Free Republic

For the past decade, conservative activist Joe Kaufman has suggested a Syrian-born professor at Florida Atlantic University may have terrorist connections. Bassem Al-halabi, an associate professor of engineering, has no criminal convictions, and he has supporters of all faiths at FAU who say his views are closer to pacifism than terrorism. But Kaufman, keeping his effort alive, organized a protest in front of FAU on Thursday, urging the university to fire him. "Al-halabi is a danger … and should not be around or be able to hold influence over any of our nation's youth, especially as a professor at a...

By Jerome Burdi and Scott Travis | Sun-Sentinel.com 9:40 AM EDT, April 30, 2008 BOCA RATON - The main campus of Florida Atlantic University was placed on lockdown early today and classes were canceled after someone fired shots during a fight at an on-campus student party. One person, who was not a student, was slightly injured, but police did not know if it was from a bullet or the fight.

Maybe one of the reasons that we have never-ending battles over academic freedom is that many academics seem to define it differently. “Academic freedom means that if I think that there may be an intellectual payoff to be had by turning an academic lens on material others consider trivial — golf tees, gourmet coffee, lingerie ads, convenience stores, street names, whatever — I should get a chance to try,” veteran professor Stanley Fish recently wrote in The New York Times. “If I manage to demonstrate to my peers and students that studying this material yields insights into matters of general...

Other group helping in Iraq not prosecuted Friday, March 07, 2003By Renee K. Gadoua The same federal act used to indict three Central New Yorkers accused of illegally sending money to Iraq has not been enforced against at least a dozen local residents who openly violated U.S. law by traveling there. The International Emergency Economic Powers Act authorizes U.S. sanctions against Iraq. Four Muslims, including three Onondaga County residents, were indicted Feb. 26 on charges that include violating the act by using the Syracuse-based charity Help the Needy to send money to Iraq without a license. About 600 people have...

A new Islamic advocacy group in Boca Raton is under scrutiny for its ties to William W. Baker, a former chairman of the neo-Nazi political party of presidential candidate David Duke who was run out of town last year when he attempted to speak at Florida Atlantic University. Local Jewish and civic leaders said Friday they were alarmed that the Assadiq Islamic Education Foundation, whose headquarters are listed at 831 E. Palmetto Park Road in Boca, had invited Baker back to Boca as featured speaker at an April 30 banquet at the Boca Marriott. Invited by Muslim students to speak...

One year ago, I wrote a piece exposing radical Islam within Florida Atlantic University (FAU). My goal was twofold: [1] to bring awareness concerning a growing problem within FAU [2] to push the university to take action so that this problem ceases to exist. Unfortunately, only the first part of my goal was accomplished, as FAU is continuing to allow radicals on its campus, the latest being this Saturday'S (Jan.22, 2005) return engagement of potential co-conspirator to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Siraj Wahhaj. The Enemy Thrives at FAU In recent times, a fairly large list of...

Florida Atlantic Terror UniversityBy Joe KaufmanFrontPageMagazine.com | February 19, 2004 Introduction In the summer of 2002, a flyer vilifying Jews and Christians and threatening “confrontation and conflict” was circulated around the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) campus.  It stated:  “When we Arab-Muslim students came to America for study, we had no idea that we would be forced to mingle with Jew students and take instruction from Jew teachers.  This is offensive to us since it is well known that the Jews are the most corrupt and violent people on Earth.” The flyer, which was put out by a group calling...

President Frank T. Brogan Florida Atlantic University 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431 E-mail: skane@fau.edu Dear Mr. Brogan: We read your two press releases of yesterday (appended to this letter; also posted by us at http://danielpipes.org/article/1487) concerning the matter of Mustafa Abu Sway's ties to Hamas, a proscribed organization in the United States. We are pleased to learn that you are taking steps to investigate this matter, that you "notified the State Department of Mr. Pipes' allegations," and also "forwarded to the State Department and the coordinators of the Fulbright Program" our previous allegations. However, we wish you had...

President Frank T. Brogan Florida Atlantic University 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, Florida 33431 E-mail: skane@fau.edu Dear Mr. Brogan: We read your two press releases of yesterday (appended to this letter; also posted by us at http://danielpipes.org/article/1487) concerning the matter of Mustafa Abu Sway's ties to Hamas, a proscribed organization in the United States. We are pleased to learn that you are taking steps to investigate this matter, that you "notified the State Department of Mr. Pipes' allegations," and also "forwarded to the State Department and the coordinators of the Fulbright Program" our previous allegations. However, we wish you had...

We broke the news in October 2003 that Mustafa Abu Sway, a visiting Palestinian professor at Florida Atlantic University, is “known as an activist” in Hamas, a group on the U.S. government’s terrorism list. We also revealed that his salary is being paid by the U.S. taxpayer (via the Fulbright exchange program).Our little scoop met with yawns or with disbelief. Abu Sway himself denounced our article as a “witch hunt.” FAU ignored the revelation (“we have no reason to take any action”). The hometown Palm Beach Post published four skeptical responses, including an editorial insisting that “there is no...

Wahabi Watch - Florida Trail Of Terror By Beila Rabinowitz & William A. Mayer From dirty bomb plotter Jose Padilla - employed at a Ft. Lauderdale Taco Bell - to Padilla’s alleged partner - Adnan El Shukrijumah [apparently fingered by recently captured senior al-Qaeda planner, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed] - who was last sighted at a Subway sandwich shop in Tampa 2001, the trail of terror continues in Florida. Fourteen of the nineteen September 11 hijackers either came from or through Florida – The 3 main ringleaders - the "pilots” - Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi & Ziad Jarrah and 11...

Former FAU prof says he was fired for failing students By Jennifer Peltz Staff Writer Posted July 16 2003 A former Florida Atlantic University engineering professor is suing over his firing last year, saying he was dismissed because he wouldn't pass students who didn't deserve to. FAU maintained that professor Peter Szabo had been insubordinate to superiors and irresponsible toward students, according to Szabo's court filings. FAU officials said they hadn't seen his complaint, filed Tuesday afternoon, and so couldn't discuss it. Szabo declined to comment, and his lawyer could not be reached Tuesday evening, but according to the court...

Police investigating the use of charitable donations to Florida Atlantic University to buy a new Corvette for former president Anthony Catanese believed there was sufficient evidence to charge Catanese and his wife, Sara, with felony crimes, records released Thursday show. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Gary Carmichael and FAU police investigator Wilfredo Hernandez stated in a search warrant affidavit that they believed the evidence showed that the Cataneses and Carla Coleman, a senior vice president at FAU, all engaged in a scheme to defraud and communications fraud by using FAU Foundation money to buy Anthony Catanese a red...