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Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace<br>
Mar. 12, 2007<br><br>
DAY 50 of Dr. Al-Arian's Hunger Strike<br><br>
TAMPA Today is Day 50 of Dr. Al-Arian's hunger strike for justice,<br>
in which he has lost 50 pounds. Despite a report last week stating<br>
that prison officials would force feed Dr. Al-Arian, he has not yet<br>
been force fed; he has only consumed water during the past 50 days.<br>
(Please see below the Associated Press report about that).<br><br>
I. During the past couple of weeks, there have been tremendous
efforts<br>
on Dr. Al-Arian's behalf. Faithful America, an advocacy network of
the<br>
National Council of Churches - USA, sent out an action alert to its<br>
members that resulted in over 3,500 letters to Attorney General<br>
Alberto Gonzales and other officials. Please click here to read more<br>
about the nation-wide campaign and for guidance on sending a letter
to<br>
the Attorney General:
<<a href="http://www.faithfulamerica.org/article.php?id=161>http://www.faithfulamerica.org/article.php?id=161" eudora="autourl">
http://www.faithfulamerica.org/article.php?id=161>http://www.faithfulamerica.org/article.php?id=161<br>
<br>
</a>Also please see the CAIR action alert sent last week for
concrete<br>
suggestions on how YOU can help Dr. Al-Arian during this especially<br>
sensitive time.<br><br>
II. The latest (April) issue of the Washington Report on Middle East<br>
Affairs magazine contains a 10-page spread on Dr. Al-Arian's ordeal,<br>
featuring articles by Dr. Al-Arian's attorney, Peter Erlinder,<br>
renowned academics John Esposito and John Voll, former Congressman<br>
Paul Findley, civil rights attorney Eric Vickers, and Laila Al-Arian<br>
among others. To order the issue or subscribe to WRMEA, visit<br>
<a href="http://www.wrmea.com/" eudora="autourl">www.wrmea.com</a> or
call 202-939-6050.<br><br>
III. On March 5, an ad in support of Dr. Al-Arian was published in
the<br>
Washington Post. The ad, entitled "Why is Dr. Sami Al-Arian Still
in<br>
Prison?" was in the form of a letter addressed to Attorney
General<br>
Gonzales respectfully requesting that he "support the immediate<br>
release" of Dr. Al-Arian.<br><br>
The letter pointed out that the Department of Justice is reneging on<br>
its promise to Dr. Al-Arian to release him in April. It furthermore<br>
cited a letter to Gonzales by Amnesty International, in which the<br>
respected human rights monitor raised concerns about the
"anti-Islamic<br>
sentiments" expressed by a federal prosecutor who is trying to
force<br>
Dr. Al-Arian to testify in unrelated cases, in violation of his plea<br>
agreement with the government.<br><br>
The ad was signed by the National Council of Churches USA,
American<br>
Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections, Citizens' Committee<br>
for Equal Justice, California Civil Rights Alliance and Friends of<br>
Human Rights. Check
<a href="http://www.freesamialarian.com/" eudora="autourl">
www.freesamialarian.com</a> tomorrow for the complete ad.<br><br>
----<br>
IV. Associated Press<br>
Thursday, March 8, 2007<br><br>
Ex-professor on hunger strike may be force fed<br>
<a href="http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/16858129.htm" eudora="autourl">
www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/16858129.htm<br>
<br>
</a>RALEIGH-- A former university professor on a hunger strike for
the<br>
past 44 days to protest the circumstances of his imprisonment could<br>
soon be force fed, his attorney said yesterday.<br><br>
Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian who taught computer science at the<br>
University of South Florida, stopped eating Jan. 22 to protest a<br>
judge's decision to hold him indefinitely after he refused to
testify<br>
before a Virginia grand jury.<br><br>
Nahla al-Arian said that her husband has lost more than 40 pounds on<br>
the water-only diet and is so weak that he needs a wheelchair.<br><br>
"His health is really deteriorating," she said. "We are
really worried<br>
that there will be permanent damage."<br><br>
Because of that, officials at the Federal Medical Facility in Butner<br>
have told al-Arian that they will begin force feeding if his
condition<br>
worsens, said his attorney, Peter Erlinder.<br>
"It's an invasive procedure, and there's some danger of
injury,"<br>
Erlinder said. "We're hopeful that there can be resolution
before<br>
that. (U.S. Attorney General Alberto) Gonzales could end this all
with<br>
a stroke of a pen."<br><br>
Supporters of al-Arian have asked Gonzales to deport al-Arian before<br>
his scheduled release from prison in April.<br><br>
Prosecutors and al-Arian had agreed to deportation as a part of the<br>
plea deal. Erlinder declined to say where al-Arian would be
deported.<br><br>
During a six-month trial in 2005, prosecutors labeled al-Arian a<br>
leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which the United States calls a<br>
foreign terrorist organization. The trial ended in an acquittal on<br>
some counts and a hung jury on others.<br><br>
In a plea bargain last April, al-Arian admitted to conspiring to aid<br>
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced to nearly five years in<br>
prison, although he got credit for the time he had already served.<br>
Al-Arian and his attorneys said that the plea deal also exempts him<br>
from testifying before a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., which is<br>
investigating Islamic charities in northern Virginia.<br><br>
---<br><br>
V. CAIR ACTION ALERT #509<br>
ASK ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES TO FREE DR. AL-ARIAN<br><br>
(WASHINGTON D.C., 3/9/07) - The Council on American-Islamic
Relations<br>
(CAIR) is calling on American Muslims and other people of conscience<br>
to contact Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to ask that he free Dr.<br>
Sami Al-Arian, a former Florida professor currently on a hunger
strike<br>
in federal detention to protest his treatment by U.S.
authorities.<br><br>
Al-Arian is being held in a medical facility in North Carolina after<br>
initiating his water-only hunger strike on January 22. He began his<br>
protest after being given a sentence of up to 18 months for refusing<br>
to testify before a grand jury in Virginia. His physical condition
is<br>
deteriorating daily. A family member told CAIR that he has lost 45<br>
pounds since beginning his protest and now spends most of his time
in<br>
a wheelchair.<br><br>
Al-Arian's attorneys say an earlier plea agreement freed him from<br>
further cooperation with the government. Supporters also say the<br>
government's actions amount to a form of harassment.<br><br>
Federal authorities say they will soon begin force-feeding Dr.
Al-Arian.<br><br>
SEE: Force-Feeding Near for Fasting Inmate (AP)<br><br>
In 2005, a Florida jury rejected federal charges that Al-Arian<br>
operated a cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian later<br>
pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was scheduled for release and<br>
deportation in April.<br><br>
SEE: No Guilty Verdicts in Al-Arian Trial (Tampa Tribune)<br><br>
SEE ALSO: U.S. Muslims Call Al-Arian Imprisonment 'Double Jeopardy'
(AMT)<br><br>
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm, but POLITE.)<br><br>
1. CONTACT the following officials to request that Dr. Sami Al-Arian<br>
be released from detention and allowed to leave the country with his<br>
family. (Make sure to include your name, address and ZIP Code in the<br>
letter)<br><br>
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales<br>
Department of Justice<br>
U.S. Department of Justice<br>
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW<br>
Washington, DC 20530-0001<br><br>
Fax: 202-307-6777<br>
Tel: 202-353-1555<br>
E-Mail:
<<a href="mailto:AskDOJ@usdoj.gov" eudora="autourl">
mailto:AskDOJ%40usdoj.gov</a>>AskDOJ@usdoj.gov<br><br>
The Honorable Judge Gerald Lee<br>
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia<br>
401 Courthouse Square<br>
Alexandria, VA 22314<br><br>
President George W. Bush<br>
The White House<br>
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW<br>
Washington, D.C. 20500<br><br>
Comments: 202-456-1111<br>
Fax: 202-456-2461<br>
E-Mail:
<<a href="mailto:comments@whitehouse.gov%3Ecomments@whitehouse.gov" eudora="autourl">
mailto:comments%40whitehouse.gov>comments@whitehouse.gov<br><br>
</a>Sample Letter:<br><br>
Dr. Sami Al-Arian is currently on a hunger strike in federal
detention<br>
to protest his treatment by U.S. authorities. He began his hunger<br>
strike after being given a sentence of up to 18 months for refusing
to<br>
testify before a grand jury in Virginia. His attorneys say an
earlier<br>
plea agreement freed him from further cooperation and that the<br>
government's actions amount to a form of harassment. I therefore<br>
respectfully request that you support the immediate release of Dr.<br>
Al-Arian so that he and his family may resume their lives in another<br>
country.<br><br>
2. CONTACT your own elected representatives through:<br>
<<a href="http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/" eudora="autourl">
http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/</a>
><a href="http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/" eudora="autourl">
http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/<br><br>
</a>3. SEND COPIES of all correspondence to CAIR at:
<<a href="mailto:info@cair.com" eudora="autourl">
mailto:info%40cair.com</a>>info@cair.com or fax:<br>
202-488-0833<br><br>
4. COPY TO Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), chairman of the House<br>
Judiciary Committee. E-Mail:
<<a href="mailto:john.conyers@mail.house.gov%3Ejohn.conyers@mail.house.gov" eudora="autourl">
mailto:john.conyers%40mail.house.gov>john.conyers@mail.house.gov</a>
or fax: (202)<br>
225-0072<br><br>
- PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE -<br><br>
---<br><br>
VI. Remarks by Nahla Al-Arian, Nobel Peace Center, Feb. 19, 2007<br><br>
Good afternoon, and peace be upon you.<br><br>
Thank you very much for inviting me to share with you the story of
our<br>
struggle against the oppressive and inhumane policies of the most<br>
powerful government in the world. My husband, a political activist,<br>
was the victim of the forces of intolerance, hatred and racism, who<br>
exploited the September 11th tragedy to silence and persecute<br>
political dissidents. My husband's crime in their eyes was his
belief<br>
that every human being has the right to political association,<br>
expression, and assembly. The evidence the government used against
my<br>
husband consisted of speeches he gave, books he read, magazines he<br>
published, conferences he organized, rallies he attended, and if you<br>
can believe it, web sites he never visited; and to take a page out
of<br>
Orwell- a dream someone had about him.<br><br>
It is unconscionable that of all the people of the world, the<br>
government targeted the advocates of the Palestinian cause who are<br>
more in need of these (political) rights than anyone else because of<br>
their status as an occupied people. It is precisely because he was
an<br>
effective public speaker and a passionate advocate for universal
human<br>
rights, who built bridges with the broad spectrum of American
society<br>
that he was persecuted. He has a spirit of giving and sacrifice; as
a<br>
university professor, he was twice given the best teaching award. As
a<br>
community leader, he was actively engaged in the integration of the<br>
Muslim and Arab community into the larger society, particularly in<br>
encouraging them to vote and perform community service.<br><br>
As I speak before you today, my husband sits in a prison hospital,<br>
where he has entered his fifth week of a hunger strike to protest
the<br>
continued abuses against him in the only way he knows how. As a<br>
stateless Palestinian whose adopted country will soon force his<br>
departure, my husband, my children and I face a future full of<br>
uncertainty and instability.<br><br>
In the 21st century, only the Palestinian are denied a homeland to<br>
return to. Despite the humiliation and the psychological torture my<br>
husband has endured since his arrest four years ago, in the
statement<br>
he has addressed to you, his compassion for his people prevails over<br>
his own trials.<br><br>
-End-<br><br>
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