Hikers in Iran are Innocent! Or are they?

Bail Now Set at $500,000 for Girl

Ok, while we all pretty much agree that these characters are idiots for taking a vacation in Iran, lets look at the side we dont hear. While one of the hikers may be released this weekend because of illness, the rest will stay. Ive never thought these hikers "were just hiking" and suspected that maybe they were doing some investigative reporting. Read the below and see what you think

WW

Let ‘Em Rot: “Hiking” Americans Detained in Iran Are Pro-Syrian, Anti-Israel, Far-Left “Journalist” Activists

By Debbie Schlussel

Longtime readers know my point of view on this: whether you are American or not, a “journalist” or not, if you go to Iran or North Korea, you knew the likely consequences, you assumed the risk, and I couldn’t care less about you. I care far more about those held in these totalitarian states against their will, not dumb, left-wing Americans who went there willingly.

Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal:

Left-Wing Activist “Journalists” Detained “Hiking” near Iran
We have enough looming and present foreign and domestic policy problems to worry about. We don’t need to add people like Laura Ling and Roxana Saberi . . . and now, three “hikers” who are really left-wing, pro-Syrian, anti-Israel “activist” “journalists” from Berkeley–two of whom chose to leave America and live in the Arab Muslim Mid-East. They knew the risks when they went “hiking” on the Iranian border. (Hint: It’s not like vacationing in South Beach, and I don’t think they were really hiking.) Two of them chose to live in the Middle East. Tough luck that they got caught.

Oh, and if you think I believe the “they were just hiking” story, think again. Here’s a little bit of info about these far-left “hikers.” It seems that an Iranian prison might be a great place for them to spend some time.

* Sarah Shourd is an anti-Israel “journalist” who lives in the Middle East (probably in Damascus, Syria, from which she’s written some of her articles), writes sympathetic pieces about terrorist-host state Syria, attacking Israel, and taking her Syrian patrons’ false point of view that Israel’s Golan Heights is “occupied territory.” She also writes about how Israel oppresses the Syrians. Hilarious. I mean, no biggie that Bashir Al-Assad cuts his people apart limb by limb, like his father did to journalist Salim Al-Lawzi, that Syria has an atrocious human rights record and tortures dissidents, let’s concentrate on blaming the Jews. That’s her strategy.

Here’s a tip for Ms. Shourd: Israel annexed the Golan Heights years ago–you know, when Syria attacked Israel, went to war, and lost. Shourd lies and claims that Israel forced Syrian inhabitants of the Golan Heights to become Israeli citizens. Nauseatingly false. I have many Druze friends with family there. The Druze Arab inhabitants love the freedom they have as Israelis–of not having to worry if a conversation they have on the street will result in their limbs being amputated without anasthesia. The formely Syrian Druze of the Golan Heights rue the day when Syria gets it back (as Obama–and before him, Bush–have been pushing).

Shourd describes herself as a “ teacher-activist-writer from California currently based in the Middle East.” Well, we know for whom she’s an activist and writer–the Iranians-sponsored Syrians and other Islamic terrorists. I’m just worried about whom she is teaching.

* Shane Bauer is a UC Berkeley grad who has written for the far-left The Nation and “reported” for the Terrorist News Network a/k/a Al-Jazeera. He lives in the Muslim Mid-East, speaks Arabic and his Berkeley degree is in “Peace and Conflict Studies”–typical far-left degree for Jimmy Carter groupies. He lives and is based in Damascus, Syria–a nation for whom he’s toed the party line. From his Damascus digs, he’s written articles for left-wing media outlets about how Muslims in Syria love Obama but need to see him change American foreign policy toward Israel and the Islamic world. Sound like an “innocent hiker” to you?

* Joshua Fattal, also a Berkeley grad is an environmental activist who hosted a “resistance” radio show. Media reports say his father is Iraqi, and he said he was traveling there to get in touch with his roots.

He earned a degree in environmental economics and policy. He also taught high-school students in Berkeley and worked in New Hampshire.

He most recently worked and lived at Aprovecho Research Center in Cottage Grove, Ore. The nonprofit facility is located on a 40-acre ranch and is focused on sustainable living skills, sustainable forestry and organic gardening, its Web site states.

At Aprovecho, Fattal held a position as internship coordinator. He was a graduate of the program himself and traveled to small towns in Oregon and Guatemala to implement some of the sustainable living ideas taught at the center . . . .

While Fattal was at Aprovecho, he co-hosted a weekly radio show, “Rhythms and Resistance,” on the center’s community station.

These are the three “hiking” Americans who “accidentally” strayed into Iran. Things are not always as they seem. But, in this case, one thing’s quite clear. When you hear about Americans vacationing by hiking near Iran, you know something’s up. And it’s not innocent at all. These three were not mere “tourists.”

Sad that our government won’t send the right message to these activist, left-wing Americans who take unwarranted risks: You’re on your own.

I’d say, “Let ‘em rot in hell.” But, right now, they’re rotting in Iran. Close enough.

(Unfortunately, Iran will soon learn what useful idiots these are and set them free, just like they did with Saberi and just like Islamic terrorists did with their friend, Jill Carroll.)