Countercurrents.org, April 6, 2007
By Stephen Lendman
Link: Click here
Sami Al-Arian is one of many dozens, likely hundreds, of political prisoners in the US today. Noteworthy because of his high-profile status, Al-Arian is an especially egregious example of persecution and injustice in post-9/11 America with its climate of state-induced fear, and resulting repression of Muslims characterized as “Islamofascists” because of their faith and ethnicity.

A Palestinian refugee, scholar, academic, community leader, civic activist and advocate for freedom and justice for his people, Al-Arian has been imprisoned since February 2003 on trumped up charges even after a jury exonerated him. He was acquitted of eight of the false 17 charges against him, relating to violence and terrorism. The jury was deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal on the other nine.

Al-Arian is a Kuwaiti-born son of Palestinian refugees forced to flee Palestine during the 1948-49 Nakba catastrophe when the new state of Israel’s “War of Independence” ethnically cleansed and willfully slaughtered 800,000 Palestinians, desecrated their sacred holy sites, and seized their lands. The final master Plan D (Dalet) was for a war without mercy against defenseless people in which unspeakable atrocities were committed while destroying 531 Palestinian villages, 11 urban neighborhoods in cities like Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem, thousands of homes and vast amounts of crops. Al-Arian’s parents were lucky to escape the carnage and destruction alive.

Al-Arian came to the US in 1975 to pursue his education. He taught computer science as a distinguished professor at the University of South Florida (USF) from 1986 until the worst of his ordeal began in February 2003. He was targeted because of his public, passionate and effective advocacy for human and civil rights and the liberation of his people long oppressed for six decades.

Al-Arian is a man of great distinction. He’s a devout Palestinian Muslim, imam of the Islamic Community of Tampa, and a respected and admired man of principle who helped empower the Muslim community through his dedicated hard work and personal relationships with other civic, political and religious leaders in Florida and across the country. He was able to build these relationships in a post-9/11 environment in which all Muslims became suspect and were viewed as possible “terrorists.”

Post-9/11, USF president Judy Genshaft consorted with Florida Governor Jeb Bush to suspend Al-Arian on September 28, 2001 with pay on phony grounds of campus safety. She then tried to fire him, falsely claiming he supported terrorists and damaged the university’s reputation even though he was a respected award-winning tenured professor guilty of no crime but his faith, ethnicity and courageous activism encouraging other Muslim Americans to act likewise.

Earlier in August 1996, USF placed Al-Arian on paid leave pending the outcome of an FBI investigation into whether organizations he was involved with fronted for terrorist groups. He was allowed to resume teaching two years later when it uncovered nothing.

On the day of his arrest on February 20, 2003, Al-Arian wrote: “I am crucified today because of who I am: a stateless Palestinian, an Arab, a Muslim and an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, but more a persistent defender for civil and constitutional rights on the home front.” This was from a man Newsweek magazine called the premier civil rights activist in America for his efforts to repeal the use of secret evidence that became HR 2121. The bill only got as far in the 106th Congress as a favorable vote in the House Judiciary Committee. Now it’s up to the 110th Congress to take further action.

Earlier, Al-Arian co-founded the Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace, a local organization opposing the unconstitutional use of secret evidence and other civil rights violations, and responding to slanderous media attacks against Muslims and Arabs. He also co-founded the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, the nation’s leading organization challenging the use of secret evidence, serving as its first president in 2000. Because of his efforts, Al-Arian advised members of Congress and was invited to briefing meetings at the White House, personally meeting President Bill Clinton and presidential candidate George W. Bush.

University of South Florida President Genshaft initially failed to remove him but acted summarily on February 26, 2003, a week after Al-Arian was arrested and indicted on charges from which no conviction later resulted. Genshaft then announced he was fired because his (entirely legal) non-academic activities and indictment conflicted with university interests. Genshaft sacrificed her integrity to serve the interests of the Bush administration’s imperialist Global War on Terrorism directed against all Muslims unfairly targeted.

The website that advocates for Sami Al-Arian, freesaminow.com, details the timeline of his ordeal.

He endured 11 years of FBI investigations, half a million phone wiretaps, searches and other harassment costing many tens of millions of dollars for his political activism and support of civil rights.

During his trial, the government alleged he was connected to Islamic groups designated “terrorist” organizations meaning they supported freedom and justice for Palestinians and others and that Al-Arian advocated effectively for them.

His family watched in horror as FBI agents and Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officers stormed his home in February 2003 at 5:00 AM guns drawn menacingly. They arrested him and three others on charges of supporting terrorism, conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, giving material support to an outlawed group, extortion, perjury and other offenses later proved spurious in court. He was detained at a local jail where he went on a hunger strike to protest his politically-motivated incarceration.

The charges against Al-Arian falsely alleged he supported organizations claimed to be fronts for Palestinian Islamic Jihad on a US “terrorist” watch list. They were also made against two other organizations he co-founded, the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP) and World Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE). ICP was a non-profit involved in raising awareness of the plight of Palestinians. WISE, meanwhile, was a think tank affiliated with USF, a research and academic enterprise promoting dialogue between Muslims and the West. Also cited was the Islamic Academy of Florida, which Al-Arian also founded. The academy was considered one of the nation’s top full-time Islamic schools with over 300 students from preschool through high school. These organizations have nothing to do with violence or terrorism. In fact, two years earlier, federal immigration Judge Kevin R. McHugh ruled “there is no evidence before the Court that demonstrates (WISE and ICP were) front(s) for the (Islamic Jihad). To the contrary, there is evidence in the record to support the conclusion that WISE was a reputable and scholarly research center and the ICP was highly regarded.”

The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which Al-Arian helped establish in 1981, is now is the largest grassroots Muslim organization in America, contributing “to the betterment of the Muslim community and society at large….representing Islam, supporting Muslim communities, developing educational, social and outreach programs and fostering good relations with other religious communities, and civic and service organizations.”

■ USF President Judy Genshaft ignored Al-Arian’s impeccable credentials and remarkable record of community service and achievements. Acting as a stooge for the Bush administration, she disgracefully fired him on February 27, 2003.

■ At his four-day bail hearing, which began on March 20, exactly one month after his arrest (FACTCHK THIS), the government provided no evidence, no witnesses, and failed to show Al-Arian and his co-defendants were flight risks or threats to national security. Still, he and defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh were denied bail. The two defendants in the case who were American citizens, Ghassan Ballut and Hatem Fariz, were granted bail.

■ On March 27, Al-Arian and Hammoudeh were incarcerated in the maximum-security federal penitentiary in Coleman, Florida. They were placed in solitary confinement under atrocious conditions in what’s called the “Special Housing Unit.” The SHU is reserved for the most dangerous convicted prisoners. Al-Arian was held there for two and a half years before his trial. He was denied basic privileges convicted murderers have, including contact visits with his family. He didn’t receive adequate materials to work on his case, got limited access to counsel, and was subjected overall to harsh punitive treatment including strip searches and other indignities.

■ Initially unable to raise necessary funds for his defense, Al-Arian received court-appointed attorneys. He was later allowed to fire them for lack of progress and acted as his own attorney.

Al-Arian remained in prison until his June 2005 trial in Tampa Federal District Court. Before it began, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) condemned the University of South Florida for violating his rights to due process and academic freedom. In addition, Amnesty International wrote the Federal Bureau of Prisons condemning the conditions under which Al-Arian was held saying his pre-trial detention “appeared to be gratuitously punitive (and) the restrictions imposed on (him) appeared to go beyond what were necessary on security grounds and were inconsistent with international standards for humane treatment.”

Amnesty spoke out in this case while in others of equal importance it fails to or doesn’t go far enough when it does, especially when they involve US government-committed abuses. Al-Arian’s case is one of the latter as nothing about his treatment shows “appearance.” It was and continues to be an egregious example of willful, vindictive injustice against a courageous, distinguished man who, like all other state repression victims, is no match for the power federal prosecutors can marshal against him with intent to destroy him and make him suffer maximally throughout his ordeal.

In Al-Arian’s case, it began with 11 years of investigations and harassment with trumped up charges leading to his incarceration and trial. While in prison, he endured a 23-hour lockdown in a rat and roach-infested cell; was denied religious services; got no watch or clock; and was held in a windowless cell in which artificial light never went off. He was also shackled hands behind his back and feet whenever outside his cell. When conferring with his lawyers, he was forced to make a long walk to reach them uncomfortably balancing his law files on his back because prison officials refused to help. During this time, Al-Arian also underwent a hunger strike for 140 days losing 45 pounds and endangering his life as he’s diabetic.

■ After three months of self-representation, Al-Arian hired respected Washington, DC attorney William Moffitt and Tampa attorney Linda Moreno to represent him. Later it was learned that federal authorities destroyed key evidence, along with deliberately committing other injustices against him and stalling tactics delaying his trial nearly two and a half years following his arrest. All the while, he remained incarcerated under harsh conditions.

Al-Arian’s Prison Odyssey Nightmare – February 20, 2003 to the Present

Dr. Al-Arian has been imprisoned since his arrest February 20, 2003 and initially placed in temporary confinement at Orient Road jail in Tampa, Florida.
From there till today, his imprisonment odyssey was as follows:

— February 20, 2003: Orient Road Jail, Tampa, Florida
— March 27, 2003: Maximum Security US Penitentiary, Coleman, Florida.
— February 9, 2005: Orient Road Jail, Tampa, Florida.
— May 4, 2006: Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee, Florida.
— June 8, 2006: Maximum Security US Penitentiary, Atlanta, Georgia
— June 22, 2006: Medium Security Federal Correctional Complex, Coleman, Florida
— September 20, 2006: Maximum Security US Penitentiary, Atlanta, Georgia.
— September 21, 2006: Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
— September 25, 2006: Northern Neck Regional Jail, Warsaw, Virginia.
— January 3, 2007: Maximum Security US Penitentiary, Atlanta, Georgia.
— January 17, 2007: Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg, Virginia.
— January 18, 2007: Alexandria Regional Jail, Alexandria, Virginia.
— January 19, 2007: Northern Neck Regional Jail, Warsaw, Virginia.
— February 14, 2007: Federal medical prison, Butner, North Carolina.

Al-Arian’s Travesty of a Trial

The trial began in June 2005, following 11 years of government hounding and three years preparing for it.

It went on for six months, costing prosecutors an estimated $50 million (WE MENTION $80 MILLION IN CHARLOTTE’S ARTICLE – WE SHOULD DECIDE ON ONE FIGURE) all in vain in the end, but then again maybe not as explained below. The prosecution called more than 75 witnesses including 21 from Israel. It used portions of hundreds of phone calls selected from over a half million recorded from over a decade of harassing surveillance as well as claimed evidence from intercepted faxes, emails and what was seized from hours of intrusively searching the Al-Arian home.

It also used phony evidence from Al-Arian’s activist speeches; lectures; conferences, events and rallies he attended; articles he wrote; books he owned; magazines he edited; and other publications he read and more amounting to nothing other than his constitutional rights to speak freely, assemble in public and read whatever he chose in a country where those rights should mean something – but don’t for Muslims and others targeted in the age of George Bush.

The defense responded to the witch-hunt prosecution calling no witnesses and presenting no evidence, resting its case solely on Al-Arian’s First Amendment rights. US District Judge James Moody denied Al-Arian’s right to defend his activities based on Israel’s theft and repressive occupation of Palestinian lands that led to his entirely legal activism against it.
Despite throwing the book and piles of taxpayer cash at him, the jury exonerated Al-Arian on December 6, 2005 after 13 days of deliberation as explained above.

But this didn’t end things as it never does when government prosecutors are out to frame someone like Sami Al-Arian. Realizing his ordeal would continue unless he could reach accommodation with the government, he agreed to a plea agreement on March 2, 2006 to bring his case to a close not realizing it would not as hostile government prosecutors never let up on their targets till they convict, bankrupt, break or kill them, even though things don’t always go as planned.

The Plea Agreement
Nonetheless, the written plea agreement stipulated the following:
— That Al-Arian engaged in no violent acts and had no knowledge of any in the US or Middle East.
— That he would not be required to “cooperate” further by providing information to prosecutors.
— And that he would be released for time served and voluntarily agreed to be deported.
In the meantime, the agreement was delivered to Judge Moody on April 17, 2006, and sentencing was scheduled for May 1, 2006 with Al-Arian forced to remain in custody pending his sentence and deportation even though as a Palestinian he’s a man without a country unless one accepts him.

Under agreed terms, prosecutors abandoned their charges, and Al-Arian pled guilty to one watered-down count of providing services to people associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Statement of Facts in the agreement include:

— Hiring an attorney for his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar (an adjunct professor at USF at the time) during his deportation hearings in the late 1990s.

FBI agents arrested Al-Najjar on May 19, 1997 using secret phony evidence to imprison him (largely on a minor immigration charge), held him without charge for three and a half years before a federal judge ordered his release. He was then arrested again November 24, 2001 and finally deported August 21, 2002 ending a long court battle in another case of an innocent man denied his constitutional rights because of his Muslim faith and Arab ethnicity.

— Filling out immigration forms for a resident Palestinian scholar from Britain.

— And, not disclosing details of associations to a local reporter.

In return, the prosecution agreed to dismiss the remaining jury-deadlocked charges and not charge Al-Arian with other crimes. It also asked for no fine and recommended “the defendant receive sentence at the low end of the applicable guideline.” It further acknowledged Al-Arian committed no violence, and there were no victims. For his part, Al-Arian was forced to agree to an expedited deportation, which he decided was worth it for his freedom and to be reunited with his family and bring his ordeal to an end.

It didn’t happen even under a plea agreement Al-Arian was led to believe would involve a sentence of no more than time served. Judge Moody had other ideas, sentencing Al-Arian to the maximum 57 months in prison, giving him credit for time served but leaving a balance of 11 months to be followed by deportation scheduled for April 2007 now extended to October, 2008, since he has been held in civil contempt. His ordeal continues without end.

Last October, assistant prosecutor Gordon Kromberg, subpoenaed Al-Arian to testify before a grand jury investigating an Islamic think tank, violating the plea agreement which stipulated that it was “to conclude, once and for all, all business between the government and Dr. Al-Arian.” His defense attorneys filed a motion supporting his right not to testify explaining he never would have agreed if he remained subject to be called in further government investigations. Doing so might entrap him in possible or interpreted perjury, leaving him vulnerable to endless government opportunities to harass and reincarcerate him.

Judge Moody ruled against Al-Arian, and on November 16, 2006, he was brought before the grand jury and held in civil contempt for refusing to testify. A month later, the grand jury expired, and a new one convened with Al-Arian again subpoenaed to testify. Again he refused, and was held in contempt which added 18 more months to his sentence, without mitigation, in what’s clearly the government’s attempt to renege on its deal to keep Al-Arian locked up forever even though he committed no crimes and was exonerated by a jury in his trumped up trial.
Al-Arian is appealing his contempt sentencing and government violation of his plea agreement.

With Al-Arian now being held in contempt, his original criminal sentence is not running concurrently. In addition, with two contempt charges, his initial 18 month add-on sentence could be extended to 36 months under “civil contempt” and much longer if the prosecution charges him with “criminal contempt.”

It means despite the government’s plea agreement to release him based on time served, George Bush’s Justice Department, under rogue Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who flaunts the law, lied and Al-Arian can be held imprisoned for years without end as an innocent man guilty of no crime.

That’s even clearer after a three-judge panel of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously and “contemptuously” affirmed his civil contempt ruling March 23, 2007, saying his plea agreement “contains no language which would bar the government from compelling appellant’s testimony before a grand jury” even though it clearly does in plain English stated above. So much for justice from right-wing courts in the age of George Bush where there’s none for administration targets like Al-Arian.

In the meantime, Al-Arian protested the only way he can. He again went on a water-only hunger strike January 22, 2007, leaving him very weak, unable to walk or stand on his own, and needing to be confined to a wheelchair. It lasted two months but was ended at the urging of his family after losing 55 pounds or one-fourth of his body weight. His wife, Nahla, reports he’s now slowly regaining his strength.

In Al-Arian’s case, continuing a fast is life-threatening because he’s diabetic and should be ingesting regular sustenance to avoid serious health problems.

It took its toll earlier causing Al-Arian to collapse after which he was moved to a federal prison medical facility in Butner, North Carolina where he’s too weak to walk and is now subjected to the shoddy kind of medical care everyone imprisoned gets. It’s poor, indifferent and sure to be even worse for anyone in prison for political reasons any time but especially in the age of George Bush where justice is an illusion, and Sami Al-Arian’s fate is at stake. Today, what happened to Sami Al-Arian can happen to anyone.

Under George Bush rule, we’re all Sami Al-Arians.

Muslim Witch-Hunt Harassment and Persecution In An Age of “Terrorism” and Endless Imperial Wars

In the wake of 9/11, Muslims have been in the Bush administration crosshairs, targeted with abusive harassment and persecution including mass roundups, detentions, prosecutions and deportations in an age of state-induced phony terror to scare the public enough to allow the government to get away with anything. It took full advantage with a greatly enhanced Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/ICE) campaign going after vulnerable undocumented Latino workers along with targeted Muslims and others designated threats to national security in an age when anyone is suspect if federal agencies say so. Who’ll object if it’s in the interest of “national security.”

It began shortly after the 9/11 attacks with the Bush administration declaring a permanent state of preventive war against claimed threats to national security, especially targeting Muslims abroad and at home. It resulted in two wars of illegal aggression without end and mass witch-hunt roundups at home in which constitutional and international laws are flouted along with fundamental principles of human rights and civil liberties. In an atmosphere of state-induced fear trumpeted by the dominant media, the FBI swung into action in mass sweeps and detentions affecting many thousands of mainly Muslim immigrants, citizens and visitors picking the wrong time to be here.

Even before 9/11, the Clinton administration and Republican-controlled Congress legalized these activities in the 1996 Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) and Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penality Act (AEDPA). They’re harsh repressive laws denying targets their rights of due process and judicial fairness. Today they allow DHS/ICE agents the right to conduct wiretaps and searches (the Bush administration does without required warrants), conduct proceedings in secret courts with permanently sealed rulings, detain immigrants and other targets called “terrorists,” deny them bail, deport them without discretionary relief, restrict their access to counsel, deny their right to appeal, and throw the book at them even for minor offenses. The consequences for those targeted are devastating.

It affected 5,000 Muslims in America in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, with only three of them being charged with an offense and not a single “terrorist” nabbed to show for it, as even the 9/11 (whitewash) Commission admitted.

Yet, those swept up then and now are generally detained on non-criminal administrative charges, often without their families’ knowledge. They’re kept in degrading and inhumane conditions – locked in cells 23 hours a day where lights never go off, kept in hand and leg shackles whenever they leave their cells, harassed and abused without redress, and denied telephone calls and family visitations.

Many are dragged from their homes in the middle of the night or before dawn in paramilitary-style raids while others get picked up in the wrong place at the wrong time or for willingly coming forward as aliens when asked to and being punished for it.

Early on, the Justice Department boasted it successfully deported hundreds of targeted individuals connected to 9/11 investigations. Estimates since from human rights groups, Muslim community leaders and organizations, peace groups and lawyers show the numbers skyrocketed to many thousands more, plus tens of thousands of others fleeing the country in fear after having been surveilled, interrogated and detained or arrested in a systemic reign of state terror pattern of abuse leaving scars that won’t ever heal. Those here only as visitors won’t ever return or have faith in this country again. All affected are devastated by the experience. It harms individuals, communities and families, tearing them apart and leaving them to wonder how they’ll recoup after being through so much. This is the state of America today with horrific cases like Sami Al-Arian’s highlighting it.

Early on, those targeted were caught up in the post-9/11 FBI witch-hunt mass sweep called PENTTBOM involving 4000 agents and 3000 support staff investigating 96,000 tips from the public in the first week alone after the attacks. By January, 2002, the ACLU claimed the FBI received half a million citizen calls with tips and leads resulting in investigations affecting 100,000 Muslims and brown-skinned people if only 20% of them were followed-up on.

Add to these what’s gone on till today. Then highlight Muslims (like Al-Arian) targeted for supporting Islamic charities and organizations banned for their phony claimed links to “terrorist” groups, others for their activism, anyone with a police record even for minor indiscretions, and overall all Muslims under suspicion, potentially being watched and always fearing a pre-dawn knock on their door or the thud or crash of it being broken in and facing menacing FBI agents with guns drawn.

It never ends. The Washington Post reported on March 25, 2007 that “thousands of pieces of intelligence information from around the world arrive (daily) in a computer-filled office in McLean (Virginia), where analysts feed them into the nation’s central list of terrorists and terrorism suspects.” It’s called the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) storing data about individuals the intelligence community thinks might harm the country. It’s massive in size, includes foreigners and US citizens, ballooning from under 100,000 files in 2003 to about 435,000 now and growing daily in volume enough to overwhelm people assigned to manage it. Once put on the list, it’s forever and can lead to thousands of horror stories of mixed-up names and unconfirmed information. It’s part of what’s going on today as part of a nightmarish Kafkaesque matrix of control in the age of George Bush where everyone is suspect, and no one is safe from a pre-dawn visit from law enforcers from which there’s no return, guilty or innocent, if they want it that way.

Also instituted after September 11, 2002 was a program called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) affecting 24 Muslim or Arab countries and North Korea. It’s administered by DHS/ICE today to keep track of over 35 million people entering and leaving the country annually for any reason, but only targeting Muslims for registration with further interrogation, photographing, fingerprinting, and denial of Sixth Amendment right to counsel and Fourth Amendment right to privacy for those singled out. The program is sweeping and expensive while being near worthless as a security measure. But its cost to Muslim communities in loss of dignity, unspeakable abuse, and overall punitive repression has been huge and devastating.

Dr. Sami Al-Arian is a stark example of its most egregiously harmed victim, with no redress for him so far as his painful ordeal continues without end. This country prides itself on being a nation of laws respecting and protecting the rights of everyone. Untrue now or ever before and wiped from the books without pretense in the age of George Bush.

What’s happening to targeted Muslims and Latino immigrants today may be aimed at us ahead in an effort to silence all dissent and go after perceived enemies of the state including US citizens no longer safe at a time we’re all “enemy combatants” if the Chief Executive says so.

Today in America, our turn may be next sooner than we think, and when it comes there may be no one left to help unless people of conscience act en masse in outrage and protest. In the age of George Bush, no one is safe, and a nation once proud is slipping much closer to passing from democracy to tyranny the way Chalmers Johnson explained it happened in the rise and fall of earlier empires. Citing ancient Rome, he wrote in his new book, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, we “are approaching the edge of a huge waterfall and are about to plunge over it” with other notable figures believing we already have failing to heed Jefferson’s words that “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent” or Edmund Burke who said “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Hopefully there’s still time to act. Are we paying attention? Do we understand today we’re all Sami Al-Arians?

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen each week to The Steve Lendman News and Information Hour on The Micro Effect.com Saturdays at noon US central time.