P.S.: Al-Arian hasn't been tried (10/24)

Palm Beach Post
October 24, 2004
By C.B. Hanif
Palm Beach Post Ombudsman

Bill Neubauer "was fascinated by an element that the professional analysts did not mention after the debate by Betty Castor and Mel Martinez, candidates for the U.S. Senate. As nearly as I could tell," said the West Palm Beach reader, "they spent the most time on the status of the tenured professor at the University of South Florida accused of aiding terrorists."

The reference was to Sami Al-Arian, whom Mr. Martinez has made the issue in that campaign, despite the fact that Dr. Al-Arian campaigned with candidate George Bush and his wife in 2000 and even was invited to the White House in 2001 while Mr. Martinez was a member of President Bush's Cabinet. Mr. Neubauer's point?

"Both candidates seemed to assume that the professor is guilty. Actually, they are not alone. In articles about school vouchers, The Post has suggested that the school founded by the professor was somehow tainted because the founder was accused of helping terrorists. What nobody seems to acknowledge is that the guy has not been convicted of anything. I couldn't help wondering what ever happened to that fine American tradition of a presumption of innocence until proven guilty."

Mr. Neubauer is correct in his assessment of how the school has been characterized. He also has spotlighted another case of news organizations' failure to hold not only government officials accountable.

The Post accurately reported the facts, for example, in the case of Mustafa Abu Sway. The State Department-vetted Fulbright scholar was a visiting professor at Florida Atlantic University's Honors College a year ago. Then, he was accused of being tied to a terrorist group, based on no known evidence other than that claim in a document on Israeli government stationery. Leading the charge in that case was Daniel Pipes, infamous for his Islam- and Arab-baiting. But news organizations don't appear to be questioning how he and others are getting away with their "tied to terrorists" strategy, whose object seems to be to discourage academic freedom and certain viewpoints.

The same tactic also was used, it seems, last month when Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, was barred from entering the United States. There has been plenty of media mocking of the absurd suspicions, sans evidence, cast in that case. But what news organization is following up by asking what was the evidence or the motivations of whoever made the nebulous claim?

Similarly, news organizations could have done a better job of debunking the fear-factor campaigning by Mr. Martinez against Dr. Al-Arian — who Mr. Neubauer said "seems to be universally assumed to be guilty, without a trial" — rather than his opponent. "The professor may well be guilty as charged by the politicians and the newspapers.

But doesn't he deserve a judicial determination before an assumption of guilt?" When evidence is placed in the public domain, Americans usually can figure it out. When some folks rely instead on innuendo, it's a shame when news organizations just roll over.

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*Action:
Please thank the "Palm Beach Post" for publishing a fair analysis that states a quite obvious point (albeit rarely noted by the media) that Dr. Al-Arian deserves the presumption of innocence:


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