Rights groups upset by professor's arrest

The Washington Times (UPI) ^ | February 20, 2003 | Anwar Iqbal

[Indy Pendance]

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Civil rights groups in Washington warned Thursday that the arrest of an Arab professor in Florida may have negative implications for other Arabs and Muslims living in the United States.

Professor Sami Amin Al Arian was arrested earlier Thursday along with three other Arabs for their alleged links to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group already declared a terrorist outfit by the State Department.

[The Electrician]

Dick Beard, chairman of the USF Board of Trustees, said the indictment could "mark the beginning of the end of this issue" at the university, adding that the indictment was one more indication that university's president was right in starting the removal proceedings against the Palestinian professor.

It's not clear whether the appellation, "Palestinian professor", originated with UPI or with the chairman of the USF Board of Trustees, however I thought that Al Arian was born in Kuwait. While I don't have a map in front of me, the last time that I looked at one, Kuwait was far, far away from Palestine. So, is this another example of UPI's "fact checking", or is there really a valid reason to call him a "Palestinian professor"?

[sport]

It should be.

[Soul Citizen]

Judy Genshaft should be fired for the following reason:

All she would do is suspend this terrorist because she lacked backbone and listened to the lawyers, rather than exhibiting leadership on this and firing the S.O.B.

Even in light of the latest indictment the University of South Florida is still lacking the courage to fire the S.O.B.

What does the University need to see to believe the people?

USF lost attendance over this issue and UCF over took over in attendance.

END ALL FUNDING FOR USF!!!!

STOP FUNDING RESEARCH AT USF

[The Grammarian]

The implication of the very first statement of this article, to me, is that we shouldn't arrest Arabs because it might lead to other Arabs being arrested. If the man is a terrorist, the fact that he is an Arab should be no excuse; neither should it be a consideration at all.

[CFC__VRWC]

But it's amazing that they got the Sami spin machine up & running so soon. I saw two of his defenders on MSNBC this afternoon on Dan Abrams' show, both with the same set of talking points.

I live less than 2 hrs away from USF - this is not a surprise. The feds have been after Al Arian for years - they just haven't had anything hard to pin him with until now (at least they finally got him!). USF's president, Judi Genshaft, has been trying to get Al Arian canned ever since O'Reilly's first piece on him after the 9/11 attacks, so Sami's supporters have had plenty of time and plenty of practice to get their media performance fine-tuned.

Needless to say, virtually every faculty member throughout the Florida university system, virtually every Florida media outlet and every left-wing "civil rights" and "academic freedom" group you can imagine have gone all out in rushing to Al Arian's defense throughout the years. They've probably been expecting this day for some time now.

This one is going to get really nasty as it makes its way through the courts, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see as many "Free Sami" signs at the next anti-American ANSWER rally as you see "Free Mumia" signs.

[doug from upland]

We know where the Mosques are, and we are watching. They had better behave.

[CFC__VRWC]

She can't comment, because she's involved in litigation with al-Arian. Genshaft is the person who suspended this sorry Jew-killer back in September of 2001, and then finally fired him in December of last year. Naturally, she was promptly sued by the "intellectual freedom" movement for her trouble. Her attorney won't let her make the comments I'm sure she'd like to make, such as "told you so" or "serves the murderous bastard right."

I concur completely. Al Arian's been doing his thing for a long time - much longer than Genshaft has been president of USF. She has been the only one with enough spine to actually do something about this terrorist - previous USF presidents have stuck their heads firmly in the sand. Genshaft has been subjected to incredible abuse at the hands of academics, "civil rights" groups and the media.

[hellinahandcart]

Holy crap, seamole.

'Pod, take a look at #23. Sami al-Arian has a connection to the National Lawyers Guild.

Jeez, all these groups really are interchangeable, and they're all working together.

[xm177e2]

"Mere membership of an organization, in my belief, should not alone be the basis for prosecution," said Kit Gage, president of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom.

Might I suggest a better use for their acronym (NCPPF)? How about the "Nazi-Commie Pipebomber Protection Faction?"

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Commenting on Arian's arrest, Judy Genshaft, president of the University of South Florida, said she was "not particularly surprised" because "there have always been rumors that this might happen. However, it is certainly disturbing when a faculty member is arrested." She said that after the university has had the opportunity to review the indictment, the university will "determine whether the information it contains has any relevance" to the proceedings for his removal.

Duh.....................

[browardchad]

So, is this another example of UPI's "fact checking", or is there really a valid reason to call him a "Palestinian professor"?

Well, Al Arian is such a lying slimeball, it’s hard to tell. I believe he immigrated here from the Palestinian territory, and has consistently represented himself as Palestinian. The indictment may be the first indication of where he was actually born.

The UPI isn’t alone in the error, either. The New York Times refers to him as a “Palestinian professor” in this article, and so does Steven Emerson in “American Jihad.”

CBS however, refers to him as “an American” in this 48-Hours piece. Fortunately, he was never naturalized.

[ARepublicanForAllReasons]

arrested ... for their alleged links to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Am I the only one sick and tired of hearing about 'links' to terrorist organizations? Seems every suspsect has 'links', but these groups have, what - no actual members?
For once, I'd like our squishy-soft in the brains daily newspapers to write something like this: "A Moslem foreigner was arrested yesterday and charged with acts of terrorism, aiding and abetting terrorist schemes, and belonging to a terrorist organization."

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

[Civil rights groups in Washington warned Thursday that the arrest of an Arab professor in Florida may have negative implications for other Arabs and Muslims living in the United States. ]

As well it should.

[Kay Soze]

Bump

[maranatha]

This is just another example of how organized they are in striking out at the government and all people accusing us of some wrong, they are in-your-face attackers and need to be cut down. They are a force to be reckoned with. There tactics have worked for a while, but with more arrests such as this, their attempts to minipulate the average person's sense of fairness is going to cause a real out in the public backlash from people in general. I think that day is about here. Not for us, we were sick of it by 9-15-01, but for the less informed.

[Michael Sidiropoulos]

Our own domestic political correctness poses as big a threat to America as terrorism itself.

[exnavy]

The first sentence is amazing. Don't these left wingers realize that it's muslims that want to destroy western civilization? Murder our babies before our very eyes?

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Jesus died for Mohammads sins

No truth filled phrase was spoken than this one here!