Shane Bauer, who grew up both in Onamia, Minnesota and San Leandro, California, is a freelance photojournalist and journalist who has worked for Pacifica News Service, Mother Jones, The Nation and other left-leaning media outlets, using his fluency in speaking Arabic.
Sarah Emily Shourd, who grew up in Los Angeles, California, worked in education and social justice in Damascus, Syria where she provided educational opportunities to refugees from the war in Iraq and taught English. Shourd was released by Iran on September 14, 2010 on $500,000 bail. Shourd's bail does not require that she remain in Iran, and her case will still go to trial along with Bauer and Fattal. Shourd's mother has said she had been denied treatment for serious health problems, including a breast lump and precancerous cervical cells. In May 2011, Shourd announced that she would not return to Iran for trial, citing acute ill-health.
Joshua "Josh" Fattal, who grew up in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania,[17] an environmentalist and educator, had been from January to May 2009 a teaching fellow for the International Honors Program (IHP)'s "Health and Community" study abroad program. Prior to traveling with the IHP, Fattal lived and worked at Aprovecho in Oregon, USA, exploring and promoting sustainable living practices.
Various media outlets and bloggers have confused Fattal with another Joshua Fattal, a student that has written for the teen supplement of a Jewish paper, the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York.
Thank you, interesting. I do now vaguely remember seeing that when this whole thing started.
Despite their experiences, I assume they won’t be turning in their “Idiot Fellow Traveler” cards...
Thank you for the summary. I’m glad they are going to be safe. They will probably continue to be useful idiots, but who knows?
Nothing but a bunch of liberal/socialist/environmentalist/anti-war/third world symapthizer/idiots.