top
International
International
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Chomsky, Davis, Hardt, Sheehan and West: Free Americans Held in Iran

by Chomsky, Davis, Hardt, Sheehan and West
STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH SHANE BAUER, SARAH SHOURD AND JOSH FATTAL, WHO HAVE BEEN UNJUSTLY DETAINED IN IRAN SINCE JULY 31, 2009
We are writing in support of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal who have been unjustly detained for more than nine months. These three young people are active members of a global community opposed to US aggression in the Middle East. They do not deserve to be punished for the policies of their government and the tensions they engender.

We hope that people of conscience throughout the globe will come to the defense of Shane, Sarah and Josh. If they crossed into Iranian territory, although this is unclear, they have already paid dearly for their mistake. Iran’s continued detention of these three thoughtful and compassionate individuals who were on an innocent vacation is an unacceptable abuse of their rights in an effort to make a political point. We join together in calling on Iran to adopt a humane stand and release Shane, Sarah and Josh to their terribly distressed families.

************************************************************************************
Noam Chomsky, Angela Davis, Michael Hardt, Cindy Sheehan, Cornel West
Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Esther Haman
How is it justifiable for 4 Zionists to go for hiking in a radical Islamic state in the middle of war torn country of Iraq. Have Alcohol with them and satellite cell phone, them and then walk across the boarder into another radical Islamic state and then claim they did not know where they are!! What was wrong with Europe, China or south east Asia, Russia , Eastern Europe?!

Now what if a few Iranians were going hiking in Lebanon and then lost their way and ended up in Israel?! What would the Zionist state do to them? I am sure all the Iranians that have been abducted recently abroad in Europe and Saudi Arabia were taken away by the CIA and MOSAT had nothing to do with them?!

Who are you guys trying to fool? These guys were on a reconnaissance and checking thing out to report back to MOSAT or even sabotage and/or meet their contacts in Iran etc.

If their Mother and families were a responsible group of people they should have stop them from taking such a trip in the first place. They should have suggested to them to go to the Yellow Stone National Park and hike there.

Get real
by John S.
This is fishy, who in the right mind would vacation in Iraq, then stray by mistake into Iran?

Seems fishy. America did approve 400 million dollars to overthrow the regime and covert operations, maybe the three are part of the covert operations.
by mary
You have no clue what you are talking about!
by hiker ally
john and esther,
how dare you make these baseless claims and insinuations against people who are well known and loved by many of us in the bay area activist community. their political views are easily ascertained by a cursory glance at their blogs and articles written for progressive publications. if you have some proof of them being spies, zionists, or whatever other ridiculous imaginary descriptions you've come up with, then please, post your proof. if you have no proof to back up your hateful words, then shut up.

as for blaming them for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, this is not the time nor place. if you must be so crass as to criticize them in a public venue like this, at least have some measure of human decency and do it AFTER they are safely home and reunited with their friends and families.
by Lipservice (bobjames7528 [at] yahoo.com)
Remmeber prisoners in Guantanamo been there for decades but never been charged!
by Vinnie
I want them freed . Both for humilitarian reasons and take away another excuse for a military attack on Iran .
But i'm sorry one can also have questions about their hiking in heavily militarized Iraq Kurdistan . I know intrepid backpackers often do travel in risky places but i am surprised that the Iraq Kurdish authorities would allow them in . especially if they have , as some have stated , Left backgrounds and oppose the US occupation of Iraq .
Re their progressive politics that was stated earlier and seems to have been dropped from the press coverage . Was that a tactical decison by her family and friends ? Did they think that uncritical supporters of the Israili Govt. (Like Boxer and Peloisi ) wouldn't appear at a press conf. calling for their freedom if they thought the ''hikers'' (as was reported early on ) were supporters of the rights of the Palestinian people ?
If so that tactical obmission might backfire . Even theocratic dictatorships like the Islamic Republic like to appear consistent of their stated principles . So if their opposition to the occupations of Iraq , Afghanistan, and Palestine was highlighted it might increase their chances for freedom not hinder it .
by PLEIADIANS agent
Yes, they were zionist agents, Larouche is the next Einstein, and the PLEIADIANS are returning tomorrow to expose the 9-11 inside job backed by Satan, Skull and Bones, and George W. Bush, who is one of the Lizard people.

We've got it all figured out.
by deanosor (deanosor [at] mailup.net)
I won't comment on what was said earlier in the campaign to free the hikers. But with letters like the ones that this posting is about, people are clearly saying that these people are radicals and anti-imperialists. I don't know what they were doing there, but i DO know that Sarah, Josh and Shane were NOT working for Israel or the US. They were not spying on Iran. I was not close to them, but am close to people who were. Please do not slader these good activists. They ae not harmful to Iran.

And to the person who said their parents should tell them go hike in Yellowstone, Go to Hell. These are adults. Yes their parents can and do worry about them, but to tell them here to go, It ain't gonna happen.
by Vinnie
I'm not making any allegations , How Could I ? All i'm saying is that with all due disrespect to the Iranian govt. I can understand how them straying accross the border from Iraq to Iran would seem very suspicious .
i also read on the website that Kurdistan is now a tourist destination !
I'm sorry but please don't defend your family and friends with something as silly as that .
But when all has been said and done : Free Them Now !
by get a spine
"All i'm saying is that with all due disrespect to the Iranian govt. I can understand how them straying across the border from Iraq to Iran would seem very suspicious ."

Well thanks Vinnie, I'm sure the Iranian government, or any capitalist government, need all the understanding they can get. In fact, maybe you should give them a hug, because what with all the illegal immigrants coming across their border, doing ALLAH KNOWS WHAT, we should support them taking action to defend their people. For that same reason, we should support the Arizona law protecting our people against illegals. It's not that we support racial profiling, or the detention of human beings for crossing national borders, it's that we "understand" and have such deep "respect" for our respective ruling classes. When they detain or torture us, or carry out class war on us, we should turn the other cheek, put ourselves in their shoes and realize that hey, maybe they just had a bad day. If we treat them with respect, they'll surely return the favor, because civility is what's missing in politics today, or so I heard on Fox News.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network