Inside the "Free the Hikers Campaign": A Harvard Graduate Student’s Struggle to Free his Brother from Arbitrary Detention in Iran

Open to the Public

Alex Fattal, brother of freed hiker Josh Fattal, who was released from Iranian detention after 781 days in captivity in September 2011 delivers his first public talk about the experience of mounting an international campaign to bring his brother home. He will discuss the ups and downs of the campaign and share what he has learned in the process.

Date: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 Time: 04:10pm - 05:30pm

On July 31, 2009, Alex Fattal, a Harvard graduate student, was conducting research for his Ph.D. in Anthropology in Stockholm, Sweden when his mother called to share the news that his brother Josh had been taken captive along the Iraq-Iran border. Alex returned from Sweden and put his studies on hold to help run what became an international campaign.

Alex lobbied the U.S. government, reached out to foreign leaders and international humanitarian figures, coordinated the campaign’s online activities, raised funds, and helped his family cope emotionally with extreme anxiety. On September 21, 2001, after 781 days, Josh ran down the steps of an Omani airplane and jumped into Alex’s arms, a free man once again.

In Alex’s first public talk about the experience he will go through the ups and downs of the campaign and share what he has learned in the process

Inside the "Free the Hikers Campaign": A Harvard Graduate Student’s Struggle to Free his Brother from Arbitrary Detention in Iran

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