“I remember when I first heard about the case of Professor Al-Arian, when I met his daughter at the University of South Florida years ago. I thought at the time that it was an outrageous violation of his human rights, both from the constitutional point of view and as a simple test of justice. Now it is years later, and I am shocked to find he is still behind bars, a victim of a cruel system, in which the rights of anyone who dissents from government policy are in danger, and in which people of foreign origin are in a special danger. The so-called “war on terror” has been, from the first, a war against the rights of people in this country, and indeed is itself an act of terrorism against people who now have to be afraid of engaging in any act, or uttering any words, that offend the government. This is not the behavior of a democracy but of a totalitarian state. I hope that people will protest on behalf of of Professor Al-Arian and continue protesting until he is free.”    August 4, 2008

See Link: Howard Zinn statement on the case of Professor Sami Al-Arian