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Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace<br>
May 25, 2008<br><br>
Another Milestone for Dr. Al-Arian Spent in Prison<br><br>
VIRGINIA-- This past week, Dr. Sami Al-Arian marked the 33rd <br>
anniversary of his arrival to the United States. Dr. Al-Arian, who is
<br>
currently being held at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in <br>
Portsmouth, Virginia, awaits deportation by immigration officials <br>
while a Virginia prosecutor attempts to keep Dr. Al-Arian imprisoned
<br>
indefinitely. <br><br>
On April 11, Dr. Al-Arian completed his sentence, following an <br>
additional year spent in civil contempt for his refusal to testify <br>
before a grand jury. A plea agreement reached with the government in
<br>
2006 called for Dr. Al-Arian's immediate release and deportation and
<br>
promised to protect him from cooperation. After spending more than <br>
five years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, Dr. Al-<br>
Arian has spent the last six weeks in legal limbo not serving a <br>
sentence and not charged, but not allowed to leave the country.<br><br>
On May 21, 2008, Dr. Al-Arian spent the 33rd anniversary of his <br>
arrival to the United States in a 7 x 10 cell in a rural Virginia <br>
jail. The son of Palestinian refugees, Dr. Al-Arian, 50, arrived to
<br>
the U.S. from Egypt in 1975 as a 17 year-old college freshman. <br><br>
He completed his graduate studies almost a decade later, receiving a
<br>
doctorate in computer engineering and beginning a successful academic
<br>
career at the University of South Florida in Tampa. While there, he <br>
became an award-winning tenured professor. He authored a number of <br>
articles in his field and chapters in textbooks and won several <br>
prestigious research grants for his university. Dr. Al-Arian's work <br>
in the classroom consistently garnered high praise from students and
<br>
colleagues alike.<br><br>
In 1979, he married Nahla Al-Najjar, another Palestinian refugee, who
<br>
became the source of love, guidance, and support for her husband as <br>
they embarked on a mission to build a family and a community. Dr.
Al-<br>
Arian credits his wife with sharing his devotion and passion for <br>
community building and activism. She was a pioneer for the inclusion
<br>
of women in leadership positions within the American Muslim <br>
community. Along with their five children, they lived in Tampa until
<br>
2007 when Mrs. Al-Arian and their two youngest children departed for
<br>
Egypt, where they eagerly await Dr. Al-Arian's release and <br>
deportation. <br><br>
In addition to his professional career, Dr. Al-Arian devoted much <br>
time and energy to the building of civic institutions to enhance the
<br>
life of the growing American Muslim community. He has played an <br>
integral role in founding and expanding some of the largest national
<br>
organizations, including the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and <br>
the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Locally, he founded the
<br>
Islamic Community of Tampa Bay at the Al-Qassam mosque. At its <br>
height, the mosque boasted thousands of congregants and became a <br>
leading participant in some of the most important local charitable <br>
work, including the annual Feed the Hungry event hosted by Tampa's <br>
mayor. Dr. Al-Arian, as the imam, also led the mosque to become the <br>
first to join the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality
<br>
(HOPE), a social justice coalition made up of nineteen churches.
<br><br>
Pastor Warren Clark of the First United Church in Tampa recalls one <br>
of his earliest conversations with Dr. Al-Arian, following the Muslim
<br>
community's participation in a HOPE event. "(Sami) said, `There are
<br>
issues in this town that are more than just Muslim issues. We are <br>
called on by the Quran to work for the poor, the outcast, the hungry,
<br>
the widows, and the orphans.' He led his community to engage in this
<br>
work in many different ways and through many different organizations.
<br>
Within the Muslim community, that legacy has continued on, even in <br>
his absence."<br><br>
One of Dr. Al-Arian's proudest achievements is establishing the <br>
Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF), a full-time school that offered <br>
students the highest quality education while instilling them with a <br>
sense of moral duty to their community and country. He served as
<br>
principal of the school for several years, as it became the lifeblood
<br>
of the community. Graduates of IAF have gone on to some of the top <br>
universities in America and most have received scholarships and <br>
acceptance to honors programs.<br><br>
Dr. Al-Arian was also heavily involved in human rights work, <br>
especially with regard to his homeland of Palestine, in an effort to
<br>
relieve the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli <br>
occupation. He was outspoken in opposition to Israeli policies and <br>
eager to inform the American public of the plight of Palestinians in
<br>
order to effect positive change. The organization he founded, the <br>
Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP), held annual national <br>
conferences and organized charitable activities to help needy orphans
<br>
in Palestine.<br><br>
Among his many activities, Dr. Al-Arian actively worked to bridge the
<br>
divide between East and West. He promoted interfaith dialogue <br>
individually and institutionally, in an effort to establish peace, <br>
tolerance, and understanding between faiths. Another one of his <br>
initiatives, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), was a <br>
groundbreaking think tank at USF that brought together scholars, <br>
experts, and leading intellectuals from around the world. Its <br>
publications were highly regarded by experts in the field. Through <br>
this work, Dr. Al-Arian developed many important and lasting <br>
friendships. <br><br>
Melva Underbakke, an instructor at USF and member of Friends of Human
<br>
Rights, recalls her first impressions of Dr. Al-Arian:<br>
"I met Sami in the early 1990s. He was giving a presentation for the
<br>
teachers at the English Language Institute (ELI) at USF. Most of them
<br>
didn't know anything about Middle Eastern culture. People liked him <br>
in the Foreign Languages Department because he was trying to build <br>
bridges between East and West. He had a real reputation for doing <br>
that there."<br><br>
He soon became recognized as a national leader of the American Muslim
<br>
community, receiving invitations to speak at numerous churches, <br>
synagogues, and other institutions, including the U.S. Central <br>
Command at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.<br><br>
By the mid-1990s, Dr. Al-Arian's activities were centered on the <br>
latest civil rights struggle in American history: the emerging <br>
national effort to end the unjust detention of Arabs and Muslims for
<br>
years without trials through the use of secret evidence. Through <br>
tremendous efforts, including coalition-building, grassroots <br>
mobilization, and congressional lobbying, Dr. Al-Arian would come to
<br>
be recognized as "one of the country's leading advocates" of
the new <br>
civil rights movement, according to Newsweek magazine.<br><br>
Having lived in the U.S. for over two decades, he was steeped in the
<br>
American civil rights tradition and was a strong believer in fighting
<br>
for change through the designated avenues. Furthermore, Dr. Al-Arian
<br>
worked hard to empower and enfranchise the American Muslim community
<br>
on the local and national levels, encouraging Muslims to vote and run
<br>
for office.<br><br>
Dr. Al-Arian's arrest on February 20, 2003, at the behest of the Bush
<br>
Administration, was the height of injustices committed against Dr.
Al-<br>
Arian in his three decades as a law-abiding resident who loved his <br>
country; a country where he lived twice as long as he had anywhere <br>
else; a country that shared his values and beliefs more than any <br>
other; a country where he raised his family to live, learn, work, and
<br>
contribute to its betterment.<br><br>
The trial and acquittal of Dr. Al-Arian in 2005 served not only to <br>
demonstrate his innocence against the government's unfounded <br>
accusations, but also as an affirmation of his decades of public <br>
service. ICP and WISE, the institutions that the government attempted
<br>
to destroy in its indictment, were ultimately vindicated. Prosecutors
<br>
could not show any evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, witnesses called
<br>
by the government, including professors, lawyers, and federal agents,
<br>
testified to the value of these organizations and their genuine <br>
nature. Jurors who sat in the trial for six months drew only the <br>
logical conclusion that ICP and WISE were legitimate, law-abiding <br>
organizations that were highly regarded.<br><br>
The government's decision to continue to punish Dr. Al-Arian even <br>
after his acquittal demonstrates the politically-motivated nature of
<br>
the actions against him. This effort has been led by those who are <br>
openly opposed to the empowerment of American Muslims in the public <br>
square, and have professed deep hostility to the cause of justice for
<br>
Palestinians. <br><br>
For the past five years, Dr. Al-Arian has witnessed the gravest of <br>
injustices, some that he spent years of his life fighting against, <br>
and others never thought imaginable in a free society. As he <br>
continues to endure imprisonment with no end in sight, abusive <br>
treatment at the hands of prison officials, and isolation from those
<br>
who love and depend on him, many Americans and people the world over
<br>
wonder if justice is indeed possible in such dark times when the <br>
abuse of government power knows no bounds.<br><br>
Dr. Al-Arian, however, maintains his unshakeable faith that the <br>
people, on whom the system of justice depends, will ultimately bring
<br>
an end to the abuses committed in their name. Each day, more people <br>
add their voice to the thousands who call on America to live up to <br>
its time-tested principles. <br><br>
As Pastor Clark recalls, it is Dr. Al-Arian's strong faith that has <br>
always guided him through the toughest of times. "I recall attending
<br>
an event at the Islamic Community during the height of the media <br>
campaign against Sami, after 9/11, but before he was arrested. I <br>
asked him how he was doing and I expected him to say things were bad,
<br>
but he said, `You know Warren, I feel closer to God now than I have <br>
ever felt.' It was another window into the deep wellspring he uses to
<br>
overcome the most terrible circumstances. That really spoke to
me."<br><br>
As we approach a crossroads in the contemporary civil rights <br>
struggle, the case of Dr. Al-Arian takes center stage. Agha Saeed, <br>
chair of the American Muslim Taskforce for Civil Rights and Elections
<br>
and a colleague of Dr. Al-Arian's for many years, reflects on the <br>
current situation. "Today, Dr. Al-Arian, one of the most prominent
<br>
political prisoners in the United States, symbolizes the struggle for
<br>
freedom of Palestine. Tomorrow, let me predict, based on his heroic <br>
sacrifices, he will be recognized as a major 21st century civil <br>
rights leader in the Unites States." Such designations do not come
<br>
without a heavy price. It is up to all those who stand for justice to
<br>
ensure that the sacrifices made by Dr. Al-Arian are not
forgotten<br><br>
<br>
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