Zat 31 Juli Solidarity Night for American anti-war activists
Schijnheilig - 22.07.2010 19:37
Solidarity night for American anti-war activists held in Iran
Zaterdag 31 juli, 8pm, Schijnheilig.
EN
Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal are American anti-war activists and journalists who were seized by Iranian forces while visiting Sulemaiya in Northern Iraq in July 2009. Since then have been detained in Evin Prison in Iran, with Sarah in solitary confinement this whole time. With their films, photography and writing, the three have spent years contesting the agressive American Middle East policy. They had been living in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus at the time, working as writers and teachers. Shon Meckfessel, close friend of Sarah, Shane, and Josh, who was with them on their trip until the day before their arrest, will be making a tour of Europe this summer to bring attention to their work and situation. He will be sharing films, photography, and articles which the trio have made, reporting on social struggles in Iraq, Palestina, Darfur, Mexico and the United States.
NL
Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal zijn Amerikaanse journalisten en anti-oorlogsactivisten. Zij zijn in juli 2009 gevangengenomen door Iraanse strijdkrachten tijdens een bezoek aan Sulemaiya in Noord-Irak. Sinds die tijd worden ze zonder aanklacht vastgehouden in een Iraanse gevangenis, Sarah Shourd zit al de gehele tijd in een isoleercel. Met hun films, fotografie, en schrijven hebben zij zich al jaren teweer gesteld tegen het agressieve Amerikaanse Midden Oosten beleid. Ze woonden en werkten in een Palestijns vluchtelingenkamp in Damascus, waar ze les gaven en artikelen schreven. Shon Meckfessel, auteur en vriend van Sarah, Shane, en Josh, was bij ze tot op de dag voor hun gevangenneming. Hij toert Europa door deze zomer om aandacht te vragen voor hun verhaal en hun werk. Hij zal hun onderzoekswerk laten zien, waaronder film en fotografie, dat verhaalt over sociale strijd in Irak, Palestina, Darfur, Mexico en de Verenigde Staten.
For more info on the campaign / meer info over de campagne:
 http://freeourfriends.eu/
Schijnheilig, Passeerdersgracht 23, Amsterdam, http://www.schijnheilig.org
Callout by Shon Meckfessel / Oproep van Shon Meckfessel
My Friends Wrongly Imprisoned in Iran
On July 31, 2009, three of my closest friends - Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, and Josh Fattal - were arrested at the border of Iran. I was on the trip with them, and had I not come down with a cold before they left for their hike, the day before their arrest, I would be with them in Evin prison instead of writing you. After nearly a year, they are still being held without charges, without a single visit from their lawyer, under allegations of espionage. The families still have no idea when they might be released.
The American media has given extensive coverage to the situation of my friends, but has often done so superficially, particularly omitting aspects of their life work which call into question hegemonic points of view.
Their situation is not the most important in the world, but the issues on which they've been working may well be. To give just some examples from the time of their arrest, Shane, an accomplished journalist, had just exposed US-trained death squads in Iraq in a cover story for The Nation magazine. Sarah was teaching Iraqi refugees, and was finishing an article on women's struggles in Syria. Josh was doing social justice and sustainability education for international students in China, South Africa, and India before he arrived. The four of us were living together in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, where we were deeply involved in the community.
On my tour throughout Europe this summer, I would like to share some of their projects, in some sense continuing their work until they're able to. I will be showing an amazing film (lasting 35 minutes), just released, which Shane and another friend made in Darfur, living and traveling with the Sudanese Liberation Army. I would also like to show clips from their other films, read from their journalism and writing, and present some of their stunning photography, adjusting the topic to audience interests. I would also like some of these events to serve as a forum for discussion of the issues on which the three have focused their whole lives - peace/conflict, Israel/Palestine and Iraq, women's struggles, post-colonial challenges and first-world poverty. And I hope that by drawing attention to who my friends really are - certainly not spies! - we might finally help their situation. The United States government hasn't been able to free them, but maybe we can.
I hope to see you there...
Yours,
Shon Meckfessel
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