[isthisnickcool]

I recently learned about the Tablighi Jamaat. We have been sleeping for many years, not paying attention to the stealth.....

[GladesGuru]

As a Tampa native, I'll be surprised if the jury lets the Al-Arian bunch off. Tampa is essentially conservative, which is why the Tampa Tribune was the paper that covered and eventually broke the story both locally and nationally.

Across the bay in St. Pete, the Times (owned by the Marxism oriented Poynter Institute) has followed a far more 'Liberal" perspective on the Al-Arian case.

[Daaave]

When I still read the papers, including the Tampa Tribune, I followed the Sami Al-Arian story. Here's a sample of what one of his associates has said.

"In addition, the affidavit recounts remarks made at a 1992 conference by Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, a man then associated with Al-Arian's Tampa think tank who in 1995 unexpectedly became the PIJ's head. The think tank issued a statement at the time expressing shock over Shallah's elevation and denying knowledge of his political affiliations."

"In his 1992 comments, Shallah defined jihad as a holy war that aims to kill Islam's enemies, including ``the New World Order symbolized by the United States,'' the affidavit says. People should not be defensive when accused of terrorism, Shallah allegedly said, ``because jihad required them to terrorize, devastate, humiliate and degrade their enemies."

tbo.com/

World Islam Study Enterprise (WISE)

"Ramadan Abdullah Shallah was a founding member - along with Sami Al-Arian, Mazen al Najjar, and Khalil Shikaki - of the World Islam Study Enterprise (WISE). WISE was an Islamic think tank that sponsored events around the United States featuring speakers like Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman, who was later convicted for his role as the mastermind of the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center. WISE was shut down in 1995 after some of its founders were arrested for ties to terrorism or were deported."

"When Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Fathi Shaqaqi was assassinated by an Israeli agent in 1995, Shallah was named as his replacement."

discoverthenetwork.org/

[dila813]

How bout Hamas???

When will the guilty be made to pay for their crimes??

[MrBambaLaMamba]

His protector, Betty Castor, was the Florida Democratic candidate for the US Senate in the last election.

[walford]

I recall writing a story about this when at AIA a couple of years ago. Some details of what evidence al-Arian is facing:

With the release of the 121-page federal indictment, the amount of evidence indicating Al-Arian's guilt grew substantially. The document reveals detailed evidence, including information from a large body of “now-declassified national security wiretaps.”

• A series of intercepted phone calls, faxes and bank transactions demonstrate that Al-Arian used WISE and ICP bank accounts as surreptitious conduits for money transfers. These transactions involved the PIJ, the Iranian and Syrian governments, HAMAS [another federally designated terrorist organization] and ‘sources’ in the Sudan. Al-Arian was also recorded on several occasions advising how to dupe unsuspecting donors into providing funds for specifically outlawed terrorist groups.
• Phone calls and faxes documented Al-Arian facilitating PIJ tactical coordination with HAMAS. Agreement was reached and a deadly bus bombing in Israel subsequently occurred, utilizing a PIJ “boy” who deployed a HAMAS car loaded with HAMAS explosives.
• An intercepted phone conversation between Al-Arian and a prospective donor recorded the professor gloating over a January 22, 1995 double suicide attack in Beit Lid, Israel that killed 21 and injured 59. More such bloodshed was promised for money.
• Bank records, faxes and phone conversations showed Al-Arian’s direct participation in long-term financial support for the families of past suicide bombers as well as budgeting for future ones.
• Phone and fax records spanning several years demonstrated Al-Arian arranging false documentation for known terrorists entering the US. He then counseled them on circumventing federal scrutiny and using university affiliation as cover.
• In exchanges of intercepted faxes, Al-Arian edited a PIJ manifesto that Ashcroft says, “refers to the United States as ‘the Great-Satan America’ and indicates that the only purpose of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is to destroy Israel and to end all Western influence in the region.”

[VOA]

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