men should be free as soon as possible – and that they should not each spend yet another birthday in jail. If Josh and Shane can give up food and drink for 17 torturous days in order to secure a paltry few-minute phone call home to their loved ones, then we can all stand to sacrifice a little on their behalf. They could be any of us. It’s very difficult to be a journalist in the Middle East (Shane), and it’s very difficult to travel the world trying to bridge cultures through the study of language (Sarah), and it’s very difficult to convince entire communities to change the way they think about the environment and how their actions affect the world around them (Josh.) Sarah is out of Evin but not free to continue her work. Josh and Shane are still locked away and should be allowed to fly home immediately, so that all three can continue their work as peace activists and brokers. So from a newly free Benghazi, I fast — and will do so again beginning Monday — for a soon-to-be-free Shane and Josh.
~ Karen Leigh, TIME, Bloomberg TV
An Indictment Against Injustice ~ Chris Turner, Innocence Project
May 26th
My name is Chris Turner and I am a client of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project in Washington, DC (http://www.exonerate.org/). I will go on a hunger strike today to appeal to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Khamenei, the Iranian Government and to its good citizens for the immediate release of both Josh Fattal & Shane Bauer. Like these two young men, I was wrongfully imprisoned for a crime that I did not commit. I spent more than 26 years of my life behind bars in the U.S. and last year, thanks to help from the Innocence Project, I was set free. Therefore, I can speak with firsthand knowledge of the trauma of such a nightmare.
AN INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS AN INJUSTICE EVERYWHERE. AN INJUSTICE TO ONE IS AN INJUSTICE TO ALL.
This is not an indictment on Iran, its citizens or Islam. It is and will remain an indictment against injustice. Please don’t allow for any more of these two young men’s lives to be taken away under false pretense or mixed up with the political endeavors of two nations’ disagreements. Supreme Leader Khamenei please grant these men and their families the peace that is the very foundation of Islam by ordering their immediate release.
Respectfully submitted under the Five Highest Principles:
Love,Truth, Peace, Freedom & Justice
Chris Turner
“We Will Not Stop” ~ Nora Shourd
May 26th
Today I begin to hunger strike in solidarity with Shane and Josh. We all live in a culture of addiction and even the best of us habitually drink coffee, eat sugar,eat a little too much food or over indulge ourselves in some way. We learned recently that Shane and Josh were on hunger strike for 17 days. 
With so little to give up in prison in that cell, they had the strength it took to give up their food for that long and we can certainly and proudly do the same. The family members of Shane and Josh, my daughter, Sarah, many of their incredible friends and supporters joined by some well known people are all joining the hunger strike and we will not stop until they come home… we will not stop…
*Update Friday May 27, 2011*: I started wednesday at noon and will continue for several more days.
NB: Join Sarah, Shane, Josh, their families, friends and people around the world in fasting for their FREEDOM! http://bit.ly/SSJfast
FASTING TO FREE SHANE AND JOSH!
May 23rd
Please share this poster far and wide! Both online and off-line! For those of you participating in our FREEDOM FAST, please send a photo of yourselves holding the poster in front of you to farah[at]freethehikers.org. THANK you!
“Their love got me through prison and our love will bring them home” ~ Sarah Shourd
May 21st
Dearest Family, Friends and Supporters,
I began my fast today in solidarity with Shane and Josh. It makes me think of all the selfless things they both did for me while I was in prison. Once, I mentioned to Josh that I had been wearing the same shirt for 11 months and it had holes in it. I was angry that the guards hadn’t given me a new shirt. The next day, Josh came out with his extra shirt and gave it to me. He had two shirts and he gave me the blue one, his favorite. Another time, for Valentine’s Day, Shane used the last two pieces of chocolate that he had been saving for months and made me “prison pie” out of crushed cookies, butter, dates and chocolate. It was delicious. These acts of love defended us against the constant pain of separation from our families and the extreme physical and mental restriction of being imprisoned.
Now that I’m free, all I want is to give back to Shane and Josh for what they did for me. Their love got me through prison and it’s our love that will bring them home.
All my gratitude for your support,
NB: Join Sarah, Shane, Josh, their families, friends and people around the world in fasting for their FREEDOM! http://bit.ly/SSJfast
Solidarity Fast for Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal
May 19th
Show your solidarity with Shane, Josh and their families as they hunger strike for their rightful FREEDOM!
AUDIO: LAURA FATTAL CALLS FOR SUPPORT FOR SHANE AND JOSH
The mothers of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, the two Americans imprisoned in Iran in almost complete isolation for more than 21 months, began a hunger strike in solidarity with their sons on May 19 2011, after Iranian authorities failed to bring them to court for a scheduled trial hearing. Without any explanation for this failure from Iranian authorities, the families of Shane and Josh fear that they may be in grave danger.
High Profile peace activists and former political prisoners from around the world are joining them in solidarity for a Rolling Hunger Strike. See the calendar below for details.
Please help them feel you with them in their fight for justice by fasting in solidarity with them. Please fast in whatever way you are able – from complete fasts to juice fasts to giving up significant food items.
Let us know you are joining us by RSVPing on our facebook event page!
THANK YOU!!!
