COVERAGE OF EVENTS
SARAH, SHANE & JOSH: WHY WE ARE NO DIFFERENT BY @YUMIWILSON
Aug 2nd
REPUBLISHED FROM CITY BRIGHTS:
Posted By: Yumi Wilson | August 01 2010 at 07:00 AM
Ask anyone who knows me, and they’ll probably say I’m a bit too trusting. I tend to believe in the goodness of people, unless I see otherwise.
I thought about that a lot today, after losing my wallet and cell phone near the corner of 17th and Mission streets.
Granted, losing the phone is never a bad thing. We could all stand to spend more time connecting with people the old-fashioned way: By meeting them in person.
Still, there is something disturbing about losing your phone—and your wallet.
It all happened so fast. I had just finished interviewing some friends of three American hikers who are being held in Iran on suspicion of spying. I had planned to update my blog, telling readers that friends of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal wanted everyone to know that the three young Americans are not spies, and that they had simply wanted to go on vacation to the mountains of Kurdistan for adventure and fun.
The friends and supporters, I had learned earlier, were going to march to Dolores Park from 16th and Mission streets.
Group demanding release of hikers in Iran marches to Dolores Park.
Hoping to catch them from the start, I had taken BART and gotten off at the 16th street station. I didn’t see them there, so I hurried toward Dolores Park, where they had said via Twitter they would end up.
At the park, my son seemed pleased that he had elected to come with me to the Mission, a place we haven’t frequented since he stopped going to Synergy in the first grade (he’ll be a freshman next month).
Together, we counted about 40 people, but I noticed that there were many more people at the park who didn’t seem to care about the marchers. In fact, I didn’t think the rally would last that long, and I envisioned getting back home quickly.
But with my son wanting to stay longer to enjoy an accordion player at the rally and then a trapeze artist in another area of the park, I took my time to meander, to observe and to listen without saying a word.
Rally in Dolores Park
Still, I had the same question that many people seem to have: What were Sarah, Shane and Josh doing so close to the border? Why didn’t they know better? Why did they go there in the first place?
And then, just like a bad Hollywood ending, the same thing happened to me. Only I wasn’t in Iran. I was in the Mission District.
“Where are we?” my son asked.
I had strayed a few blocks past my favorite restaurant on 16th Street. But even I knew enough to sense I had entered an “iffy” area. Within a minute or two of having my phone, someone had brushed past me and taken my wallet and phone. By the time I called to stop my credit cards and phone, someone had already made a purchase at a gas station in the Mission.
“We should have taken the car,” my son said.
Of course, I tried to assure my son that our choice of transit had nothing to do with my credit card being stolen. I also tried to shut out what a man had said about the Mission: Avoid it, unless you want to be messed with.
I had tried to ignore the advice, casting it off as an unfair stereotype of a neighborhood often misrepresented in the media. But now, huddled under a storefront in fear of every person who passed me, I wondered whether he was right.
I know it’s silly. The Mission is a wonderful place, filled with good people. I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as some of people at the rally noted about the three hikers.
“They are innocent people,” said Meredith Walters, an English student at UC Berkeley. “They are good people who dedicated their lives to making the world a better place.”
Messages to the Hikers from Supporters
And that might be among the greatest lessons learned Saturday afternoon by attending the “Free the Hikers” rally in Dolores Park.
“They are extraordinary cultural diplomats,” said Margaret Roberts, who works as a Spanish interpreter in Oakland’s courts. “We are all safer and better informed and more connected to the larger world with people like Sarah, Shane and Josh out in the world.”
Jennifer Miller, another friend at the rally, added: “They were living and working to make a bridge between cultures.”
Sarah, Shane and Josh took a road less traveled for many of the same reasons we all do. We are curious about the world around us. We are adventurous and want to try new things. And we believe in the goodness of people, just as I am trying to do, even now.
See more photos of the event:
SISTER OF IMPRISONED HIKER SHANE BAUER HOLDS VIGIL IN BOULDER, CO
Aug 1st
REPUBLISHED FROM COLORADO DAILY:
Hikers have been detained in Iran for one year
By Joe Rubino, Camera Staff Writer
At 1:33 p.m. Saturday, 24-year-old Boulder resident Shannon Bauer stood in front of the Boulder County Courthouse, amid Pearl Street Mall shoppers and tourists on a hot summer day.
At that very minute, exactly one year ago, Bauer and her family first received word that her older brother, Shane Bauer, his girlfriend, Sarah Shourd, and their friend, Josh Fattal, had been captured by the Iranian government while hiking along an unmarked stretch of the Iraq-Iran border. The three remain captives in Iran to this day.
The Boulder “Free the Hikers” vigil, held Saturday afternoon on the Pearl Street Mall, was one of more than 15 events worldwide—some as far away as New Delhi, India—commemorating what organizers call one year of unjust detention for the three American citizens.
Bauer, who was helped by a rotating group of 10 to 15 friends and volunteers Saturday, held the vigil to continue spreading awareness of her brother’s plight and to apply pressure to both the Iranian and United States governments to release her brother, Stroud and Fattal.
“I have a goal of at least one person finding out about it and going on the Web site and showing how much they care,” Bauer said of Saturday’s vigil. “The ultimate goal every day is that they come home.”
A table set up for the vigil featured photos of the three captives. Volunteers sold T-shirts and buttons and accepted donations to support the “Free the Hikers” cause. The main goal, however, was to gather signatures on a petition asking the Iranian government to release the hikers. More than 60 signatures had been collected by 2 p.m. Saturday
“I had a couple of people telling me signing something wasn’t going to do anything,” said Sarah Kubley, a neighbor and friend of Bauer’s who helped out Saturday. “That’s just a good excuse to do nothing.”
Bauer and several others read prepared speeches at the vigil. Barbara Petersen, of Littleton, studied abroad with Fattal in South Africa in 2009. She was too emotional to finish her speech, so her father, Craig, read most of it.
Bauer hasn’t spoken to her brother since his arrest. She found out about his engagement to Shourd after their mother briefly visited him in his Tehran prison cell in March.
“Everything kind of changed,” said Bauer’s partner, Natalie Seuske. “We can’t leave cell phone reception because we’re always waiting for that call. Shannon has had health issues related to the stress.”
Despite the emotional distress it has caused her, Bauer takes solace in the community response.
“This situation generally is not something many people go through,” she said. “So to have this type of support is one of the main things getting us through this. People who don’t even know them want to see them come home.”
Melissa Parker, a resident of Union, Ky., signed the “Free the Hikers” petition. She was vacationing in Boulder with her family.
“It’s just really sad to think there are people over there that our government can’t help release,” she said. “We just keep them in our prayers.”
CHECKOUT MORE PHOTOS FROM THE BOULDER EVENT:
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.
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.
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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FUNDRAISER FOR JAILED HIKERS
Feb 27th
For almost seven months, three U.S. hikers have been detained in Iran. The wait is excruciating for their families. One of the hikers is from Minnesota, and friends and community members are rallying around his family.
A fundraiser at the American Legion in Le Center is part of the community’s fight to free the U.S. hikers. Bauer and the two other hikers have been held captive in Iran for 210 days. Bauer’s mother Cindy Hickey said, “No one’s been able to set eyes on Shane, Josh, or Sarah for over three months, so that’s concerning for us.” Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal were detained on July 31, after apparently hiking into Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. The Iranian Government accused the hikers of spying. Their families said it’s all a mistake. Shourd was working as an English teacher. Bauer was working as a freelance journalist. Fattal was in the area, visiting his two friends.
The “fundraiser fish dinner” at the American Legion is helping the families raise money for trips to the Middle East. Iran’s top human right’s official has recommended that they be allowed to visit the hikers in jail. The families are awaiting word to see if they’ll be granted visas to enter Iran.
Sarah Shourd’s mother flew in from California for the fundraiser, and believes the support is crucial. Shourd said, “It makes us feel really good, it keeps us going.” Friends say they’ll continue to support the hikers’ families until they’re freed.
BRING SHANE HOME: VIGIL FOR DETAINED HIKERS
Oct 8th
Community Asked to Sign Petition for Release of Detained Minnesota Hiker:
REPUBLISHED FROM RED ROCK ON AIR:
The families of the American hikers being detained in Iran are asking for the support of the community in signing a petition which will be sent to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Mission to the United Nations in an effort to Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal home.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION
Bauer is a native of Minnesota and his mother Cindy Hickey lives in Pine City. Bauer and the two others accidentally crossed the Iranian border while hiking in Iraq.
The petition states, “The families, friends and supporters of Shane, Sarah and Josh share the deep hope that the Islamic Republic of Iran will show compassion in this unfortunate case and release them as soon as possible.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last month that he would seek leniency for the hikers.
Vigils were held across the country on September 30th to mark the two month anniversary of the hikers detention. Similar events will be held at the end of every month until they return home.
VIDEO: UC BERKELEY GRADUATES HELD CAPTIVE IN IRAN
Oct 6th
REPUBLISHED FROM BBN3 NETWORK:
Since July, three UC Berkeley graduates have been detained in Iran. The three are held captive after crossing an unmarked border on a hiking trip. Family and friends of the hikers organized vigils across the nation. They call it, “Vigils of Hope”. One of the vigils was held in Berkeley.
Video by: Gail Enriquez
DETAINED HIKERS GET DULUTH SUPPORT
Sep 29th
REPRINTED FROM WDIO IN DELUTH:
Three American hikers, detained in Iran For nearly two months are gaining support in Duluth. One of those hikers, Shane Bauer, Is from Pine City. WDIO spoke with his family Sunday at a fundraising event.
Shane’s brother-in-law, Nate Lindstrom, was the planner behind the fundraiser at The Spiritual Deli, but he said it was definitely a community effort. Lindstrom said he hasn’t heard from his brother-in-law since he was captured July 31st.
Today’s fundraiser included food, live music and a silent auction. Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal Are the other two hikers detained. All proceeds will go to the three families and the costs of getting the hikers home.
