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Title: U.S. Hiker ‘Hid Israeli Father From Iranian Captors’
Source:
Agence France-Presse
URL Source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/09/ ... i-father-from-iranian-captors/
Published: Sep 27, 2011
Author: Agence France-Presse
Post Date: 2011-09-27 11:07:52 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 804
Comments: 19
One of two US hikers freed from an Iranian jail where they were held for more than two years on charges of spying and illegal entry, has an Israeli father, Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday. Josh Fattal, who was released on Wednesday with fellow US hiker Shane Bauer, managed to hide from his Iranian captors the fact that his father was an Iraqi-born Jew who emigrated to Israel in 1951, the Israeli newspaper said. It said that Fattal's father Jacob, who has lived in the United States since completing his military service, declined to give any interviews after his son was arrested in July 2009, in a bid to hide his nationality. Speaking after his son's release, Jacob Fattal said he was ecstatic. "We're very happy; it's the greatest gift we could have dreamed of receiving for Rosh Hashanah," he told Haaretz, referring to the upcoming Jewish New Year. "The problem was their being American, not Jewish," he added. "The Iranians used them as a political weapon for two years." Fattal and Bauer were arrested with Sarah Shourd near the mountainous border with Iraq on July 31, 2009. All three have always maintained they are innocent of spying and accidentally strayed across the border into Iran. Shourd, 33, was released last year on $500,000 bail, after the Gulf state of Oman agreed to pay the sum. Oman also paid bail of $400,000 each for Fattal and Bauer. On August 21, Bauer and Fattal were each sentenced to eight years in prison by a revolutionary court in Tehran on charges of espionage and illegal entry. They have appealed against the ruling.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
(Edited)
Why, I thought it was every hiker's dream to explore those 'gorgeous' Iraqi mountain vistas with their friendly little quaint villages. And if Iraq has now become a tourist destination, I can't wait to plan my next vacation.
Of course they were spies and should have served out the full term of their sentence in Iran.
Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'! Even if they were, they should of never been emprisoned without proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt. Doing so put the Iranians in a bad light. And this situation did that much as the invasion of the U.S. Embassy under Carter's presidency did.
To you perhaps but not necessarily in the eyes of those in region.
Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'! Seems to me that Iran has declared war against the US and guess what? Those hikers are American and had absolutely no business even being in Iraq, much less hiking from there into another country.
Amercans should be able to go even into Iran as well as Iraq as private citizens. I agree the invasion of Iraq was criminal, but let's not be so quick to condemn what private citizens do. Kids the age of these three always go hiking or looking for ways to explore and find adventure. Making them pawns in the face of how easy it is to make a wrong turn when in an in an unfamiliar place is a violation of these kid's human rights. People this young are infamous for not being very careful and erring on the side of caution. I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you here.
Oppression and the bullying of anyone for political reasons is wrong. These kids should of been released shortly after they took the wrong turn into that country. That is just common sense that works everywhere.
They were captured in Iran and had passed unlawfully across the border. That is sufficient cause for arrest and detention pending trial. One cannot expect the Iranian authorities to believe the lame story that they just accidentally hiked across the border.
I think the only variable would be how long US forces had them under surveillance and why they were not warned. Seems to me the dotting parents in a normal scenario would be suing the US miltary or whoever for allowing their little darlings, who had absolutely no business being in that area, to be put in harms way.
I was Court Martialed because of my political stripes and my lack of desire to hide them from my unit's brass and first sergeant. You might argue that in light of my political paradigm I deserved due process for 1st Sergeant Fitzgerald's interpretation of my hand not rendering a proper hand salute during the National Amthem. But the legal actions against me were so rancid with right wing bigotry this action was thrown out on motion immediately after the procecution presented it's case. I was smart enough to take this to the level where the rules of evidence were strictly enforced by a judge and not a leader in my unit. And this left a huge impack on how I feel about incidents like this one these kids went through. There is nothing wrong with yout post's sentiments nolu chan, if there had been impartial and fair trial in the face of this minor transgression of a border by tourists. But it was played as an obvious political ploy by a nation that gut shot it's veracity when it invaded our embassy in the 1970s. So my sympathies are with the kids. They did not get a fair trial as I did in 1977 when I was pickedon for my politics.
Making them pawns in the face of how easy it is to make a wrong turn when in an in an unfamiliar place is a violation of these kid's human rights. People this young are infamous for not being very careful and erring on the side of caution. I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you here. They might like my 'Hiking Somalia' tour I have planned for next spring.
You are talking to an adrenalin junkie who loves the cat and mouse of being in a forest after the USFS declares it closed. I very much am the sort of person to go to a hot spot just because I'm curious about it. So with all due respect, your sarcasm is lost on me. I am amused, but I myself would never stay out of a country dangerous to be in. It's just my nature.
I am amused, but I myself would never stay out of a country dangerous to be in. It's just my nature. Just curious... how you would get in there in the first place?
If I wanted to go, any way I could. If it's part of the Earth's biosphere, one can get into any country they want to. I am also not a fool and I would do the research and preparation to go as safely as I could. But I don't need to get somewhere the safest or easiest way if I decide I just have to go there.
I can see it now..... my 'War Zones of the World' hiking tours. But somehow I don't equate messing with the USFS the same as messing with a hostile military presence.
Most who have never dealt with Freddies or other adents of the policies of logging with greed as the only true motivation would find that a reach. If you think they treat us with human kindness ane well within the letter of the law, you have never been there with a bull's eye painted on your butt by the powers that be. When it comes to the theft of natural resources, it does create war zones and a military-like presence.
You are forgetting that the 1953 overthrow of the Iranian government was run out of the U.S. Embassy, which explained why the embassy was invaded in the 1970s to pre-empt any repeat performance. It defies belief that an American with a Jewish Israeli parent accidentally wandered into Iran. They were held just over two years, sentenced 8/20/2011 and released about a month later. It certainly could have been worse, and I have seen no record of the judicial proceedings upon which to base an opinion. "On August 20, 2011 the two hikers were sentenced to 3 years for illegal entry and 5 years for espionage, a total of 8 years." They appeared guilty on illegal entry and there seems to be no defense to the charge other than "Oops, my bad."
Two wrongs do not make a right. And if this had been an effective tit for tat action answering that wrong -- or many of our other wrongs manipulating Iran for our benefit -- they sure fell down in communicating this in the aftermath of the hostage taking invasion. From my perspective, it was a gambit that was at best manipulated to allow the worst man to win the 1980 presidential election. Any other benefits the mob got for their actions was the same any other lynch style mob gets. Violating diplomatic protections did not lead to anything good here. And the lack of adherence to the rule of internatinal law helps discredit their game playing with these kids just as seriously as any game playing like this from the U.S. suffers because of our past violations of international law.
From my perspective, it was a gambit that was at best manipulated to allow the worst man to win the 1980 presidential election. Any other benefits the mob got for their actions was the same any other lynch style mob gets. Violating diplomatic protections did not lead to anything good here. And the lack of adherence to the rule of internatinal law helps discredit their game playing with these kids just as seriously as any game playing like this from the U.S. suffers because of our past violations of international law. The seizing of the U.S. Embassy 40 years ago was to preempt another coup as that run from the basement of said embassy in 1953, not that far removed from the action in the 70s. They had just lived through 25 years with a U.S.-imposed dictator. With that in mind, the radicals' actions were understandable. Whether they were wise is another matter. The border security in 2010 is the result of American sanctions against Iran and such actions as providing Israel with bunker buster bombs whose use would be to bomb Iran. The U.S. severed all diplomatic relations with Iran. It is difficult to claim diplomatic protections when illegally entering a hostile nation with whom the U.S. has no diplomatic or consular relations. These were adults, not kids. Bauer and Fattal are 29 years old. Sarah Shourd, previously released, is 32 years old.
Fattal and Bauer were arrested with Sarah Shourd near the mountainous border with Iraq on July 31, 2009. All three have always maintained they are innocent of spying and accidentally strayed across the border into Iran.
#2. To: mininggold (#1)
#3. To: Brian S (#2)
#4. To: Ferret Mike (#3)
Doing so put the Iranians in a bad light.
#5. To: Ferret Mike (#3)
Even if they were, they should of never been emprisoned without proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt. Doing so put the Iranians in a bad light. And this situation did that much as the invasion of the U.S. Embassy under Carter's presidency did.
#6. To: mininggold (#5)
#7. To: Brian S (#4)
"To you perhaps but not necessarily in the eyes of those in region."
#8. To: Ferret Mike, mininggold (#6)
Even if they were, they should of never been emprisoned without proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt. Doing so put the Iranians in a bad light. And this situation did that much as the invasion of the U.S. Embassy under Carter's presidency did.
#9. To: Ferret Mike (#6)
Amercans should be able to go even into Iran as well as Iraq as private citizens. I agree the invasion of Iraq was criminal, but let's not be so quick to condemn what private citizens do.
#10. To: nolu chan (#8)
(Edited)
#11. To: Ferret Mike (#6)
Kids the age of these three always go hiking or looking for ways to explore and find adventure.
#12. To: mininggold (#11)
#13. To: Ferret Mike (#12)
You are talking to an adrenalin junkie who loves the cat and mouse of being in a forest after the USFS declares it closed. I very much am the sort of person to go to a hot spot just because I'm curious about it. So with all due respect, your sarcasm is lost on me.
#14. To: mininggold (#13)
#15. To: Ferret Mike (#14)
If I wanted to go, any way I could. If it's part of the Earth's biosphere, one can get into any country they want to.
#16. To: mininggold (#15)
#17. To: Ferret Mike (#10)
But it was played as an obvious political ploy by a nation that gut shot it's veracity when it invaded our embassy in the 1970s.
#18. To: nolu chan (#17)
"You are forgetting that the 1953 overthrow of the Iranian government was run out of the U.S. Embassy, which explained why the embassy was invaded in the 1970s to pre-empt any repeat performance."
#19. To: Ferret Mike (#18)
Two wrongs do not make a right. And if this had been an effective tit for tat action answering that wrong -- or many of our other wrongs manipulating Iran for our benefit -- they sure fell down in communicating this in the aftermath of the hostage taking invasion.
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