Here's a couple of articles published this week about my initiative to establish communication between Tre Arrow and the children whom I am mentoring at Oak and Orca Bioregional School. It should be interesting to see what happens next as this story unfolds. I hope you all find this thought provoking...
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JAILED U.S. ECO-ACTIVIST KEEPS IN TOUCH WITH CHILDREN VIA SPEAKERPHONE
Teacher confident Tre Arrow is innocent of torching trucks
Jeff Bell, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, February 17, 2007
Tre Arrow, an activist accused of arson against a pair of American logging companies in 2001, is reaching out from his Victoria jail cell via speakerphone to children at a small, independent school focused on the environment.
Arrow, an American in his early 30s, has a network of supporters around North America who believe in his innocence. He fled the United States after being charged in the Oregon arsons, claiming he was not involved and that he doubted he would be fairly tried. Allegations were made against Arrow by three co-accused in the arson attacks on five trucks, which caused about $250,000 in damage.
After spending time on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, Arrow surfaced in Victoria in 2004 when he was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting a pair of bolt-cutters from a Canadian Tire store. He later pleaded guilty to theft.
Arrow, who changed his name from Michael Scarpitti for what he describes as spiritual reasons, has been in custody since. He is currently in Wilkinson Road jail. He was ordered extradited to the United States last May by then-justice minister Vic Toews to stand trial, but filed an appeal. He previously applied for refugee status as well.
Jim Blazina, one of his Victoria lawyers, said the appeal will be heard in Vancouver in April.
During his time in Victoria, Arrow has gained support from a number of local people, including Morgan Obendorfer, a 28-year-old teacher at Oak and Orca Bioregional School. Obendorfer said he is confident in Arrow's innocence and has no hesitation about letting his students, aged nine to 13, discuss environmental issues with Arrow during their "deep ecology" workshop. There have been three phone sessions so far.
"It's basically looking at the big-picture reality and then processing what comes out of that," Odendorfer said of the ecology course. "I've found that it's been really pretty powerful introducing Tre to the kids."
He described Arrow as "a tremendously articulate person" who relates well to the students.
Obendorfer said he has been communicating with Arrow for more than a year. He said supporters supply Arrow with raw food for his strict diet, and help him send e-mails and maintain a website.
"I am looking forward to a time when the media can give Tre more of a chance to speak for himself," Obendorfer said. "The media continues to portray him as this crazy person, like a menace to society, which as far I'm concerned couldn't be further from the truth."
Obendorfer said he has had no negative feedback about connecting Arrow with the eight-year-old school, home to about 30 students.
In the coming weeks, the school could be hosting a media gathering on Arrow's case and the bail proposal he is planning to make before the court, Obendorfer said. About $350,000 in bail has been promised from various sources, he said.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
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JAILED "ECO-TERRORIST" A HIT WITH ECOLOGY STUDENTS
Ex-'Most Wanted' is activist hero in B.C. classroom
Published in the Globe and Mail on February 16th,2007
SID TAFLER
Special to The Globe and Mail
VICTORIA -- To the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States, Tre Arrow is an eco-terrorist. He was on the FBI's Most Wanted list, accused of firebombing and burning logging and gravel trucks in Oregon that caused $250,000 in damage.
But to the children at the Oak and Orca Bioregional School in Victoria, he is a political prisoner and an activist hero.
Mr. Arrow fled to Canada in 2002. He was arrested nearly three years ago and has been in jail in British Columbia while the extradition process winds its way through the legal system.
At the Deep Ecology workshop at the alternative school in an aging house overlooking the city, Mr. Arrow's life of high drama and intrigue is an integral part of the curriculum.
On several occasions, through a telephone call and a speaker phone, he has been a guest lecturer in the class from behind the locked gates and barbed wire at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre.
On a bright midwinter afternoon recently, the eight children in this mixed-aged class of nine- to 13-year-olds joined in spirited discussion about Mr. Arrow.
"Why are we talking to Tre?" asked teacher Morgan Obendorfer, 28.
"Because he's not guilty."
"Because capitalism owns democracy."
"Because he's going to be strung up if he's sent back to the U.S."
"It'll be a show trial, he'll have three seconds to make his defence."
Like many children their age, some of these students talk out of turn, push each other, or engage in other disruptive behaviour.
They are frequently told to behave, stay on topic and pay attention.
The excitement in the class rose as they gathered around a wooden chair with a phone on the seat and a picture of a smiling, bearded Tre Arrow taped to the back.
"Why is it powerful for a group of kids to be talking to a political prisoner?" Mr. Obendorfer asked.
"Because kids have power."
"Because we're cute and adorable."
"Because kids can't go to jail, they're too young."
A few minutes later, the phone rang and Mr. Arrow's call was amplified to through the speaker phone. He greeted the teacher, who visited him in jail the day before, and asked for all the pupils' names. Then something remarkable happened.
Mr. Arrow spoke for 24 minutes non-stop about his life and work as an environmental activist without a single interruption from the children, who appeared to listen intently despite a weak connection that caused frequent breaks in the monologue.
He described his commitment and "calling" to the environmental movement. "I needed to help expose the damage being done to our Mother Earth. We only have one home, we can't jump to another planet if we destroy this one."
He talked of becoming a tree-sitter at Eagle Creek in Oregon to prevent the logging of an old-growth forest, and of deciding, during a protest in Portland, to climb to a 23-centimetre ledge on a U.S. Forest Service office building, where he stayed for 11 days.
Born Michael Scarpitti, he told the children the decision to change his name to Tre Arrow "came from the spirit of the trees as a gift from my ancestors."
He also told of running for Congress as a Pacific Green Party candidate in 2000, getting more than 15,000 votes in a bid for Oregon's Third Congressional District.
"We had lots of media attention and public support and we ended up getting the Eagle Creek logging sale cancelled."
He said he fled to Canada and lived under an assumed name because he was convinced he couldn't get a fair trial in the United States. And he denied involvement in the arson and firebombing, contending others involved implicated him in return for reduced sentences.
"They're trying to silence me and keep me locked up in a cage for the rest of my life."
He said he was arrested in Canada in 2004, but left out one important detail -- he was picked up in a Victoria store trying to shoplift a pair of bolt-cutters he later said would be used to break into locked dumpsters to scavenge food for the poor.
Last May, Vic Toews, then the federal justice minister, ordered Mr. Arrow extradited to face charges in the United States. Mr. Arrow's lawyers have launched an appeal in the B.C. Court of Appeal, which is expected to be heard in April.
Mr. Arrow has also applied for bail and for refugee status in Canada. The class at Oak and Orca is only one part of his support network in Canada and the United States, which has raised $350,000 in bail sureties.
When the call ended, the students were asked to discuss what they had heard.
"It was very cool to talk to him again."
"It was really inspiring about what he said about his spiritual name."
Then Mr. Obendorfer summed up: "It's pretty paradoxical that someone who cares so much about the earth is locked away in a little cage. Maybe we can make something positive of this. Maybe one day we can bring him here for Deep Ecology."
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JAILED U.S. ECO-ACTIVIST KEEPS IN TOUCH WITH CHILDREN VIA SPEAKERPHONE
Teacher confident Tre Arrow is innocent of torching trucks
Jeff Bell, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, February 17, 2007
Tre Arrow, an activist accused of arson against a pair of American logging companies in 2001, is reaching out from his Victoria jail cell via speakerphone to children at a small, independent school focused on the environment.
Arrow, an American in his early 30s, has a network of supporters around North America who believe in his innocence. He fled the United States after being charged in the Oregon arsons, claiming he was not involved and that he doubted he would be fairly tried. Allegations were made against Arrow by three co-accused in the arson attacks on five trucks, which caused about $250,000 in damage.
After spending time on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, Arrow surfaced in Victoria in 2004 when he was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting a pair of bolt-cutters from a Canadian Tire store. He later pleaded guilty to theft.
Arrow, who changed his name from Michael Scarpitti for what he describes as spiritual reasons, has been in custody since. He is currently in Wilkinson Road jail. He was ordered extradited to the United States last May by then-justice minister Vic Toews to stand trial, but filed an appeal. He previously applied for refugee status as well.
Jim Blazina, one of his Victoria lawyers, said the appeal will be heard in Vancouver in April.
During his time in Victoria, Arrow has gained support from a number of local people, including Morgan Obendorfer, a 28-year-old teacher at Oak and Orca Bioregional School. Obendorfer said he is confident in Arrow's innocence and has no hesitation about letting his students, aged nine to 13, discuss environmental issues with Arrow during their "deep ecology" workshop. There have been three phone sessions so far.
"It's basically looking at the big-picture reality and then processing what comes out of that," Odendorfer said of the ecology course. "I've found that it's been really pretty powerful introducing Tre to the kids."
He described Arrow as "a tremendously articulate person" who relates well to the students.
Obendorfer said he has been communicating with Arrow for more than a year. He said supporters supply Arrow with raw food for his strict diet, and help him send e-mails and maintain a website.
"I am looking forward to a time when the media can give Tre more of a chance to speak for himself," Obendorfer said. "The media continues to portray him as this crazy person, like a menace to society, which as far I'm concerned couldn't be further from the truth."
Obendorfer said he has had no negative feedback about connecting Arrow with the eight-year-old school, home to about 30 students.
In the coming weeks, the school could be hosting a media gathering on Arrow's case and the bail proposal he is planning to make before the court, Obendorfer said. About $350,000 in bail has been promised from various sources, he said.
© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAILED "ECO-TERRORIST" A HIT WITH ECOLOGY STUDENTS
Ex-'Most Wanted' is activist hero in B.C. classroom
Published in the Globe and Mail on February 16th,2007
SID TAFLER
Special to The Globe and Mail
VICTORIA -- To the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States, Tre Arrow is an eco-terrorist. He was on the FBI's Most Wanted list, accused of firebombing and burning logging and gravel trucks in Oregon that caused $250,000 in damage.
But to the children at the Oak and Orca Bioregional School in Victoria, he is a political prisoner and an activist hero.
Mr. Arrow fled to Canada in 2002. He was arrested nearly three years ago and has been in jail in British Columbia while the extradition process winds its way through the legal system.
At the Deep Ecology workshop at the alternative school in an aging house overlooking the city, Mr. Arrow's life of high drama and intrigue is an integral part of the curriculum.
On several occasions, through a telephone call and a speaker phone, he has been a guest lecturer in the class from behind the locked gates and barbed wire at the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre.
On a bright midwinter afternoon recently, the eight children in this mixed-aged class of nine- to 13-year-olds joined in spirited discussion about Mr. Arrow.
"Why are we talking to Tre?" asked teacher Morgan Obendorfer, 28.
"Because he's not guilty."
"Because capitalism owns democracy."
"Because he's going to be strung up if he's sent back to the U.S."
"It'll be a show trial, he'll have three seconds to make his defence."
Like many children their age, some of these students talk out of turn, push each other, or engage in other disruptive behaviour.
They are frequently told to behave, stay on topic and pay attention.
The excitement in the class rose as they gathered around a wooden chair with a phone on the seat and a picture of a smiling, bearded Tre Arrow taped to the back.
"Why is it powerful for a group of kids to be talking to a political prisoner?" Mr. Obendorfer asked.
"Because kids have power."
"Because we're cute and adorable."
"Because kids can't go to jail, they're too young."
A few minutes later, the phone rang and Mr. Arrow's call was amplified to through the speaker phone. He greeted the teacher, who visited him in jail the day before, and asked for all the pupils' names. Then something remarkable happened.
Mr. Arrow spoke for 24 minutes non-stop about his life and work as an environmental activist without a single interruption from the children, who appeared to listen intently despite a weak connection that caused frequent breaks in the monologue.
He described his commitment and "calling" to the environmental movement. "I needed to help expose the damage being done to our Mother Earth. We only have one home, we can't jump to another planet if we destroy this one."
He talked of becoming a tree-sitter at Eagle Creek in Oregon to prevent the logging of an old-growth forest, and of deciding, during a protest in Portland, to climb to a 23-centimetre ledge on a U.S. Forest Service office building, where he stayed for 11 days.
Born Michael Scarpitti, he told the children the decision to change his name to Tre Arrow "came from the spirit of the trees as a gift from my ancestors."
He also told of running for Congress as a Pacific Green Party candidate in 2000, getting more than 15,000 votes in a bid for Oregon's Third Congressional District.
"We had lots of media attention and public support and we ended up getting the Eagle Creek logging sale cancelled."
He said he fled to Canada and lived under an assumed name because he was convinced he couldn't get a fair trial in the United States. And he denied involvement in the arson and firebombing, contending others involved implicated him in return for reduced sentences.
"They're trying to silence me and keep me locked up in a cage for the rest of my life."
He said he was arrested in Canada in 2004, but left out one important detail -- he was picked up in a Victoria store trying to shoplift a pair of bolt-cutters he later said would be used to break into locked dumpsters to scavenge food for the poor.
Last May, Vic Toews, then the federal justice minister, ordered Mr. Arrow extradited to face charges in the United States. Mr. Arrow's lawyers have launched an appeal in the B.C. Court of Appeal, which is expected to be heard in April.
Mr. Arrow has also applied for bail and for refugee status in Canada. The class at Oak and Orca is only one part of his support network in Canada and the United States, which has raised $350,000 in bail sureties.
When the call ended, the students were asked to discuss what they had heard.
"It was very cool to talk to him again."
"It was really inspiring about what he said about his spiritual name."
Then Mr. Obendorfer summed up: "It's pretty paradoxical that someone who cares so much about the earth is locked away in a little cage. Maybe we can make something positive of this. Maybe one day we can bring him here for Deep Ecology."
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Students challenged to confront issues
Times Colonist
Published: Monday, February 26, 2007
Re: "Tre Arrow offers wrong lessons" and "Tre arrow shouldn't be chatting from jail," Feb. 21 and 22.
I am the facilitator of the Deep Ecology workshop at Oak and Orca Bioregional School, where students chose to establish a dialogue with jailed environmentalist Tre Arrow.
The children wanted to pose their questions directly to Tre, as any good journalist would do.
Our independent school is not a public school but adheres to the B.C. curriculum.
At Oak and Orca, study of the local bioregion, experiential learning, consensus decision-making, nature awareness and deep ecology are all integrated into student life. The B.C. curriculum outlines specific learning outcomes for each grade.
For Grades 5 to 7, these include formulating relevant questions, demonstrating respect for diverse ideas, expressing agreement or disagreement, applying critical thinking skills to a range of issues, evaluating the credibility and reliability of sources, and identifying viewpoints, opinions, stereotypes and propaganda.
As a mentor, I take pride in challenging youth to confront meaningful issues in the real world. In our deep Ecology workshop, we discuss topics such as the interconnectedness and inherent value of all life, the impact of our actions on future generations, and the magnitude of our present climate crisis.
The aforementioned conversation, which was moderated by two educators at all times, allowed students to meet many provincial learning outcomes. It was part of an ongoing series of discussions with a range of individuals with differing perspectives.
This kind of experiential learning goes beyond the mainstream model, and is partly why parents choose to have their children attend this school.
Morgan Obendorfer,
Victoria. -
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Tre Arrow a victim of trial by media
Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, March 3, 2007
Re: "Tre Arrow shouldn't be chatting from jail," Feb. 19.
I have been getting to know Arrow since he arrived in Victoria over one year ago. He has continued his efforts from inside prison to protect this planet. Tre Arrow is part of a pacifist direct-action movement that upholds non-violence in its approach to civil disobedience.
The FBI's case rests on evidence from a co-accused who recieved a minimal sentence in exchange for suggesting that Arrow was the mastermind behind three arsons.
In the years before he fled the FBI, Arrow helped stop the logging of old growth forests in Oregon. The Green party was so inspired by his actions that it asked him to run for Congress in 2000, when he gained more than 15,000 votes.
We are now seeing that green is the new red and the criminalization of dissent. In the U.S., during the Cold War, labelling people as Communists was less about evidence than public relations.
In this post- 9/11 climate, Muslims, animal rights activists and forest activists such as Tre Arrow are judged guilty by ideological association.
Accused persons are innocent until proven guilty. Sadly, this young environmentalist is being given a trial by media. Please visit the support website at www.trearrow.org.
Esther Muirhead
Victoria -
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Listen to Tre, decide for yourself
Times Colonist
Published: Sunday, March 4, 2007
Re: "Tre Arrow shouldn't be chatting from jail," letters, Feb 21, and "Tre Arrow offers wrong lessons," editorial, Feb. 22.
To anyone who should think it wrong to talk to Tre, I ask that you please attend the Deep Ecology workshop and talk to Tre yourself. Otherwise, you seem to be speaking entirely from ignorance. Also, you are defaming someone you've never even talked to.
Anyone who went to the benefit at Solstice Cafe on Feb. 1 will tell you how passionate and loving Tre sounded when he talked about his beliefs.
And if you think he is anything like a violent criminal, then I'm sad that our information sources are so unreliable in telling us what's happening.
As to education, I've become much more aware of the environment since talking to Tre Arrow. I've become more empathetic to the earth. I've become vegetarian. And most of all, Tre has inspired me to live my life out of LOVE not fear!
P.S. I'm NOT being brainwashed!
David Gillese, 11,
Victoria -
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NEW ARTICLE!
03/25Tre Arrow seeks bail help from a Canadian who's familiar with being falsely called a terrorist.
STRAIGHT ARROW: Environmental activist Tre Arrow was arrested in Canada three years ago.
BY ANDREW MACLEOD
Published in Monday Magazine, Williamette Weekly
[March 25th, 2007]
Tre Arrow's effort to raise bail money for his release from a Canadian prison has taken him to Maher Arar, someone who knows about the dangers of being labeled a "terrorist."
"Many of us are hopeful that something will come from this," says an email from Morgan Obendorfer, a Victoria, B.C., teacher and member of Arrow's support committee.
Arrow is fighting extradition to Oregon, where he would stand trial for two 2001 arsons of logging and cement trucks. The FBI has called the acts "domestic terrorism" (See "Grounded Arrow," WW, June 7, 2005).
Arar, a Canadian citizen and engineer, was detained in New York's JFK Airport in September 2002 while en route from Tunisia to Montreal. Acting on faulty intelligence from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that Arar was linked to al Qaeda, the United States sent Arar to his native Syria, where he was tortured for 10 months before he was released.
The Canadian government exonerated Arar and apologized to him in January. But the United States has yet to do so despite pressure from Canada, which gave Arar $1 million Canadian (about $850,000 in U.S. dollars) for his legal fees plus a $10.5 million settlement (about $8.9 million U.S.). Arrow would like part of that money to put toward his bail proposal.
Arrow, who was arrested in Canada three years ago, wants to raise $1 million Canadian for bail. He has promises for almost half that, but none from B.C. residents. Obendorfer says that's key because Arrow's lawyers believe it's critical to show local support. Arar moved to B.C. last year and lives in Kamloops, about 220 miles northeast of Vancouver.
In a March 18 email to supporters, dictated from jail, the 33-year-old Arrow says he recently reached out to Arar on the phone.
"The two of us have very important contributions to bring forth to the restoration of justice and democracy within the political and social structure of our cultures," says Arrow, who got 6 percent of the vote as a 2000 congressional candidate for the Pacific Green Party in Oregon.
Arar's media contact said Arar wasn't immediately available for an interview about Arrow, whose appeal hearing is scheduled for April 18 in Vancouver.
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