Sami Al-Arian
Encyclopedia
Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian ' onMouseout='HidePop("71239")' href="/topics/Kuwait">Kuwait
, to Palestinian
parents), is a former resident of Temple Terrace, Florida
, now living in Northern Virginia
, who is a Muslim
activist, and former University of South Florida
professor of computer engineering
. He pled guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to contribute services to or for the benefit of the Palestine Islamic Jihad, a Specially Designated Terrorist
organization.
He was indicted in 2003 on multiple counts related to supporting a Palestinian group on the State Department's terrorist list. At his trial the jury acquitted on 8 of 17 counts, and deadlocked on the remaining 9 counts. He then pleaded guilty in 2006, pursuant to a plea agreement
, to conspiracy to help a "specially designated terrorist" organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian was sentenced to 57 months in prison, given credit for time served, and ordered deported following his prison term. He was to serve the balance of 19 months.
In November 2006, because he refused to testify before a federal grand jury
after the court held that he had no legal basis for his refusal, he was held in civil contempt and imprisoned for his contempt of court by a Virginia district court judge. He served 13 months in prison for his civil contempt, until the court lifted its contempt order in December 2007.
In 2007 and 2008, the United States Department of Justice
subpoena
ed Al-Arian to testify before a grand jury. He again refused to testify, and prosecutors charged him with criminal contempt in June 2008. In September 2008, Al-Arian was released from detention on bond. He remains under house arrest
, as he awaits a trial on criminal contempt charges.
, one of five children of Amin and Laila Al-Arian, Palestinian refugees. In 1966, the family moved to Egypt. According to Al-Arian, the government made them leave because his father refused to become an informant for Kuwaiti intelligence.
He was raised in Cairo, Egypt, and has a brother named Khaled Al-Arian. His wife's brother, Mazen Al-Najjar, a former University of South Florida engineering instructor, was jailed in the U.S. from 1997 to the end of 2000, on secret evidence that he helped support terrorists through an Islamic research center and charity he founded with Al-Arian. His brother-in-law was deported on August 22, 2002.
He is married to Nahla Al-Arian, and they have five children. His son Abdullah Al-Arian was an intern for U.S. Representative David E. Bonior
in 2001. Al-Arian's eldest daughter, Laila Al-Arian, is a producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington, DC, and a freelance journalist and contributor to the Huffington Post and The Nation
.
Al-Arian came to the U.S. in August 1975, on an Egyptian passport
and a student visa, to attend Southern Illinois University
. He became a permanent resident alien
of the U.S. on March 27, 1989. On December 30, 1993, he allegedly filed a false application with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
to become a U.S. citizen. He was denied U.S. citizenship in 1996.
from Southern Illinois University, and completed his M.S. in Electrical Engineering
and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering
in 1980 and 1986 respectively, from North Carolina State University
. In 1981, Al-Arian helped establish the Islamic Society of North America
.
On January 27, 1986, he was hired as an assistant professor in the Computer Sciences Department of the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida
(USF) in Tampa
. He also established the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP) on October 20, 1988, purportedly to raise awareness of the plight of the Palestinians; allegedly, however, it was part of a criminal enterprise with PIJ. ICP meetings were attended by Omar Abdel-Rahman
, convicted of plotting to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993, and Abdul Aziz Odeh, the Islamic Jihad's spiritual leader.
In 1991, at an Islamic rally Al-Arian said: "Jihad
is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel", and at another: "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel, let us damn them and their allies until death". On April 17, 1991, he allegedly gave a speech in which he again spoke in favor of jihad, and praised individuals who had escaped from prison with the help of the PIJ, and then killed a number of people. On September 29, 1991, he said in a speech at a Chicago conference that Allah
had made Jews "monkeys and swine", "cursed those who are the sons of Israel", and damned Jews in this world and the afterworld.
On April 27, 1992, he allegedly modified computer files at WISE/ICP that contained the wills of three PIJ suicide bombers. On June 3, 1993, he allegedly sent moneys to families of four PIJ terrorists who had killed three Israelis.
He was Chairman of the Board of the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF) from its August 1992 founding until at least June 2002; allegedly, it was used by the PIJ to provide some of its members as cover as employees. Steven Emerson
, a former CNN
investigative correspondent and U.S. News and World Report senior editor, made a 1994 PBS documentary, Jihad in America, that said that Al-Arian is an Islamic extremist and heads the PIJ in the U.S.
Al-Arian performed services for the PIJ in 1995 and thereafter, knowing that it achieved its objectives by violence, among other means, and that it had been declared a Specially Designated Terrorist
by the U.S. Among other things, he filed for immigration benefits for people associated with the PIJ, hid the identities of individuals associated with the PIJ, and provided assistance to a person associated with the PIJ in a U.S. court proceeding.
After a terrorist attack by PIJ killed 19 Israelis, Al-Arian wrote a February 1, 1995, letter saying:
In 1995, the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Al-Arian after Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah
, a professor whom he had helped bring to Tampa and appointed head of WISE, suddenly left after the PIJ's head was killed, and re-emerged in Syria one month later on October 31, 1995, as the new head of the PIJ. Al-Arian said he was shocked to learn Shallah was "anything other than a scholar." In October 1995, he lied to a journalist for the St. Petersburg Times
as to his knowledge of Shallah's activities, saying that Shallah had only been involved in scholarly work. On November 20, 1995, the FBI raided his home, his office at USF, and the offices of the ICP and WISE.
From May 2, 1996, until August 1998, he was on paid administrative leave
from USF pending the outcome of a federal investigation into whether he was running fronts for terrorist organizations. In 1997, he co-founded the Tampa Bay Coalition for Peace and Justice, which focused on the use of secret evidence and other civil rights
issues in antiterrorism
and immigration
acts adopted in 1996.
at a campaign event at the Florida Strawberry Festival in March 2000, and Bush and his wife posed for a photo with Al-Arian and his family. Al-Arian later claimed to have spoken to Bush about the government use of "secret evidence" in deportation proceedings against accused terrorists. When Bush subsequently brought up the issue in a debate with Al Gore
, Al-Arian was reportedly "thrilled—and began registering local Muslims to vote, and promoting Bush's candidacy at local mosques." He also lobbied Congress on civil liberties matters, contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of influential members of Congress, and renounced violence during television appearances.
On August 18, 2000, he allegedly directed Bashir Musa Mohammed Nafi to use Al-Arian's daughter's email address to communicate with Al-Arian. On October 10, 2000, he made hand-edited revisions to the PIJ charter, which were incorporated into a clean copy of the charter. He also co-founded the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, to oppose the use of secret evidence, and was elected its first president in 2000.
In June 2001, Al-Arian joined 160 Muslim-American activists in a White House briefing with Bush senior advisor Karl Rove
. His son Abdullah Al-Arian was the subject of national media attention when he was escorted out of another June 2001 White House event by the Secret Service
without explanation, prompting an apology by President George W. Bush. On August 29, testifying at his brother-in-law's deportation hearing in federal court, he invoked his Fifth Amendment
right against self-incrimination 99 times so as not to answer questions such as whether he had engaged in fund-raising on behalf of organizations on the United States Department of State
watch list.
On September 26, 2001, he appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
talk show, and Bill O'Reilly
asked him about his connections to PIJ head Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and to Tarik Hamdi, a former manager of WISE who was linked to al-Qaeda
during the trial of four men convicted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, and who set up an interview for Osama bin Laden
with ABC. Al-Arian said as to Shallah, he was "shocked like everyone else in the world ... he became the leader of the jihad movement." He also said he would be shocked that Hamdi is on a list of suspected terrorists. Asked about his having said "Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel." in a 1988 speaking engagement in Cleveland, he said: "Let me just put it into context... When you say 'Death to Israel,' you mean death to occupation, death to apartheid, death to oppression, death to... [but] absolutely not [death to any human being]." He also said that it came as a shock to him that his brother-in-law was being deported. O'Reilly closed by saying:
Later that month, after receiving a dozen death threats against Al-Arian and after funding sources threatened to cut off grants, USF placed him on paid leave, saying it was doing so in the interests of safety for its faculty, staff, and students. Although described by many students as a popular teacher, 22 of the university's 48 student senators voted to support his ouster—as the rest either abstained, or didn't show up. On December 19, 2001, USF's Board of Trustees voted 12–1 vote for his dismissal. On February 26, 2003, Al-Arian was fired from his position at USF, which had been tenured since March 1992.
, who had been designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the U.S. in 1995, and was accused of being Secretary General of the PIJ.
The PIJ was identified as an international terrorist organization, with cells throughout the world, that supports jihad
and martyrdom, responsible for the deaths of among others Americans Alisa Flatow (20 years old) and Shoshana Ben-Yishai (16 years old). In 1995 the PIJ, Syrian-based and largely financed by Iran, had been designated a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S., and in 1997 it had been designated a "foreign terrorist organization".
A 50-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa charged the defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) with operating a racketeering enterprise from 1984 that engaged in violent activities, as well as: conspiracy within the U.S. to kill and maim persons abroad, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to PIJ, conspiracy to violate emergency economic sanctions, engaging in various acts of interstate extortion
, perjury
, obstruction of justice
, and immigration fraud. The indictment alleged a ten-year conspiracy to support PIJ worldwide, help solve internal PIJ disputes and financial problems, help disseminate PIJ claims it was responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel, and raise funds within the U.S. for "violent jihad." It alleged numerous PIJ-associated terrorist acts, resulting in the murders of over 100 people in Israel and the Occupied Territories. It claimed that PIJ, ICP, and WISE operated together as an illegal enterprise. It also alleged that the defendants used USF, where some of them were teachers or students, as cover and as a means to bring other PIJ members into the U.S., purportedly for academic meetings and conferences.
Attorney General John Ashcroft
said that Al-Arian and his co-defendants played:
Al-Arian told reporters: “it’s all about politics”, and his attorney labeled the indictment a “work of fiction.”
The indictment was later expanded into a 53-count superseding indictment in September 2004. It charged Al-Arian with: 1) conspiracy to commit racketeering; 2) conspiracy to murder or maim persons outside the U.S.; 3) conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (the PIJ); 4) conspiracy to make and receive contributions of funds, goods, and services for the benefit of Specially Designated Terrorists (the PIJ); 5) use of the mail or any facility in interstate or foreign commerce to promote unlawful activity; 6) providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization; 7) money laundering; 8) attempt to procure naturalization unlawfully; and 9) obstruction of justice.
in Tampa
, beginning on June 6, 2005. At trial, FBI agent Kerry Myers testified that the PIJ had planned an attack inside the U.S., but that all information about the plot was classified and he could not discuss it. Under cross-examination, Myers admitted that the PIJ had never carried out an attack outside Israel and the "occupied territories." Myers also testified that during its 10-year investigation of the defendants, the FBI intercepted 472,239 telephone calls on 18 tapped lines. However, none involved any discussion of an attack against the U.S. or reflected advance knowledge of attacks in the Middle East. Furthermore, some of the conversations occurred before PIJ was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1995.
The five-month trial featured 80 witnesses and 400 transcripts of intercepted phone conversations and faxes. At the end of the prosecution's case, Al-Arian's attorneys rested without offering a defense, and the trial concluded on November 14, 2005. On December 6, 2005, after 13 days of deliberations, the jury acquitted Al-Arian on 8 of 17 counts. It deadlocked on the 9 other counts. The jury deadlocked on what the prosecutors described as three of the most important four conspiracy charges against Al-Arian, including the charge of conspiracy to provide services to the PIJ. A co-defendant also was acquitted on some charges and faced deadlocks on others, and two co-defendants were acquitted of all charges. U.S. Justice Department officials said they were considering whether to retry Al-Arian and co-defendant Hatem Fariz on the jury deadlock charges, one of which carried a life sentence.
Jurors had mixed reactions. One who voted for acquittal said, "They have so little on [Al-Arian] that I'm disappointed. Most of us think he gave in because he was so sick of being in jail." But one of the few jurors who believed Al-Arian was guilty on nine counts, causing a mistrial, said:
to contribute services to or for the benefit of the PIJ, a Specially Designated Terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. In return, the U.S. Attorney: a) agreed to dismiss the other eight remaining charges in the superseding indictment; b) agreed not to charge Al-Arian with any other crimes known to the government at the time of the execution of the agreement; c) agreed not to enter any recommendation as to the imposition or amount of a fine; d) agreed with Al-Arian that an appropriate sentence would be 46–57 months in prison; and e) covenanted that if no adverse information were received suggesting such a recommendation to be unwarranted, the U.S. would recommend that Al-Arian receive a sentence "at the low end of the applicable guideline range, as calculated by the Court".
In the agreement, Al-Arian said that he was pleading guilty because he was "in fact" guilty. Al-Arian admitted knowing "that the PIJ achieved its objectives by, among other means, acts of violence." As part of the deal, Al-Arian agreed to be deported once his prison sentence ended.
The plea agreement provided that it was "limited to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice, and cannot bind other federal, state, or local prosecuting authorities." It also provided that it "constitutes the entire agreement between the government and [Al-Arian] ... and no other promises, agreements, or representations exist or have been made to [Al-Arian]".
Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said:
The district court judge asked Al-Arian whether he had been promised anything else by anyone to induce his guilty plea, and he said that he had not. The plea agreement was unsealed and accepted by Judge James S. Moody
on April 17, 2006. The count carried a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Al-Arian remained in custody pending his sentencing and deportation.
The deal came after 11 years of Federal Bureau of Investigation
investigations, wiretaps and searches, and three and a half years of trial preparation, time Al-Arian spent in jail, most of it in solitary confinement. Amnesty International
said Al-Arian's pre-trial detention conditions "appeared to be 'gratuitously punitive'", and that "the restrictions imposed on Dr. Al-Arian appeared to go beyond what were necessary on security grounds and were inconsistent with international standards for humane treatment.".
Supporters of Al-Arian said the agreement was reached in part to end his family's suffering and to reunite them.
The Washington Post
, in an editorial, said:
In his ruling, Moody harshly criticized al-Arian for doing nothing to stop suicide bombings perpetrated by the PIJ. "I find it interesting that you praise this country in public," he said, "the one you called Great Satan
." He continued:
Describing the PIJ suicide bombings, the judge said: "Anyone with even the slightest bit of human compassion would be sickened. Not you, you saw it as an opportunity to solicit more money to carry out more bombings." Reacting to Al-Arian's contention that he had raised money for charities, Moody said: "Your only connection to widows and orphans was that you create them."
In May 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a subpoena
to Al-Arian to testify before a federal grand jury
in Alexandria, Virginia
, in an investigation into the alleged financing of terror by the Herndon, Virginia
-based International Institute of Islamic Thought
(IIIT). Homeland Security
agent David Kane described alleged ties between Al-Arian and IIIT in an affidavit that was unsealed in 2003, saying that IIIT was once the largest contributor to a PIJ group run by Al-Arian. Kane also alluded to a letter from a leader of IIIT to Al-Arian saying he considered him and leaders of the Palestinian resistance to be "a part of us and an extension of us."
Refusal to testify
The subpoena was served on Al-Arian in October 2006. He sought to quash it on the assertion that his plea agreement prevented his being forced to testify before the Virginia grand jury. He said the government had agreed that he would not be required to cooperate with it in any manner, though that specific agreement was not reflected in the written plea agreement. In a verbal agreement that he says appears in court transcripts, federal prosecutors agreed he would not have to testify in Virginia.
Second, Al-Arian also said he refused to testify because he believed "his life would be in danger if he testified." Third, Al-Arian claimed he has no information that could further the investigation. Fourth, Al-Arian said he would not testify because he felt IIIT was inappropriately charged. Finally, another explanation for his not testifying was presented by his wife, who said:
When called before the grand jury on October 19, Al-Arian refused to answer questions about IIIT.
Virginia District Court, civil contempt, and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
A Virginia District Court held that he had no legal basis to refuse to testify. The court held him in civil contempt, and imprisoned him on November 16, 2006, for contempt of court
, with the days served for civil contempt not counting towards the days of imprisonment he had remaining on his guilty conspiracy plea. He appealed the Virginia District Court decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court's ruling. Thirteen months later, on December 14, 2007, the Virginia District Court lifted its contempt order, starting the clock ticking again on his days-served on his conspiracy guilty plea sentence.
Florida District Court; hunger strike
A Florida District Court also held that the plea agreement was not ambiguous, and did not prevent the government from issuing a subpoena requiring him to testify before a grand jury. Al-Arian, who is diabetic, began a 60-day hunger strike
on January 22, 2007, to "protest continued government harassment." By March 20, 2007, the 6 feet (1.8 m) Al-Arian had gone from 202 to 149 lb (91.6 to 67.6 ).
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Al-Arian appealed the Florida District Court decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court on January 25, 2008. It pointed out that the plea agreement did not contain any mention of whether Al-Arian would be compelled to testify in front of a grand jury in the future. It also noted that the agreement said it reflected all promises and agreements between Al-Arian and the government, and that this accorded with Al-Arian's statement, when questioned by the trial court judge, that there were no promises or inducements made to him other than those reflected in the written agreement. Furthermore, the court observed that the plea agreement only spoke to the issue of the government prosecuting Al-Arian for crimes known to the office at the time of the agreement, but did not immunize Al-Arian from future subpoenas. The court therefore held the plea agreement to be clear, unambiguous, and to not grant Al-Arian immunity from the grand jury subpoena. The Justice Department issued its third subpoena later that month.
Professor Robert Chesney
, of Wake Forest University Law School
, said:
Hunger strike
In March 2008 he began another hunger strike, to protest his subpoena. He ended his hunger strike two months later.
Special imprisonment
A 2011 NPR
report claimed some of the people associated with this case were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
.
at his daughter Laila's residence in Northern Virginia, where he is being monitored electronically
while he awaits trial on criminal contempt charges.
At a January 2009 hearing to schedule his trial, his attorneys filed documents saying Al-Arian "did cooperate and answer questions on IIIT" for federal prosecutors. Attorneys alleged Virginia prosecutors are "ultimately not interested in IIIT … but want to revisit the Tampa trial." In a motion filed on March 4, 2009, prosecutors in Virginia acknowledged that when Al-Arian took the plea deal in early 2006, prosecutors in Tampa believed that it exempted him from testifying in other cases. This affirms sworn declarations submitted to the court by Al-Arian's Florida trial attorneys, Bill Moffitt and Linda Moreno.
On March 9, Judge Leonie Brinkema
postponed the criminal contempt trial, pending a motion by defense attorneys to dismiss the charges in the case. While under federal law, Al-Arian could not be jailed for more than 18 months for civil contempt, the law does not have a time limit for criminal contempt.
Campbell said he erred in not researching Al-Arian more thoroughly before writing his letter, that while he was not aware he "should have" been aware of Al-Arian's statements, and that he now regrets having written the letter. “I was wrong,” he said. “I should not have done so. I regret it.”
is an award-winning 2007 documentary film
by Norwegian director Line Halvorsen
about Al-Arian and his family during and after his trial from his family's point of view, and a commentary on the U.S. justice system under the Patriot Act.
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, to Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
parents), is a former resident of Temple Terrace, Florida
Temple Terrace, Florida
Temple Terrace is an incorporated city in northeastern Hillsborough County, Florida, USA, adjacent to Tampa. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,541. It is the third and smallest incorporated municipality in Hillsborough County...
, now living in Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
, who is a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
activist, and former University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
professor of computer engineering
Computer engineering
Computer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...
. He pled guilty in 2006 to conspiracy to contribute services to or for the benefit of the Palestine Islamic Jihad, a Specially Designated Terrorist
Specially Designated Terrorist
A Specially Designated Terrorist is any person who is determined by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to be a specially designated terrorist under notices or regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ....
organization.
He was indicted in 2003 on multiple counts related to supporting a Palestinian group on the State Department's terrorist list. At his trial the jury acquitted on 8 of 17 counts, and deadlocked on the remaining 9 counts. He then pleaded guilty in 2006, pursuant to a plea agreement
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
, to conspiracy to help a "specially designated terrorist" organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian was sentenced to 57 months in prison, given credit for time served, and ordered deported following his prison term. He was to serve the balance of 19 months.
In November 2006, because he refused to testify before a federal grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
after the court held that he had no legal basis for his refusal, he was held in civil contempt and imprisoned for his contempt of court by a Virginia district court judge. He served 13 months in prison for his civil contempt, until the court lifted its contempt order in December 2007.
In 2007 and 2008, the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
ed Al-Arian to testify before a grand jury. He again refused to testify, and prosecutors charged him with criminal contempt in June 2008. In September 2008, Al-Arian was released from detention on bond. He remains under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
, as he awaits a trial on criminal contempt charges.
Early life, family, and U.S. status
Al-Arian was born in KuwaitKuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, one of five children of Amin and Laila Al-Arian, Palestinian refugees. In 1966, the family moved to Egypt. According to Al-Arian, the government made them leave because his father refused to become an informant for Kuwaiti intelligence.
He was raised in Cairo, Egypt, and has a brother named Khaled Al-Arian. His wife's brother, Mazen Al-Najjar, a former University of South Florida engineering instructor, was jailed in the U.S. from 1997 to the end of 2000, on secret evidence that he helped support terrorists through an Islamic research center and charity he founded with Al-Arian. His brother-in-law was deported on August 22, 2002.
He is married to Nahla Al-Arian, and they have five children. His son Abdullah Al-Arian was an intern for U.S. Representative David E. Bonior
David E. Bonior
David Edward Bonior is an American politician from the US state of Michigan. First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976, Bonior served as Democratic whip in the House from 1991 to 2002, during which time Democrats were in both the majority and minority , making Bonior the third...
in 2001. Al-Arian's eldest daughter, Laila Al-Arian, is a producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington, DC, and a freelance journalist and contributor to the Huffington Post and The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
.
Al-Arian came to the U.S. in August 1975, on an Egyptian passport
Egyptian passport
Egyptian passports are issued to nationals of Egypt for the purpose of international travel. Besides serving as a proof of Egyptian citizenship, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from Egyptian consular officials abroad if needed....
and a student visa, to attend Southern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public research university located in Carbondale, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1869, SIUC is the flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system...
. He became a permanent resident alien
Resident Alien
Resident Alien is the debut album from the British glam rock band Spacehog. Released by Elektra Records on 24 October 1995, the album was certified as gold on 29 July 1996 and included the hit single "In the Meantime", which reached the top of the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the United States,...
of the U.S. on March 27, 1989. On December 30, 1993, he allegedly filed a false application with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
to become a U.S. citizen. He was denied U.S. citizenship in 1996.
1978–89
Al-Arian obtained his B.S., graduating in 1978 with a major in Electrical Sciences and Systems EngineeringSystems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
from Southern Illinois University, and completed his M.S. in Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
and Ph.D. in Computer Engineering
Computer engineering
Computer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...
in 1980 and 1986 respectively, from North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
. In 1981, Al-Arian helped establish the Islamic Society of North America
Islamic Society of North America
The Islamic Society of North America , based in Plainfield, Indiana, USA, is a Muslim umbrella group. It has been described in the media as the largest Muslim organization in North America.-History:...
.
On January 27, 1986, he was hired as an assistant professor in the Computer Sciences Department of the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
(USF) in Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
. He also established the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP) on October 20, 1988, purportedly to raise awareness of the plight of the Palestinians; allegedly, however, it was part of a criminal enterprise with PIJ. ICP meetings were attended by Omar Abdel-Rahman
Omar Abdel-Rahman
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman , commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", is a blind Egyptian Muslim leader who is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Medical Center which is part of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, United...
, convicted of plotting to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993, and Abdul Aziz Odeh, the Islamic Jihad's spiritual leader.
1991–99
On February 21, 1991, he and his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar, founded the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), an academic institution whose purpose was purportedly to promote dialogue between the Muslim and Western worlds. Allegedly, however, it also was part of a criminal enterprise with PIJ.In 1991, at an Islamic rally Al-Arian said: "Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel", and at another: "Let us damn America, let us damn Israel, let us damn them and their allies until death". On April 17, 1991, he allegedly gave a speech in which he again spoke in favor of jihad, and praised individuals who had escaped from prison with the help of the PIJ, and then killed a number of people. On September 29, 1991, he said in a speech at a Chicago conference that Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
had made Jews "monkeys and swine", "cursed those who are the sons of Israel", and damned Jews in this world and the afterworld.
On April 27, 1992, he allegedly modified computer files at WISE/ICP that contained the wills of three PIJ suicide bombers. On June 3, 1993, he allegedly sent moneys to families of four PIJ terrorists who had killed three Israelis.
He was Chairman of the Board of the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF) from its August 1992 founding until at least June 2002; allegedly, it was used by the PIJ to provide some of its members as cover as employees. Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson
Steven Emerson, is an American journalist and author, who writes about national security, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.Emerson is the author of six books, and co-author of two more. His television documentary Jihad in America won the 1994 George Polk Award for best Television Documentary, and...
, a former CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
investigative correspondent and U.S. News and World Report senior editor, made a 1994 PBS documentary, Jihad in America, that said that Al-Arian is an Islamic extremist and heads the PIJ in the U.S.
Al-Arian performed services for the PIJ in 1995 and thereafter, knowing that it achieved its objectives by violence, among other means, and that it had been declared a Specially Designated Terrorist
Specially Designated Terrorist
A Specially Designated Terrorist is any person who is determined by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to be a specially designated terrorist under notices or regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ....
by the U.S. Among other things, he filed for immigration benefits for people associated with the PIJ, hid the identities of individuals associated with the PIJ, and provided assistance to a person associated with the PIJ in a U.S. court proceeding.
After a terrorist attack by PIJ killed 19 Israelis, Al-Arian wrote a February 1, 1995, letter saying:
The link with the brothers in HamasAl-Arian said that the letter was a response to a friend's question about the relationship between PIJ and Hamas, and whether to support them, and that in his letter: "I ask others to support them, but I don't support them personally." On February 10, 1995, he allegedly requested monies from Ismael al-Shatti in Kuwait to support PIJ suicide bombings.HamasHamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
is very good and making steady progress, and their [sic] are serious attempts at unification and permanent coordination. I call upon you to try to extend true support to the jihad effort so that operations such as these can continue... so operations like the one by the two mujahideenMujahideenMujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
[warriors] who were martyred for the sake of God [can continue].
In 1995, the FBI opened a criminal investigation of Al-Arian after Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah
Ramadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah
Ramadan Shallah is a Palestinian academic and one of the founders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad . He became the Secretary-General of PIJ when Fathi Shaqaqi was killed in 1995...
, a professor whom he had helped bring to Tampa and appointed head of WISE, suddenly left after the PIJ's head was killed, and re-emerged in Syria one month later on October 31, 1995, as the new head of the PIJ. Al-Arian said he was shocked to learn Shallah was "anything other than a scholar." In October 1995, he lied to a journalist for the St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
as to his knowledge of Shallah's activities, saying that Shallah had only been involved in scholarly work. On November 20, 1995, the FBI raided his home, his office at USF, and the offices of the ICP and WISE.
From May 2, 1996, until August 1998, he was on paid administrative leave
Administrative leave
Administrative leave is a temporary leave from a job assignment, with pay and benefits intact. Generally, the term is reserved for employees of non-business institutions such as schools, police, and hospitals....
from USF pending the outcome of a federal investigation into whether he was running fronts for terrorist organizations. In 1997, he co-founded the Tampa Bay Coalition for Peace and Justice, which focused on the use of secret evidence and other civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
issues in antiterrorism
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214, is an act of Congress signed into law on April 24, 1996...
and immigration
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Division C of vastly changed the immigration laws of the United States.This act states that if an immigrant has been unlawfully present in the United States for 180 days but less than 365 days...
acts adopted in 1996.
2000–03
Al-Arian met then-candidate George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
at a campaign event at the Florida Strawberry Festival in March 2000, and Bush and his wife posed for a photo with Al-Arian and his family. Al-Arian later claimed to have spoken to Bush about the government use of "secret evidence" in deportation proceedings against accused terrorists. When Bush subsequently brought up the issue in a debate with Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, Al-Arian was reportedly "thrilled—and began registering local Muslims to vote, and promoting Bush's candidacy at local mosques." He also lobbied Congress on civil liberties matters, contributed thousands of dollars to the campaigns of influential members of Congress, and renounced violence during television appearances.
On August 18, 2000, he allegedly directed Bashir Musa Mohammed Nafi to use Al-Arian's daughter's email address to communicate with Al-Arian. On October 10, 2000, he made hand-edited revisions to the PIJ charter, which were incorporated into a clean copy of the charter. He also co-founded the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, to oppose the use of secret evidence, and was elected its first president in 2000.
In June 2001, Al-Arian joined 160 Muslim-American activists in a White House briefing with Bush senior advisor Karl Rove
Karl Rove
Karl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
. His son Abdullah Al-Arian was the subject of national media attention when he was escorted out of another June 2001 White House event by the Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
without explanation, prompting an apology by President George W. Bush. On August 29, testifying at his brother-in-law's deportation hearing in federal court, he invoked his Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
right against self-incrimination 99 times so as not to answer questions such as whether he had engaged in fund-raising on behalf of organizations on the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
watch list.
On September 26, 2001, he appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
talk show, and Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
asked him about his connections to PIJ head Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and to Tarik Hamdi, a former manager of WISE who was linked to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
during the trial of four men convicted in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, and who set up an interview for Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
with ABC. Al-Arian said as to Shallah, he was "shocked like everyone else in the world ... he became the leader of the jihad movement." He also said he would be shocked that Hamdi is on a list of suspected terrorists. Asked about his having said "Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel." in a 1988 speaking engagement in Cleveland, he said: "Let me just put it into context... When you say 'Death to Israel,' you mean death to occupation, death to apartheid, death to oppression, death to... [but] absolutely not [death to any human being]." He also said that it came as a shock to him that his brother-in-law was being deported. O'Reilly closed by saying:
Well, Doctor, you know, with all due respect ... if I [were] the CIA, I'd follow you wherever you went. I'd follow you 24 hours... I'd be your shadow, Doctor... I'd go to Denny's with you, and I'd go everywhere you went.
Later that month, after receiving a dozen death threats against Al-Arian and after funding sources threatened to cut off grants, USF placed him on paid leave, saying it was doing so in the interests of safety for its faculty, staff, and students. Although described by many students as a popular teacher, 22 of the university's 48 student senators voted to support his ouster—as the rest either abstained, or didn't show up. On December 19, 2001, USF's Board of Trustees voted 12–1 vote for his dismissal. On February 26, 2003, Al-Arian was fired from his position at USF, which had been tenured since March 1992.
Arrest and indictments
On February 20, 2003, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Al-Arian had been arrested as the alleged leader of the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the U.S., and Secretary of the PIJ's central worldwide governing group (the "Shura Council"). It also charged three others living in the U.S., as well as four outside the U.S. These included Al-Arian's long-time top USF/WISE associate Ramadan Abdullah ShallahRamadan Abdullah Mohammad Shallah
Ramadan Shallah is a Palestinian academic and one of the founders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad . He became the Secretary-General of PIJ when Fathi Shaqaqi was killed in 1995...
, who had been designated a Specially Designated Terrorist by the U.S. in 1995, and was accused of being Secretary General of the PIJ.
The PIJ was identified as an international terrorist organization, with cells throughout the world, that supports jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
and martyrdom, responsible for the deaths of among others Americans Alisa Flatow (20 years old) and Shoshana Ben-Yishai (16 years old). In 1995 the PIJ, Syrian-based and largely financed by Iran, had been designated a "Specially Designated Terrorist" by the U.S., and in 1997 it had been designated a "foreign terrorist organization".
A 50-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Tampa charged the defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO) with operating a racketeering enterprise from 1984 that engaged in violent activities, as well as: conspiracy within the U.S. to kill and maim persons abroad, conspiracy to provide material support and resources to PIJ, conspiracy to violate emergency economic sanctions, engaging in various acts of interstate extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
, obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
, and immigration fraud. The indictment alleged a ten-year conspiracy to support PIJ worldwide, help solve internal PIJ disputes and financial problems, help disseminate PIJ claims it was responsible for terrorist attacks in Israel, and raise funds within the U.S. for "violent jihad." It alleged numerous PIJ-associated terrorist acts, resulting in the murders of over 100 people in Israel and the Occupied Territories. It claimed that PIJ, ICP, and WISE operated together as an illegal enterprise. It also alleged that the defendants used USF, where some of them were teachers or students, as cover and as a means to bring other PIJ members into the U.S., purportedly for academic meetings and conferences.
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
said that Al-Arian and his co-defendants played:
a substantial role in international terrorism. They are 'material supporters' of foreign terrorist organizations. They finance ... and assist acts of terror. Our message to them is clear: We make no distinction between those who carry out terrorist attacks, and those who knowingly finance, manage, or supervise terrorist organizations.
Al-Arian told reporters: “it’s all about politics”, and his attorney labeled the indictment a “work of fiction.”
The indictment was later expanded into a 53-count superseding indictment in September 2004. It charged Al-Arian with: 1) conspiracy to commit racketeering; 2) conspiracy to murder or maim persons outside the U.S.; 3) conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization (the PIJ); 4) conspiracy to make and receive contributions of funds, goods, and services for the benefit of Specially Designated Terrorists (the PIJ); 5) use of the mail or any facility in interstate or foreign commerce to promote unlawful activity; 6) providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization; 7) money laundering; 8) attempt to procure naturalization unlawfully; and 9) obstruction of justice.
Trial
Al-Arian was tried with co-defendants Ghassan Ballut, Hatim Fariz, and Sameeh Hammoudeh in the United States District Court for the Middle District of FloridaUnited States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida serves the residents of thirty-five counties from eight courthouses....
in Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, beginning on June 6, 2005. At trial, FBI agent Kerry Myers testified that the PIJ had planned an attack inside the U.S., but that all information about the plot was classified and he could not discuss it. Under cross-examination, Myers admitted that the PIJ had never carried out an attack outside Israel and the "occupied territories." Myers also testified that during its 10-year investigation of the defendants, the FBI intercepted 472,239 telephone calls on 18 tapped lines. However, none involved any discussion of an attack against the U.S. or reflected advance knowledge of attacks in the Middle East. Furthermore, some of the conversations occurred before PIJ was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1995.
The five-month trial featured 80 witnesses and 400 transcripts of intercepted phone conversations and faxes. At the end of the prosecution's case, Al-Arian's attorneys rested without offering a defense, and the trial concluded on November 14, 2005. On December 6, 2005, after 13 days of deliberations, the jury acquitted Al-Arian on 8 of 17 counts. It deadlocked on the 9 other counts. The jury deadlocked on what the prosecutors described as three of the most important four conspiracy charges against Al-Arian, including the charge of conspiracy to provide services to the PIJ. A co-defendant also was acquitted on some charges and faced deadlocks on others, and two co-defendants were acquitted of all charges. U.S. Justice Department officials said they were considering whether to retry Al-Arian and co-defendant Hatem Fariz on the jury deadlock charges, one of which carried a life sentence.
Jurors had mixed reactions. One who voted for acquittal said, "They have so little on [Al-Arian] that I'm disappointed. Most of us think he gave in because he was so sick of being in jail." But one of the few jurors who believed Al-Arian was guilty on nine counts, causing a mistrial, said:
Like another person on the jury, I was convinced Mr. Al-Arian was still working with the PIJ after it was illegal. He was a very smart man and knew how not to be obvious. For me, the absence of evidence didn't mean there was no evidence. For me, it suggested a coverup, which he admitted to, in the plea agreement.
Guilty plea, pursuant to plea agreement
On February 28, 2006, Al-Arian signed a plea agreement in which he agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracyConspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to contribute services to or for the benefit of the PIJ, a Specially Designated Terrorist organization, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371. In return, the U.S. Attorney: a) agreed to dismiss the other eight remaining charges in the superseding indictment; b) agreed not to charge Al-Arian with any other crimes known to the government at the time of the execution of the agreement; c) agreed not to enter any recommendation as to the imposition or amount of a fine; d) agreed with Al-Arian that an appropriate sentence would be 46–57 months in prison; and e) covenanted that if no adverse information were received suggesting such a recommendation to be unwarranted, the U.S. would recommend that Al-Arian receive a sentence "at the low end of the applicable guideline range, as calculated by the Court".
In the agreement, Al-Arian said that he was pleading guilty because he was "in fact" guilty. Al-Arian admitted knowing "that the PIJ achieved its objectives by, among other means, acts of violence." As part of the deal, Al-Arian agreed to be deported once his prison sentence ended.
The plea agreement provided that it was "limited to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Department of Justice, and cannot bind other federal, state, or local prosecuting authorities." It also provided that it "constitutes the entire agreement between the government and [Al-Arian] ... and no other promises, agreements, or representations exist or have been made to [Al-Arian]".
We have a responsibility not to allow our nation to become a safe haven for those who provide assistance to ... terrorists. Sami Al-Arian has already spent significant time behind bars, and will now lose the right to live in the country he calls home as a result of his confessed criminal conduct on behalf of the [PIJ], which is the same conduct he steadfastly denied in public statements over the past decade.At the plea agreement hearing, U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun said, " if you're satisfied you're guilty or you believe it's in your best interest to plead guilty ... let me know that." Al-Arian replied, "I believe it's in my best interest to enter a plea."
The district court judge asked Al-Arian whether he had been promised anything else by anyone to induce his guilty plea, and he said that he had not. The plea agreement was unsealed and accepted by Judge James S. Moody
James S. Moody, Jr.
James S. Moody, Jr. is an American lawyer and judge. He currently serves on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida....
on April 17, 2006. The count carried a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Al-Arian remained in custody pending his sentencing and deportation.
The deal came after 11 years of Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
investigations, wiretaps and searches, and three and a half years of trial preparation, time Al-Arian spent in jail, most of it in solitary confinement. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
said Al-Arian's pre-trial detention conditions "appeared to be 'gratuitously punitive'", and that "the restrictions imposed on Dr. Al-Arian appeared to go beyond what were necessary on security grounds and were inconsistent with international standards for humane treatment.".
Supporters of Al-Arian said the agreement was reached in part to end his family's suffering and to reunite them.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, in an editorial, said:
To hear Mr. al-Arian's family and supporters describe the plea agreement, you might think the defendant been exonerated.... By contrast, the Justice Department described the deal as if it were a big win in the war on terrorism.... In fact, both claims are bunk. [I]t ill becomes the government to claim victory. Concerning Mr. al-Arian, a sometime rallying point for advocates of free speech and academic freedom, the verdict is in: He is not only a terrorist supporter, but a liar, too.
Sentencing
Judge Moody sentenced al-Arian to the maximum 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release on May 1, 2006, and gave him credit for time served. Prosecutors said al-Arian would serve the balance of 19 months, and then be deported.In his ruling, Moody harshly criticized al-Arian for doing nothing to stop suicide bombings perpetrated by the PIJ. "I find it interesting that you praise this country in public," he said, "the one you called Great Satan
Great Satan
The Great Satan is a derogatory epithet for the United States of America in some Iranian foreign policy statements...
." He continued:
You lifted not one finger. To the contrary, you laughed when you heard of the bombings... You are a master manipulator. The evidence is clear in this case. You were a leader of the PIJ.
Describing the PIJ suicide bombings, the judge said: "Anyone with even the slightest bit of human compassion would be sickened. Not you, you saw it as an opportunity to solicit more money to carry out more bombings." Reacting to Al-Arian's contention that he had raised money for charities, Moody said: "Your only connection to widows and orphans was that you create them."
Civil and criminal contempt prosecutions; 2006–present
Al-Arian was subpoenaed three times to testify in terrorism-related investigations before Virginia federal grand juries between 2006 and 2008. Each time, he refused to testify. He challenged the initial subpoena in four different federal courts, each of which held that he was in fact required to testify. He was imprisoned for 13 months for civil contempt for failing to testify in compliance with the first subpoena. He is awaiting trial as well for criminal contempt for his failure to testify in compliance with the second and third subpoenas.Grand jury subpoenas, refusal to testify, civil contempt, and hunger strikes
SubpoenaIn May 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
to Al-Arian to testify before a federal grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
in Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, in an investigation into the alleged financing of terror by the Herndon, Virginia
Herndon, Virginia
Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...
-based International Institute of Islamic Thought
International Institute of Islamic Thought
The International Institute of Islamic Thought is a privately held non-profit organization.The Institution is concerned with issues of Islamic thought...
(IIIT). Homeland Security
Homeland security
Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...
agent David Kane described alleged ties between Al-Arian and IIIT in an affidavit that was unsealed in 2003, saying that IIIT was once the largest contributor to a PIJ group run by Al-Arian. Kane also alluded to a letter from a leader of IIIT to Al-Arian saying he considered him and leaders of the Palestinian resistance to be "a part of us and an extension of us."
Refusal to testify
The subpoena was served on Al-Arian in October 2006. He sought to quash it on the assertion that his plea agreement prevented his being forced to testify before the Virginia grand jury. He said the government had agreed that he would not be required to cooperate with it in any manner, though that specific agreement was not reflected in the written plea agreement. In a verbal agreement that he says appears in court transcripts, federal prosecutors agreed he would not have to testify in Virginia.
Second, Al-Arian also said he refused to testify because he believed "his life would be in danger if he testified." Third, Al-Arian claimed he has no information that could further the investigation. Fourth, Al-Arian said he would not testify because he felt IIIT was inappropriately charged. Finally, another explanation for his not testifying was presented by his wife, who said:
My husband is a man of principle, and he will never turn into an informant. We admire him and are proud of him. In our culture, as Palestinians, if a person becomes an informant for the government, this is very shameful.
When called before the grand jury on October 19, Al-Arian refused to answer questions about IIIT.
Virginia District Court, civil contempt, and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
A Virginia District Court held that he had no legal basis to refuse to testify. The court held him in civil contempt, and imprisoned him on November 16, 2006, for contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
, with the days served for civil contempt not counting towards the days of imprisonment he had remaining on his guilty conspiracy plea. He appealed the Virginia District Court decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed the lower court's ruling. Thirteen months later, on December 14, 2007, the Virginia District Court lifted its contempt order, starting the clock ticking again on his days-served on his conspiracy guilty plea sentence.
Florida District Court; hunger strike
A Florida District Court also held that the plea agreement was not ambiguous, and did not prevent the government from issuing a subpoena requiring him to testify before a grand jury. Al-Arian, who is diabetic, began a 60-day hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
on January 22, 2007, to "protest continued government harassment." By March 20, 2007, the 6 feet (1.8 m) Al-Arian had gone from 202 to 149 lb (91.6 to 67.6 ).
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Al-Arian appealed the Florida District Court decision to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court on January 25, 2008. It pointed out that the plea agreement did not contain any mention of whether Al-Arian would be compelled to testify in front of a grand jury in the future. It also noted that the agreement said it reflected all promises and agreements between Al-Arian and the government, and that this accorded with Al-Arian's statement, when questioned by the trial court judge, that there were no promises or inducements made to him other than those reflected in the written agreement. Furthermore, the court observed that the plea agreement only spoke to the issue of the government prosecuting Al-Arian for crimes known to the office at the time of the agreement, but did not immunize Al-Arian from future subpoenas. The court therefore held the plea agreement to be clear, unambiguous, and to not grant Al-Arian immunity from the grand jury subpoena. The Justice Department issued its third subpoena later that month.
Professor Robert Chesney
Robert M. Chesney
Robert M. Chesney is an American lawyer and Professor of law at The University of Texas School of Law.He is also a fellow at the Brookings Institute....
, of Wake Forest University Law School
Wake Forest University School of Law
The Wake Forest University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Wake Forest University. Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University School of Law is a private American Bar Association accredited law school and is a member of the Association of American...
, said:
It is certainly not uncommon for the government to expect a defendant to testify in the wake of a plea agreement. In this instance, the agreement is silent on the question, and the court of appeals agrees with the government that this leaves the door open to subpoena his testimony.
Hunger strike
In March 2008 he began another hunger strike, to protest his subpoena. He ended his hunger strike two months later.
Special imprisonment
A 2011 NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
report claimed some of the people associated with this case were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit is a recent designation for a self-contained group within a facility in the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons that severely restricts, manages and monitors all outside communication of inmates in the unit.-Origins:As part of the Bush Administration's War on...
.
Criminal contempt proceedings; house arrest
On June 26, 2008, he was indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on two counts of criminal contempt, for unlawfully and willfully refusing court orders that he testify as a grand jury witness on October 16, 2007, and March 20, 2008. On September 2, 2008, he was released from custody and put under house arrestHouse arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
at his daughter Laila's residence in Northern Virginia, where he is being monitored electronically
Electronic tagging
Electronic tagging is a form of non-surreptitious surveillance consisting of an electronic device attached to a person or vehicle, especially certain criminals, allowing their whereabouts to be monitored. In general, devices locate themselves using GPS and report their position back to a control...
while he awaits trial on criminal contempt charges.
At a January 2009 hearing to schedule his trial, his attorneys filed documents saying Al-Arian "did cooperate and answer questions on IIIT" for federal prosecutors. Attorneys alleged Virginia prosecutors are "ultimately not interested in IIIT … but want to revisit the Tampa trial." In a motion filed on March 4, 2009, prosecutors in Virginia acknowledged that when Al-Arian took the plea deal in early 2006, prosecutors in Tampa believed that it exempted him from testifying in other cases. This affirms sworn declarations submitted to the court by Al-Arian's Florida trial attorneys, Bill Moffitt and Linda Moreno.
On March 9, Judge Leonie Brinkema
Leonie Brinkema
Leonie M. Brinkema is a United States District Court judge, in the Eastern District of Virginia.-Early life and education:...
postponed the criminal contempt trial, pending a motion by defense attorneys to dismiss the charges in the case. While under federal law, Al-Arian could not be jailed for more than 18 months for civil contempt, the law does not have a time limit for criminal contempt.
Tom Campbell controversy
In the 2010 bid by Tom Campbell for the Republican nomination for Senator of California, a dispute was triggered by a letter Campbell had written to USF's president in defense of Al-Arian on January 21, 2002. Campbell said he had not been aware of the charges against Al-Arian when he wrote his letter asking USF not to discipline Al-Arian. He also said he had not been aware that Al-Arian had said, in a speech, "Jihad is our path. Victory to Islam. Death to Israel." In the letter, Campbell said he had: "read a transcript of the O'Reilly Factor interview". Campbell said:I did not hear, I did not read, I was not aware of statements Sami Al-Arian had made relative to Israel. And I would not have written the letter had I known about those. ... To say 'Death to Israel' is abhorrent, it's horrible.
Campbell said he erred in not researching Al-Arian more thoroughly before writing his letter, that while he was not aware he "should have" been aware of Al-Arian's statements, and that he now regrets having written the letter. “I was wrong,” he said. “I should not have done so. I regret it.”
Film
USA vs. Al-ArianUSA vs. Al-Arian
USA vs AL-ARIAN is 2007 documentary film about Sami Al-Arian and his family during and after his federal trial on terrorism-related charges. It was directed by the Norwegian director Line Halvorsen.According to the St...
is an award-winning 2007 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Norwegian director Line Halvorsen
Line Halvorsen
Line Halvorsen is a Norwegian film maker. She was educated at the University of Trondheim and in the documentary film department at Volda University College....
about Al-Arian and his family during and after his trial from his family's point of view, and a commentary on the U.S. justice system under the Patriot Act.
External links
- Professors For Al-Arian, February 24, 2003
- FOX News transcript of O'Reilly interview, September 26, 2001
- News Links and "Sami Al-Arian, in his words" quotations, St. Petersburg TimesSt. Petersburg TimesThe St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
, February 23, 2003 - USA vs. Al-Arian official site in English and Norwegian.
- Anita Kumar, Al-Arian Demands USF Restore his Standing – St. Petersburg TimesSt. Petersburg TimesThe St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
, January 7, 2003 - Links to 2006–2007 trial coverage from the St. Petersburg Times
- Micheal Fechter, Al-Arian Likened To Don In Mafia, Tampa Tribune, November 8, 2005
- Melva Underbakke and Paul Findley, Two Views: Sami Al-Arian’s Plea “Bargain”, Washington Report on Middle East AffairsWashington Report on Middle East AffairsThe Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, published nine times per year in Washington, D.C., focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S...
, July 2006