Arrests in two states signal shift
Ashcroft moves against Palestinians in U.S.
By Leslie Feinberg
It's true. There's a cabal in the United States that funnels
funds and bombs for terrorists in Palestine. The safe house is
a white mansion in Washington, D.C. The weapons cache is
controlled at a pentagonal building in nearby Virginia. And the
masterminds can be found on Wall Street and in a
still-undetermined number of corporate and banking board
rooms.
But there are no blaring headlines about those who actually
fund terrorism to support the Israeli occupation of historic
Palestine. Instead, the headlines are about the Feb. 20 FBI
arrest of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian professor from the
University of South Florida.
The same day, government agents also arrested USF Arabic
instructor Sameeh Hammoudeh and four men in Chicago, including
Ghassan Ballut and Hatem Fariz, who reportedly have close ties
to the area Palestinian community.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the arrests on Feb.
20, charging the men with allegedly "financing, extolling and
assisting acts of terrorism."
All of those arrested have flatly denied the charges--some
of which could result in life sentences. Supporters emphasize
that these arrests are part of the Bush administration's racist
witch hunt to lay the basis for full-scale Pentagon war in the
Middle East.
Professor Al-Arian has begun a hunger strike in
detention.
Those arrested join the unknown numbers of Arab, Muslim and
South Asian people who have been snatched up and disappeared by
federal police in a round up reminiscent of the internment of
Japanese Americans during World War II.
However, these arrests also mark a shift in this
administration's "war on terror"--toward targeting the
Palestinian liberation struggle. Secretary of State Colin
Powell's speech to the United Nations in which he delivered the
U.S. "case" against Iraq was a harbinger of this tactical
move.
Al-Arian: 'It's all about politics'
Supporters maintain that Al-Arian in particular has been in
the government's crosshairs because for many years he has
consistently and outspokenly stood up for the Palestinian
people's right to live free from occupation. He is also a
well-known proponent of civil liberties and civil rights.
"He's a political prisoner, right now as we speak,"
Al-Arian's lawyer, Nicholas Matassini, told the Associated
Press.
Al-Arian helped establish the Islamic Society of North
America and other affiliated organizations. He co-founded the
World and Islam Studies Enterprise, a research and academic
institution, in 1990. In 1997, he co-founded the National
Coalition to Protect Political Freedom; he was later elected
its president.
The same year, Al-Arian helped found the Tampa Bay Coalition
for Justice and Peace, which fought the arrest, imprisonment
and deportation of his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar.
Al-Najjar was deported from the United States in 2002 after
being held behind bars for almost five years based on "secret
evidence."
The base of solidarity with Al-Arian has widened since he
was placed on forced leave from his tenured teaching job at USF
and banned from the campus shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks. Since then, he and his supporters have fought for his
reinstatement.
The Executive Council and Delegate Assembly of the
Professional Staff Con gress of the City University of New
York, Federation of Teachers Local 2334, passed a resolution in
support of Al-Arian last April 25. Federation of Teachers
President Sandra Feldman sent a letter in support of Al-Arian's
rights to USF President Judy Genshaft on June 20.
Following the Feb. 20 arrests, Muslim and Arab organizations
and communities in the United States began organizing support.
The Muslim Student Association held a Florida news conference
Feb. 21. MSA Vice President Aliyah O'Keeffe said, "We are
concerned that the USF professors were arrested for their
political views."
The group plans a courthouse protest before Al-Arian's bail
hearing in Tampa on Feb. 25. (The Oracle, Feb. 24)
Friends, family and activists are rallying for the Chicago
men.
A Feb. 21 statement by the Inter na tional ANSWER--Act Now
to Stop War & End Racism--coalition affirmed that the
anti-war, anti-racist group "joins the organizations and
individuals worldwide who are condemning Bush's and Ash croft's
political targeting of Dr. Al-Arian."
Reprinted from the March 6, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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