<html>
<body>
<font size=3><br>
Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace<br>
April 25, 2007<br><br>
I. My Father, 9/11 Scapegoat<br>
II. Bad News, Good News Day for Al-Arian<br>
III. Political Prisoner Suffers Isolation while Doc Wows Toronto
<br>
Audiences<br>
IV. New article on "USA vs. Al-Arian"<br>
V. Write to Dr. Sami (NEW ADDRESS)<br><br>
I. My Father, 9/11 Scapegoat, Huffingtonpost.com, April 24, 2007<br>
By Laila Al-Arian<br><br>
<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laila-alarian/my-father-911" eudora="autourl">
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laila-alarian/my-father-911</a>-<br>
scapegoat_b_46624.html<br><br>
"If they can kill each other during Ramadan, they can appear before
<br>
the grand jury. I am not going to put off Dr. Al- Arian's grand jury
<br>
appearance just to assist in what is becoming the Islamization of <br>
America."<br>
-- federal prosecutor Gordon Kromberg<br><br>
"The conditions under which Dr. Al-Arian has been detained both
<br>
during his pre-trial detention, and since his sentencing appear to <br>
be unacceptably harsh and punitive."<br>
-- Amnesty International<br><br>
My father, a Palestinian professor named Sami Al-Arian, was arrested
<br>
over four years ago on trumped up terrorism charges and submitted to
<br>
a prosecution over the course of six months that bordered on the <br>
farcical. Though he was ultimately acquitted by a jury of the most <br>
serious charges against him, the Bush administration has prolonged <br>
his imprisonment indefinitely. My father now languishes in a <br>
Virginia jail, another victim of the demagogic politics of the so-<br>
called war on terror.<br><br>
Many have wondered why my father would be targeted so vigorously, <br>
especially after the government lost a case that cost $50 million. <br>
But as with its firing of the eight federal prosecutors who
"chafed" <br>
against its radical agenda, the administration of President George <br>
W. Bush has injected its politics into the system, prolonging my <br>
father's imprisonment to punish him for the humiliation his <br>
acquittal caused them.<br><br>
Last month, my father completed a 60-day hunger strike to protest <br>
his continued imprisonment that left him in such a weakened state he
<br>
was confined to a wheelchair. Soon after receiving medical <br>
treatment, he was transferred to a Federal Correctional Institute in
<br>
Petersburg, Virginia. Upon my father's arrival, a prison guard <br>
remarked while strip-searching him: "Where are you from? <br>
Afghanistan?" Though my father refused to answer the demeaning <br>
question, the guard repeated it several times. He went on:<br><br>
"It doesn't matter where you're from. If I had my way, you wouldn't
<br>
be in prison. I'd put a bullet in your head and get it done with. <br>
You're nothing but a piece of s***."<br><br>
This is not the first time this guard harassed my father. In <br>
January, he told him: "You're a terrorist. I can tell by your
name."<br><br>
This time there was a witness to the abuse, though he wasn't exactly
<br>
a friendly one. Upon hearing his underling's outburst, the <br>
lieutenant in charge took my father aside and shackled his arms and <br>
legs. The shackles were so tight my father lost sensation in his <br>
extremities for the duration of the four-hour trip to his final <br>
destination, a detention center in Alexandria. On the way, the <br>
lieutenant joined in the abuse, unleashing a stream of obscenities <br>
at my father and repeatedly telling him to "Shut the f*** up."
When <br>
they arrived, the lieutenant violently shoved my father against a <br>
wall.<br><br>
The human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the <br>
government's treatment of my father. "The conditions under which Dr.
<br>
Al-Arian has been detained both during his pre-trial detention, and <br>
since his sentencing," Amnesty wrote in a February letter to the
<br>
Attorney General, "appear to be unacceptably harsh and
punitive."<br><br>
My father immigrated to the United States in 1975 and eventually <br>
earned tenure as a computer engineering professor at the University <br>
of South Florida. As the son of Palestinians forcibly removed from <br>
their land after the creation of Israel in 1948, he considered it <br>
his obligation to bring attention to the plight of the Palestinian <br>
people from his position of influence in the United States. He held <br>
conferences and published literature to tell the story of <br>
Palestinians living under occupation.<br><br>
His activism earned the ire of some of the most reactionary figures <br>
of the right, from self-declared "terror experts" like Steven
<br>
Emerson to Bill O'Reilly, whose expertise on Middle Eastern affairs <br>
apparently does not extend to the falafel.<br><br>
(See here, here and here to learn about Emerson's long history of <br>
hysterical, discredited claims.)<br><br>
As the shrill cries for my father's prosecution intensified after <br>
9/11, the Bush administration arrested him. According to an <br>
anonymous FBI source, Attorney General John Ashcroft personally <br>
ordered the indictment against my father, a mandate that puzzled the
<br>
many career professionals assigned to the case. The political nature
<br>
of the charges was apparent from the beginning. A jury empaneled by <br>
the federal government would reach the same conclusion three years <br>
later, concluding that the Bush administration's case was not much <br>
of a case at all.<br><br>
But first my father would suffer under extremely restrictive, <br>
inhumane conditions clearly meant to psychologically break him <br>
before trial, including being placed in solitary confinement for 27 <br>
months. At one point, he was denied phone calls for six months, and <br>
while convicted felons were allowed to hug their families, my <br>
father, a pre-trial detainee, had to visit us behind glass. Even <br>
then, he was strip-searched before and after our visits. The cards <br>
were stacked against us.<br><br>
When my father's trial finally began in June 2005, the government <br>
presented 71 witnesses, including nearly two dozen from Israel, <br>
paraded before the jury for sheer emotional effect. Four hundred <br>
phone calls out of half a million the government recorded during a <br>
decade of relentless, indiscriminate surveillance of my family were <br>
also presented. The prosecutors acted out the phone calls on the <br>
13th floor of a courtroom in downtown Tampa, giving new meaning to <br>
the phrase political theater.<br><br>
The government's evidence against my father largely consisted of <br>
speeches he gave, magazines he edited, lectures he presented, <br>
articles he wrote, books he owned (4 out of 5,000), conferences he <br>
organized, rallies he attended, and news he heard. In one <br>
particularly bizarre instance, the prosecutors presented as evidence
<br>
a conversation a co-defendant had with my father in a dream.<br><br>
Some of my father's detractors say that his criticism of Israel was <br>
overly strident. Often they deliberately de-contextualize his <br>
remarks, made nearly two decades ago, to undermine the credibility <br>
of the Palestinian narrative they have long sought to suppress. But <br>
whatever you think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, you <br>
hopefully agree that the criminalization of political speech is un-<br>
American and violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution.<br><br>
Because the government based its case on my father's expressed <br>
political views, our lawyers rested without presenting a single <br>
witness. Our defense was the First Amendment.<br><br>
On Dec. 6, 2005, my father was acquitted of 8 of the 17 charges <br>
against him, though the jury voted 10 to 2 for full acquittal. Those
<br>
holding out for conviction were the only two who listed themselves <br>
as readers of the Tampa Tribune, a paper which had slandered him for
<br>
over a decade. Two of my father's three co-defendants were fully <br>
acquitted; the jury did not return a single guilty verdict in over <br>
100 charges. The verdict was a testament to the hollow nature of <br>
government's case--an especially strong statement in the midst of <br>
post 9/11 hysteria.<br><br>
Following the trial, the government had the option of dropping the <br>
charges against my father, but chose not to, once again revealing <br>
the political nature of his case. At the same time, they decided to <br>
casually drop tax-evasion charges against the founder of Hooters <br>
whose jury split evenly on his conviction.<br><br>
Facing the prospect of a new trial that would drain my family <br>
emotionally and financially, my father decided to plead guilty to <br>
one charge of nonviolently supporting a designated terrorist group. <br>
In return, the government signed a plea agreement promising to drop <br>
the remaining charges, recommend the minimum sentence (which would <br>
have basically amounted to time-served) and allow my father to walk <br>
free on the condition that he leave the country. Disregarding the <br>
prosecutors' recommendation and dismissing the jury's verdict, the <br>
judge in the case gave my father the maximum sentence, which pushed <br>
his release date to this month.<br><br>
Sadly, our story does not end there. An overzealous federal <br>
prosecutor with a documented record of bigoted remarks against <br>
Muslims, Gordon Kromberg, is trying to force my father to testify <br>
before a grand jury in Virginia in direct violation of his plea <br>
agreement. This is a ploy to bring further charges against my father
<br>
and prolong his imprisonment -and our suffering--as much as <br>
possible. Kromberg himself bitterly referred to the plea agreement <br>
as a "bonanza" for my father.<br><br>
Shortly before the Muslim observance of Ramadan began last October, <br>
Kromberg revealed an ulterior political motive behind his <br>
prosecution. When my father's attorney requested to delay a prison <br>
transfer during the holy month, a time he would have liked to spend <br>
with visits from his family, Kromberg responded:<br><br>
"If they can kill each other during Ramadan, they can appear before
<br>
the grand jury. I am not going to put off Dr. Al- Arian's grand jury
<br>
appearance just to assist in what is becoming the Islamization of <br>
America."<br><br>
Kromberg's racist outburst clearly calls his objectivity into <br>
question. Another reason my father has been reluctant to testify <br>
before a grand jury is because we fear Kromberg is setting up a <br>
perjury trap. The prosecutor did just that with another Muslim <br>
defendant in Virginia, who was acquitted by a federal judge. <br>
Following his acquittal, Kromberg summoned him to testify before a <br>
grand jury and charged him with making false statements when he <br>
didn't like his answers. The man, Sabri Benkhala, is now facing 25 <br>
years in prison.<br><br>
My father has endured a decade of surveillance and government <br>
harassment, a draining six month trial, and the demonization of his <br>
entire family by self-serving right-wing demagogues, all the while <br>
hoping his nightmare would end. It should have when he was acquitted
<br>
by a jury and the government promised his freedom. Surely, the <br>
fulfillment of that promise is not too much to ask.<br><br>
(To learn more about Sami Al-Arian or to join the campaign for his <br>
freedom, visit freesamialarian.com)<br>
===<br><br>
II. Bad News, Good News Day for Al-Arian<br>
New York Sun, April 20, 2007<br>
By Josh Gerstein<br><br>
<a href="http://www.nysun.com/article/52958" eudora="autourl">
http://www.nysun.com/article/52958<br><br>
</a>A former Florida college professor at the center of a celebrated
<br>
terrorism prosecution, Sami Al-Arian, saw a federal appeals court <br>
dash his hopes for relief today, only to have the same court revive <br>
them a short time later.<br><br>
Last month, a three-judge panel of the Richmond, Va.-based 4th <br>
Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a contempt order issued <br>
against Al-Arian after he refused to testify before a grand jury <br>
investigating Muslim charities in Northern Virginia. As is <br>
customary, Al-Arian's attorney filed a petition asking the panel to <br>
reconsider its ruling and asking that the full 10-judge bench of the
<br>
4th Circuit rehear the case.<br><br>
Today, the 4th Circuit issued an order denying Al-Arian's request. <br>
However, a short time later, the court withdrew the denial.<br><br>
The court's chief deputy clerk, Mark Zanchelli, confirmed that the <br>
court denied the petition and "immediately thereafter"
cancelled the <br>
denial. He said he could not elaborate on the reasons for the <br>
unusual back-to-back orders.<br><br>
A Pennsylvania attorney who has a blog about appellate courts, <br>
Howard Bashman, said such apparent indecision is uncommon. "It <br>
happens very rarely," he said.<br><br>
Mr. Bashman noted that denials of petitions for rehearing are <br>
followed quite closely by attorneys involved, since those denials <br>
start the 90-day period to ask the Supreme Court to take up a <br>
case. "Most of the time that's not anything that disappears,"
he <br>
said.<br><br>
Al-Arian's attorney for the appeal, C. Peter Erlinder of William <br>
Mitchell School of Law in St. Paul, Minn., said he had "no
idea" why <br>
the court apparently waffled.<br><br>
Lawyers familiar with appeals court procedures said the back-to-back
<br>
orders probably reflect an internal miscommunication at the court. <br>
However, the discrepancy could also indicate that at least one of <br>
the 4th Circuit's judges believes that Al-Arian's appeal warrants <br>
further attention.<br><br>
Al-Arian, a former engineering professor at the University of South <br>
Florida, pleaded guilty last year to one felony count of aiding a <br>
designated terrorist group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The plea <br>
followed a six-month trial in 2005 in which Al-Arian was acquitted <br>
on eight charges while jurors could not reach verdicts on nine other
<br>
counts. He contends the plea deal he reached included an agreement <br>
that he would not have to appear before any grand jury.<br><br>
A spokesman for prosecutors in Northern Virginia, James Rybicki, had
<br>
no comment on today's developments.<br><br>
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Atlanta, is considering <br>
another appeal by Al-Arian, in which he contends his plea agreement <br>
was misinterpreted by the Tampa, Fla.-based judge who oversaw his <br>
trial.<br><br>
Under the terms of that deal and his 57-month prison sentence, the <br>
Kuwaiti-born professor could have been released and deported as soon
<br>
as last week.<br><br>
However, his criminal sentence has been put on hold while he serves <br>
up to 18 months for civil contempt. Earlier this year, Al-Arian <br>
undertook a two-month hunger strike to protested the government's <br>
actions against him. <br><br>
==<br><br>
III. Political Prisoner Suffers Isolation while Doc Wows Toronto <br>
Audiences<br><br>
The Norwegian documentary "USA vs Al-Arian" premiered Friday at
<br>
HotDocs, eliciting moviegoers' outrage towards the US justice system
<br>
and its treatment of the Al-Arian family. The film portrays an <br>
American Muslim family facing charges of terrorism through the trial
<br>
of Sami Al-Arian.<br><br>
Two of his adult children, Abdullah and Leena Al-Arian, attending <br>
the international premiere and the midnight reception Friday, were <br>
touched by the standing ovation from the audience. "We weren't sure
<br>
how a North-American audience would react to the film, but the <br>
responses we got were overwhelmingly positive," Leena said. "At
the <br>
reception after the film, we were approached by many people in the <br>
film industry who said they were appalled by the treatment of our <br>
father by the US government."<br><br>
While his children traveled to the Toronto premiere of "USA vs
Al-<br>
Arian", imprisoned Palestinian activist Sami Al-Arian has been on a
<br>
special tour of his own. So far this year, he has been transferred <br>
from prison to prison nine times, four times in April alone. Al- <br>
Arian went through a six-month trial in which he was acquitted on <br>
the most serious charges. Although the jury voted 10-2 in favor of <br>
acquittal on the remaining counts, the government threatened a re-<br>
trial on those charges. In a 2006 agreement, Al-Arian plead guilty <br>
to one count of giving non-violent assistance to immigrants <br>
associated with an illegal organization and the government agreed to
<br>
release him and allow him to leave the country. However, they have <br>
not honored this agreement.<br><br>
Currently Al-Arian is held under severe conditions in a prison about
<br>
1000 miles away from his family, making it extremely hard for them <br>
to keep in touch with him. Al-Arian recently went through a 60-day <br>
hunger strike to protest the government's treatment. "The conditions
<br>
under which Dr. Al-Arian has been detained both during his pre-trial
<br>
detention, and since his sentencing appear to be unacceptably harsh <br>
and punitive," the human rights group Amnesty International wrote in
<br>
a February letter to the US Attorney General.<br><br>
"It was quite a strange experience to see our lives portrayed on the
<br>
big screen like this. But seeing everything that happened during the
<br>
trial again brings back both good and painful memories," Abdullah
<br>
said.<br><br>
After the Toronto premiere Friday, director Line Halvorsen received <br>
a lot of praise, but also some accusations of bias.<br><br>
"It is a personal story seen through the eyes of a family, but the
<br>
film is clear on the facts. We give the government a lot of screen <br>
time and the opportunity to present its point of view. But in the <br>
end, what we have is a man found innocent who is still harassed by <br>
the justice system. I hope the film will make people aware of the <br>
faces behind the headlines and the cases behind the laws."<br><br>
The film screens again Tuesday 11.30 at the ROM theatre, and the <br>
director, Line Halvorsen will be present for a Q&A after the <br>
screening.<br><br>
Download press pictures from Toronto here: <br>
<a href="http://www.dalchowsverden.no/presskit_uvsaa/01_Images/02_Events/HotDo" eudora="autourl">
http://www.dalchowsverden.no/presskit_uvsaa/01_Images/02_Events/HotDo<br>
</a>cs2007/<br><br>
Other pictures and presskit here: <br>
<a href="http://www.dalchowsverden.no/presskit_uvsaa/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.dalchowsverden.no/presskit_uvsaa/<br><br>
</a>More info on the films web:
<a href="http://www.usavsalarian.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.usavsalarian.com/<br><br>
</a>SAMI AL-ARIAN'S MULTIPLE PRISON TRANSFERS 2003-2007<br><br>
April 2007:<br>
4/20/07 to Present: Northern Neck Regional Jail<br>
4/12/07 to 4/20/07: Alexandria Regional Jail, Alexandria, VA<br>
4/10/07 to 4/12/07: FCI Petersburg, Petersburg VA<br>
2/14/07 to 4/10/07: FMC Butner, Butner, NC<br><br>
January to March 2007<br>
1/19/07 to 2/14/07: Northern Neck Regional Jail<br>
1/18/07 to 1/19/07: Alexandria Regional Jail, Alexandria, VA<br>
1/17/07 to 1/18/07: FCI Petersburg, Petersburg VA<br>
1/3/07 to 1/17/07: USP Atlanta<br>
9/25/06 to 1/3/07: Northern Neck Regional Jail, Warsaw, Virginia<br><br>
2006:<br><br>
9/21/06 to 9/25/06: Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Oklahoma<br>
9/20/06 to 9/21/06: USP Atlanta<br>
6/22/06 to 9/20/06: FCC Coleman Medium Security, Coleman, Florida<br>
6/8/06 to 6/22/06: USP Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia<br>
5/4/06 to 6/8/06: Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) <br>
Tallahassee, Florida<br>
2/9/05 to 5/4/06: Orient Road Jail, Tampa<br><br>
2003-2005:<br>
3/27/03 to 2/9/05: U.S. Penitentiary (USP) Coleman, Coleman, Florida<br>
2/20/03 to 3/27/03: Orient Road Jail, Tampa<br><br>
==<br><br>
IV. There is a new story on hotdocs.bside.com about USA vs.
Al-Arian:<br>
<a href="http://www.hotdocs.ca/daily.aspx" eudora="autourl">
http://www.hotdocs.ca/daily.aspx<br><br>
</a>By Courtney Price<br><br>
Thirteen-year-old Lama Al-Arian knows what is so special about <br>
a `contact visit.' It means she gets to see her father without a <br>
pane of glass separating them.<br><br>
It was her last chance to have such a visit before going to live <br>
with her grandmother in Egypt. Her family was sending her there in <br>
order to spare her the trouble the rest of them would face in the <br>
upcoming months.<br><br>
But unfortunately for Lama, the authorities did not allow her to hug
<br>
her father.<br><br>
This is just one of the heart-wrenching traumas the Al-Arian family <br>
of seven experiences at the hands of the American justice system in <br>
Line Halvorsen's USA VS AL-ARIAN.<br><br>
An award-winning filmmaker, Halvorsen records the Arab-American <br>
family's journey during the trial of their father Sami Al-Arian, <br>
charged with assisting foreign terrorist organizations.<br><br>
A Palestinian refugee, Sami came to America in 1975 to pursue the <br>
American dream. He became a successful professor and vocalized the <br>
plight of his people as a Palestinian rights and peace activist. It <br>
is this fight for Palestinian recognition that garners the attention
<br>
of authorities who arrest Sami under charges of assisting the <br>
Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group. Direct links to this <br>
group are never made clear as the prosecutors seek to make an <br>
example of this man while subverting the principles of the American <br>
justice system in the process.<br><br>
"I understand that they felt they had to do something [in reaction
<br>
to the] shock and fear," says Halvorsen. "They had to make the
<br>
country safe, but what we need to look at now is are the laws <br>
implemented making them safer?"<br><br>
Halvorsen became interested in these issues after living in the West
<br>
Bank and moving to America. At the screening of her last film, A <br>
STONE'S THROW AWAY, a chance meeting with Nahla, the matriarch of <br>
the Al-Arian family, sparked Halvorsen's interest in Sami's case. <br>
She was only familiar with the plight of the Al-Arians from negative
<br>
media coverage.<br><br>
"When I met Nahla her story was completely different than what I had
<br>
heard," says Halvorsen. "She's very charismatic, friendly and
<br>
intelligent, but also she had gone through a lot and was very <br>
frustrated and depressed. The family had very little access to him <br>
sometimes for six months at a time. Even convicted murderers got <br>
contact time."<br><br>
After spending two and a half years awaiting trial, Sami appeared in
<br>
court to defend himself from the sweeping measures enacted after <br>
September 11, 2001 that were intended to make American society
safer.<br><br>
"The Patriot Act opens up the possibility to spy on their
citizens," <br>
says Halvorsen. "It is such an infringement on people's civil <br>
liberties. When I went to the States I was quite surprised. I met a <br>
lot of people who are afraid and intimidated to speak out and say <br>
what they think… I think it is really through the PA that we see <br>
what they are doing to fundamental privacy protection. I think it <br>
can create another McCarthy era."<br><br>
Throughout the film, the Al-Arian family perseveres by way of the <br>
media attention and an exhausting and seemingly endless court fight.
<br>
The family's tribulations leave them tattered but they continue in <br>
the faith that they will see Sami as a free man.<br><br>
While accused of bias, the film personalizes the rhetoric of U.S. <br>
Attorney General John Ashcroft and U.S. President Bush, and gives a <br>
face to the controversial Patriot Act, highlighting the <br>
contradictions in the policies that have seen over 6000 people <br>
arrested as terrorist suspects.<br><br>
"Of course it is biased," says Halvorsen. "It is a
personal story <br>
seen through the eyes of a family, but it is not biased on the <br>
facts. You give the government a voice in the film, but here is a <br>
man found not guilty and he is still harassed by the justice system.
<br>
I hope the film will make people aware of the faces behind the <br>
headlines and the cases behind the laws."<br>
==<br><br>
V. Last week Dr. Sami was moved from Alexandria to Warsaw, Virginia.
<br>
His new address is:<br><br>
Sami Al-Arian (#19638)<br>
Northern Neck Regional Jail<br>
P.O. Box 1060<br>
Warsaw, VA 22572<br><br>
===END.<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
</font><font size=3>
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a></font></body>
</html>