THE STRANGE CASE OF SAMI AL-ARIAN

The arrest of Sami al-Arian on terrorism charges marks an epoch not only in the War on Terror, but in the history of the Bush administration. But let's rewind:

Al-Arian, of course, is the professor at the University of South Florida who was yesterday charged with financially masterminding Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian terror group responsible for dozens of murders. He's now probably best known for his television confrontation with Bill O'Reilly - which ended with O'Reilly telling al-Arian that if he (O'Reilly) were the CIA, he'd follow al-Arian everywhere he (al-Arian) went.

For at least a decade, the FBI kept al-Arian under surveillance, and thanks to the Bush administration's Patriot Act, the information it obtained is now at last admissable in court. According to press reports, intercepts and other information reveal al-Arian inciting others to kill and then gloating over his successes.

But if it is only now that the case against al-Arian has become strong enough for federal prosecutors to proceed with it, suspicions about his activities - and those of his brother-in-law, illegal immigrant Mazen al-Najjar - have circulated for more than a decade. You'll find a very detailed account of those suspicions in terrorism expert's Steve Emerson book, American Jihad, the best introduction to Islamic extremism's infiltration into the United States. There may not have been enough hard proof to justify an arrest - but there were certainly plenty of indicators to warn prudent people that the al-Arians were folks to be avoided.

Here now is where the story gets painful for us Bush Republicans. Not only were the al-Arians not avoided by the Bush White House - they were actively courted. Candidate Bush allowed himself to be photographed with the al-Arian family while campaigning in Florida. Candidate Bush denounced the immigration laws that detained - and ultimately deported - Mazen al-Najjar. In May 2001, Sami al-Arian was invited into the White House complex for a political briefing for Muslim-American leaders. The next month his son, Abdullah, who was then an intern in the office of Congressman David Bonior, joined a delegation of Muslim leaders at a meeting with John DiIulio, head of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. After the group entered the complex, a red flag belatedly popped up over the al-Arian name, and the Secret Service ordered him out of the complex. The entire delegation marched out with young al-Arian - and soon afterward, President Bush personally apologized to the young man and ordered the deputy director of the Secret Service to apologize as well.

(Young al-Arian published a strikingly disingenuous account of this experience in the online edition of Newsweek on - note the date - September 14, 2001. Newsweek - a magazine normally celebrated for its rigorous fact-checking - permitted young al-Arian to claim on its site that he had been "singled out" only because of his "name and physical features." Now in one sense that's true - had Abdullah al-Arian been named Abdullah al-Shmarian, nobody at the Secret Service would have troubled him. But al-Arian and Newsweek cooperated in leaving the reader with a very false impression that he had been the victim of some kind of bigoted anti-Muslim dragnet.)

The al-Arian case was not a solitary lapse. The Bush campaign in 2000 very determinedly reached out to Muslim voters. Indeed, Muslim-Americans may have tipped the election to George Bush. One survey suggests that the 50,000 Muslim voters of Florida, normally staunch Democrats, reacted to Al Gore's selection of Joe Lieberman as his running mate by voting 80% for Bush. That outreach campaign opened relationships between the Bush campaign and some very disturbing persons in the Muslim-American community. Many of those disturbing persons were invited to stand beside the president at post-9/11 events, like his meeting with Muslim community leaders at the Massachusetts Avenue mosque.

Over the past year, the White House has become much more selective about its invitations. More careful - but still far from selective enough.

There is one way that we Republicans are very lucky - we face political opponents too crippled by political correctness to make an issue of these kinds of security lapses. At least - so far. But who knows? The day may come when some Democrat decides he cares more about winning elections than he does about liberal pieties. Against the day, is it too much to ask a wartime White House - please, please choose your friends more prudently!

Young al-Arian published a strikingly disingenuous account of this experience in the online edition of Newsweek on - note the date - September 14, 2001. Newsweek - a magazine normally celebrated for its rigorous fact-checking - permitted young al-Arian to claim on its site that he had been "singled out" only because of his "name and physical features." Now in one sense that's true - had Abdullah al-Arian been named Abdullah al-Shmarian, nobody at the Secret Service would have troubled him. But al-Arian and Newsweek cooperated in leaving the reader with a very false impression that he had been the victim of some kind of bigoted anti-Muslim dragnet.

Well, let's just take a little trip down memory lane, for Freeper posterity, to see where Abdullah Al Arian's priorities were after September 11th.

‘We Are The Targets of Misdirected Anger’

Abdullah Al-Arian (center) at a press conference after his removal from the White House

Arab-Americans are at risk of being doubly-victimized following Tuesday’s wave of attacks, says Abdullah Al-Arian
By Abdullah Al-Arian
NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE
Sept. 14 — For me, it began with a phone call. “It’s completely gone!” burst out my friend from Manhattan, referring to the collapse of the Twin Towers. “I was just on my way to work when I saw it; I want to go back and help, but everyone is running in the opposite direction.” Thankfully, he made it home safely. But, like millions of other Arab-Americans, he has yet to feel that he was out of harm’s way.
I’M A SENIOR at Duke University. I’m also an American, Arab in ethnicity and Muslim in faith. And I have firsthand experience of the prejudices many other Americans harbor toward those like me. Last June, when I was working as a congressional intern in the office of Rep. David Bonior, I was singled out at a White House meeting and escorted out of the building without any explanation—evidently condemned by my name and physical features.
Memories of that incident were with me on Sept. 11 as more horrible news kept trickling in. Moving around campus to grieve alongside fellow classmates, my initial response was one of extreme concern for the well-being of the victims and their families. However, the more reactions I heard from the people around me, the more alarmed I became for the welfare of many of my friends and family, nowhere near the catastrophe, but nonetheless of the “wrong” religious and ethnic persuasion, and thus the targets of misdirected anger. The more we heard news commentators comparing the tragic scene to Pearl Harbor, the more the thought ran through my mind. Because when I think of Pearl Harbor, I am struck by a sense of grief not only for the innocent soldiers who lost their lives, but also for the Americans subsequently interned in camps simply because of their Japanese heritage.
In essence, [the terrorists] are about as Muslim as Timothy McVeigh was Christian.
Arab-Americans run the risk of becoming dual victims at this difficult crossroads, suffering not just the immense losses of our country, but also facing an inevitable backlash. How could it be that I, or anyone in my position, could possibly be associated with the most atrocious act witnessed in my lifetime? I hesitate to picture the demons responsible for this horrible crime, but if it is in fact those who profess to be followers of Islam, I cannot conceive of them joining me in my prayers or reading from my Koran. In essence, they are about as Muslim as Timothy McVeigh was Christian.
Aside from the countless cases of senseless reactions against Arabs and Muslims throughout the country, a greater long-term fear exists, as well. The classic debate regarding the sacrifice of civil liberties in the name of national security has reached new heights in recent years, and will continue to gain public attention. My uncle, Mazen Al-Najjar, was a victim of a recent antiterrorism law that permits “secret evidence” to be used in courtrooms to deny individuals their due-process rights, keeping them locked away indefinitely without charges. He was jailed for nearly four years, away from friends and family, until former attorney general Janet Reno finally released him last December. Incidentally, this grossly unconstitutional practice is used mostly against Arabs and Muslims.
While the threat of terrorism is very real indeed, innocent people are often the subject of misguided efforts to prevent such dangers. We must ultimately resist the temptation to change the nature of our society and erode the very principles for which people have fought and died; for if that happens, the enemy has truly won, and there will be nothing left for us to defend. It was in that spirit that I took my summer internship in the office of Representative Bonior—the sponsor of a current bill to ban the use of secret evidence—and found myself in that ironic position at the White House.
My case got a personal presidential apology, an apology from the Secret Service, who said they were acting on an erroneous tip, and national media exposure. Now it has come full circle. Lower Manhattan is in ruins, and Arab-Americans fear for their safety. Our deepest fears have come true.
On Wednesday morning, the day after the tragedy, I attended a prayer vigil along with thousands of others in the Duke community. An eerie serenity surrounded our gathering, in which we were all suddenly united by our common humanity. As leaders of three faiths spoke harmoniously of the pain that had brought us together, they also spoke of the love that would keep us together and the peace that would be forever within our grasp. At this time that tries our nation’s soul, I can only hope they are right.

It's all about Abdullah Al Arian. What a great American David Bonior has working for him.

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