FROM HIKERS’ FAMILIES
Statements & Press Releases from the Bauer, Shourd & Fattal Families.
“FROM THE WEST DOWN TO THE EAST…ANY DAY NOW” —by Laura Fattal
May 28th
I pledge my total commitment to working for Josh’s release through energetic and endless conversations with a wildly expanded world of friends who want Josh, Shane and Sarah free to continue their lives!….any day now, any day, now, “they’ shall be released”
the mom, Laura
FREEDOM = GROWING YOUR OWN FOOD – by Nora Shourd
May 28th
Sarah and I talked about planting an imaginary garden when i saw her last week in a dreamed up place..I have the vegetables and she grows the flowers.
So, I begin with Milpa,the Three Sisters…In this garden,the soil is deep and rich and brown and loamy from years of attentive gardeners who have enriched it adding layers of nutrients…I sit and dig my hands in it, its warmth, its life, its smell. it’s good enough to eat. It’s like holding life in your hands. It’s what we all become. I think about Sarah years ago at an ecology camp in the southern California desert singing a song about about how dirt made her lunch, her dinner and her brunch. I think about her planting a garden in the front yard of her West Oakland apt with friends helping doing the double digging method.
So, we begin. I want the corn to grow in a half moon shape, pointing down, no straight rows, with 12 stalks in the back arc, then 10, then 8. It will be Zapatista corn from Chiapas. I will build up mounds and flatten the tops like mesas with a kind of scooped up place on the top. Then 2 or 3 corn kernels go there pushed in with a finger. I use my hands so i can feel the dirt and see the seeds disappear into the earth. On the sides of the mounds, I plant beans, some scarlett runners for their beauty and some snappy greens and french greens, 4 seed around each corn 
and these will grow and twirl around the stalks and the stalks will hold them up perfectly. On the ground around the stalks I plant squash, different kinds; zucchini, summer, blossom to cover the ground around the corn and beans, keep in the moisture and keep out the weeds. In a matter of weeks, the Three Sisters grow together, all caretaking one another, like Sarah, Shane and Josh are, a food jungle yielding and yielding. And we will look forward to zucchini bread and fritters and bean salad and corn, corn, corn. The sun warms my back and I scoop water from a barrel of rainwater and give each seed its first drink. They start to grow—free.
FREEDOM DAY by Alex Fattal
May 28th
May 27, 2010
Dear Josh,
I love you and I miss you! As you know, today is day 300 of your detention and we have designated it Freedom Day. People from all over the world are sending in their reflections and appreciations about their own freedom so that you can feel those freedoms vicariously.
Here’s mine, a reflection from yesterday:
It’s 92 degrees in Philadelphia and it’s my good fortune to find myself by the Schuykill River. Placing non-essential clothes on a plank at the water’s edge I dip my first foot, recently relieved by the bounds of laces too tightly tied, into the river. The hairs atop my foot float up, the gravelly sand compresses below my foot and tadpoles wiggle away. It feels good and I cautiously place my next foot in and gradually wade to the middle of the river.
I look downstream and a white bicycle helmet zips across the small stone bridge that has been connecting the two sides of the river for eighty-six years. I look upstream in disbelief that I am in the heart of Philadelphia. My heart beats with brotherly love imagining that you have already run into the river and are swimming upstream taking in the pleasure of being fully submerged in the cool water, not worrying about what chemicals the foam circles floating along the surface might carry or the discomfort of drying.
Swimming in the Schuykill River
I stand with the image of you swimming upstream in my mind as the water passes through my legs. After five minutes of basking in the daydream I dive in and chase you upstream. But the moment I am submerged you are gone. I am alone in the water feeling a freedom you can only feel when in another medium entirely. It’s a dreamy freedom. I slow from a frantic crawl-stroke to the breast-stroke, the gradual stroke that grandpa has perfected. My eyes are just above the water’s surface and the leafy riverbanks’ reflections ripple away from me, blurry images of trees elongating, slinking and snapping into other shapes. Without opening my mouth I ask myself, “Do you see that Josh?”
My thoughts flit to Brazil, to Dico’s house. I flip onto my back and take on a leisurely back-stroke as I think ‘this is not Brazil.’ The trees are temperate, it’s Philly, which continues to strike me as the most unbelievable part of the moment: I am in Philadelphia, it’s beautiful and I feel free; three thoughts I have never so closely connected before. But the freedom is only partial since I know you are somewhere up river. You are here and not here. I know I am swimming for you, exploring for you, feeling the gentle massage of the current for you. In the meantime you are left to look forward to limited allotments of time in the ceilingless room in Evin Prison and are praying for a storm so you can feel connected to the outside world through the weather and try to catch raindrops in your mouth.
My computer is in the car but my iphone is on the bank, the campaign awaits. I should get going. I stop my swim to put my feet down, turn and face the bridge. An eddy is pushing water against my back and I think of Dad saying, “a million dollars,” us looking at each other and cracking up. A smile comes across my face. You are here and not here, but most importantly you will be here. I swim back letting the river carry me.
Hang in there!
Love, Alex
300 DAYS: THURSDAY MAY 27, 2010
May 25th
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Thursday marks 300 days that Shane, Sarah, and Josh have been held in detention in Iran. We don’t want this day to go by unnoticed as Thursday marks 300 days that we have not been able to spend with our loved ones. While the mothers were visiting them in Iran, Shane asked my sister, Nicole, and I to take a day off from our efforts to secure his release and enjoy ourselves. He asked that we write to him in detail about this day because reading our letters allows him to escape prison in his mind.
We, the families, are asking that all of you take a day for yourselves this Thursday, May 27 and document it for Shane, Sarah, and Josh. At the end of the day, you can share your stories, pictures, and videos on the Free the Hikers blog at http://blog.freethehikers.org/.
Please join our blog and create a profile via the ‘Community’ tab at the top of the page in order to post directly. If you have difficulty doing so please contact farah@freethehikers.org.
We know that Shane, Sarah, and Josh would love to be with all of you enjoying your experiences on the 300 day mark but for now they live through your words and support.
Sincerely,
Shannon Bauer (Sister of Shane Bauer)
VIDEO: BROTHER OF HIKER DETAINED IN IRAN SPEAKS OUT
May 23rd
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
In this Today Show interview, Alex Fattal, whose brother Josh remains locked inside an Iranian prison with Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer, discusses the emotional reunion of the trio with their mothers in Tehran.
STATEMENT FROM THE BAUER, SHOURD AND FATTAL FAMILIES:
Apr 9th
Shane, Sarah and Josh have spent more than 250 days in jail in Iran and have had no access to an attorney. Their release is long overdue. They were on a brief hiking trip in Iraqi Kurdistan near the border with Iran and had absolutely no intention of entering the country. Recently reported claims by Iran that the hikers have ties to US Intelligence are totally unfounded and bear no relation to who Shane, Sarah and Josh are or what they were doing. Allegations that they are spies are ridiculous. Our loved ones’ continued detention and the psychological stress they are made to endure are unjustified and we again appeal to Iran to allow them to return home.
FAMILIES: 3 HIKERS DETAINED IN IRAN AREN’T SPIES
Apr 8th
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—The families of three American hikers detained in Iran say a report of possible links to U.S. intelligence services is ridiculous.
Joshua Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd.
Iran’s English-language Press TV reported Thursday that Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi said there was credible evidence they have links to American intelligence. He says that evidence will be revealed soon.
But the families of Josh Fattal, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd say in a statement that their children are not spies. They call the report “totally unfounded” and “ridiculous.”
The three Americans have been held since crossing the border from Iraq in July. Their families say they unintentionally strayed while hiking.
They all attended the University of California at Berkeley. Fattal’s family lives near Philadelphia, Bauer’s in Pine City, Minn., and Shourd’s in Oakland, Calif.
VIDEO: PLEASE FREE THE HIKERS
Mar 25th
INTERNATIONAL CALL TO FREE THE HIKERS
People all over the world have uploaded videos asking for the release. We collected some of those responses to make this video, in the hope that Iran will allow them to return home soon. Please share this with your friends and loved ones.
VIDEO: MOTHERS OF HIKERS AT THE UNITED NATIONS
Feb 17th
Mothers seek support for their children at the United Nations on Day 201 of their captivity.
A MOTHER’S PLEA
Dec 18th
APPEAL TO IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER TO RELEASE DAUGHTER & FRIENDS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
1021 days, 0 hours, 41 minutes
