Martyrdom "in the face of Arab and Islamic collapse" a key issue in Al-Arian trial

St. Petersburg Times ^ | July 22, 2005 | MEG LAUGHLIN

[Cincinatus' Wife]

TAMPA - A heart-breaking last will and testament and a letter vital to the prosecution's case were quietly entered into evidence Thursday in the trial of Sami Al-Arian and three other defendants.

Without mentioning what they were, federal prosecutor Alexis Collins asked the judge to accept T-516 and T-402 into evidence. With those meaningless labels, two documents passed into the public record like a death notice slipped under a door.

Their subject: martyrdom.

One last will and testament came from Adel Kamel Daher, a 26-year-old Palestinian who was gunned down by Israeli soldiers after attacking an Israeli convoy with two other young men, near Hula, Lebanon on April 6, 1992. The three killed two Israeli soldiers using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. They then were killed by other soldiers. Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.

The will of Daher appeared in the computer files of Ramadan Shallah four days later, at World & Islam Studies Enterprise, a Tampa think tank started by Sami Al-Arian.

The FBI learned of it three years later in November 1995, when it confiscated Shallah's computer after he left WISE to become the leader of the PIJ.

While the will does not appear to connect directly to the four defendants in the courtroom, unless prosecutors can show that they also used the WISE computer, it does show the tragic thinking of a young man who killed himself in order to kill others.

In his will, Daher writes: "My dear father, before anything I want you to forgive me and be content with me. My loving mother, forgive me because I did not say goodbye. May God give you comfort. Do not be distressed because your son is a martyr ... because, mother, I loved to meet God more than anything in this world ... I yearned to meet God and that was my dream since childhood."

The second document affords a glimpse at the desperate culture of suicide killing from another perspective: that of someone who applauds it from afar.

It is a letter that Sami Al-Arian wrote in February 1995, after a January suicide bombing that killed 22 people in Beit Lid Israel. Hand-written in Arabic to a friend in Kuwait, the letter requests money for the families of dead suicide bombers so that future suicide operations can continue. It goes to the heart of the government's case against Al-Arian because prosecutors must show that defendants knowingly encouraged future acts of terrorism.

From the Al-Arian letter: "The latest operation, carried out by the two mujahideen, who were martyred for the sake of God, is the best guide and witness to what the believing few can do in the face of Arab and Islamic collapse ... These mujahideen were martyred while owing debt and having big families with no means to support themselves after the head of the household offered his life for God ...

"I call upon you to try to extend true support of the jihad effort in Palestine so that operations such as these can continue."

The letter was seized during a 1995 search of Al-Arian's home. But it is not clear that it was ever sent. The prosecution must prove it was not just written but sent, in order to show that Al-Arian encouraged future acts of terrorism. Otherwise, it is simply an expression of thought, which is not illegal.

"There is absolutely no evidence that the letter was ever sent," Al-Arian's attorney Linda Moreno said after court.

The government has said the letter was hand-delivered to a man in Kuwait.

A former University of South Florida professor, Al-Arian is being tried along with co-defendants Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut, accused of using Islamic charities as fronts in a conspiracy to finance terrorist attacks by the PIJ, which has claimed responsibility for killing more than 100 people in Israel and the occupied territories.

Along with the will and the letter, hundreds of pages of transcripts of the defendants' phone calls, faxes, diaries, calendars, brochures and books were also introduced into evidence.

At the conclusion of his will, Daher told his friends not to "shed tears" for him because he believed that the cycle of killing, which took his own life and that of five others, was a fight in God's cause, as taught in "the Torah, the Gospel and the Koran."

[Cicero]

The correct word is not "tragic," but "delusional."

[Dallas59]

The correct phrase is, "ISLAMIC TERRORISTS say goodbye."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

There's a web site to help this terrorist.

How you can help Dr. Sami Al-Arian?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Rally video a blow to Al-Arian defense

Behind Al-Arian's facade (founded the World and Islam Studies Enterprise at USF a decade ago)

Former South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian is shown in this Jan. 6, 2003 file photo in Tampa, Fla. Jurors in the terrorism conspiracy trial of Al-Arian heard his fiery language about the Palestinian cause and the virtues of martyrdom in videotapes that prosecutors say show he raised money for terrorists. After struggling to stay alert during four weeks of plodding testimony, the jurors finally got to hear Al-Arian this week _ on tape. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)

[Dark Wing]

ping

[lilylangtree]

I find nothing heart-breaking about a will left behind by a murderer.

[truth_seeker]

Why does he get a "trial" when he should stand before a military tribunal?

As should every terrorist, imo.

[montag813]

Does this remind anybody else of the "Black Rage" defense utilized by Long Island Railroad mass-murderer Colin Ferguson?

[cherokee1]

----Now if we could just teach these dumbasses how to properly file their wills ahead of time----we could speed their journey along quite a bit.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

So they know they're a lost cause. Why not an Islamic reformation, instead of a insane exit?

***.......From the Al-Arian letter: "The latest operation, carried out by the two mujahideen, who were martyred for the sake of God, is the best guide and witness to what the believing few can do in the face of Arab and Islamic collapse ... These mujahideen were martyred while owing debt and having big families with no means to support themselves after the head of the household offered his life for God ... "I call upon you to try to extend true support of the jihad effort in Palestine so that operations such as these can continue." ........***

[Brilliant]

This is from the St. Pete Times. What do you expect?

[Cincinatus' Wife]

They've been following this local story.

And you're correct, it's the St. Pete Times/LIBERAL/msm.

[Travis McGee]

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

..........................................

[Alouette]

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.

Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.

[El Gato]

In his will, Daher writes: "...... I yearned to meet God and that was my dream since childhood."

I'll bet he was really surprised when he was greeted in the "hot place" by the proprietor thereof.

[cynwoody]

A heart-breaking last will and testament ...

Heart-breaking? I would find it absolutely thrilling, but for the fact that he managed to kill two Israelis before meeting his satanic god.

[Valin]

I have some helpful sugestions for him. They involve long walks and short piers, High branchs and short ropes...etc.