Washington Report on Middle East Affairs

July 2006

By Melva Underbakke

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Since Sept. 11, 2001, the United States has been waging a war—a war against some of its own people. This war receives less attention than the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it is no less real. Since that infamous date, over 5,000 Arabs living in the United States have been arrested, many with no charges, others with nebulous charges of providing support to terrorist organizations. Although none have been convicted of terrorism, these supposed “terrorists” are arrested with great fanfare. Announcements of the “successes in the war on terror” receive national media attention, and the detainee is spirited away to solitary confinement. While incarcerated, these unfortunate people have virtually no voice—no way to tell their story to the outside world. And when they are found innocent, little or nothing is said—and so their stories are rarely heard. Sami Al-Arian is one of these people.

Following a 10-year investigation, Dr. Sami Al-Arian and co-defendant Sammeeh Hammoudeh were arrested in the predawn hours of Feb. 20, 2003 and charged with providing material support to a terrorist group—the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. One month later (March 27), the men were moved from the local jail in Tampa, Florida, to a maximum-security federal penitentiary in Coleman, Florida, 75 miles away, where they spent over two and a half years in horrendous conditions awaiting trial. Prior to his arrest, Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian, had been an outspoken voice for the Palestinian cause, but now he was silenced.

The trial began on June 6, 2005, and ended six months later. On all of the many charges, not a single guilty verdict was reached. Jurors were deadlocked on nine charges, but they unanimously agreed that Dr. Al-Arian was innocent of any connection to violence—either direct or indirect. Most of the jury wanted to acquit the defendants on all charges, and Sameeh Hammoudeh was unanimously found innocent of all charges.

In spite of the verdict, both defendants remained in jail, and Dr. Al-Arian remained in solitary confinement. To end the suffering of both himself and his family, Dr. Al-Arian agreed to plead guilty to one of the lesser charges. The plea agreement (which the judge accepted) stated only that Dr. Al-Arian had provided services to people associated with the PIJ. One of these services was helping his brother-in-law with his legal defense, and another was helping a colleague obtain a visa. Even the government did not claim that he had any connection to violence.

The government presented some very strong evidence—and the evidence showed that Dr. Al-Arian is innocent.

The sentencing hearing was held on May 1, 2006. As the judge began to speak, a shock wave went through the courtroom—his comments were such a departure from what had gone on in that room for six months as government prosecutors presented their case. In spite of six months of evidence to the contrary, Judge James Moody described Dr. Al-Arian as a “master manipulator” and said that the “evidence is clear that [he was] the leader of the PIJ.” Going against the government recommendation of the minimum sentence, he instead sentenced Dr. Al-Arian to the maximum time specified in the plea agreement of 57 months in prison, followed by deportation.

As a frequent observer in the courtroom since the beginning of this case, it appeared to me that few who had actually witnessed the trial except the judge believed that Dr. Al-Arian had any connection to violence, either direct or indirect. This is probably not because the government lawyers did a bad job, but because they just did not have a case. In fact, one could argue that they did a good job. They were compelled to create a case against an innocent man, and in spite of the lack of evidence, they have managed to keep him in jail for over three years already—and this will continue for another year and a half, at which time Dr. Al-Arian will be deported.

In the days that followed, however, many people in the media seemed to forget what had actually happened in the courtroom. For example, a May 2 Tampa Tribune editorial praised Judge Moody for exposing a “cold-blooded terrorist” and described Al-Arian’s supporters as “myopic.”

One might ask who is myopic in this case. Possibly, the “myopic supporters” of Dr. Al-Arian have tried to look past biases and second-hand reports to find the facts of this case, realizing that the frequent repetition of a “fact” does not make it true. Before something can be considered a “fact,” it must be supported by evidence. In this case, the government presented some very strong evidence—and the evidence showed that Dr. Al-Arian is innocent.

Possibly, these supporters have also looked beyond the borders of their country to see what is going on in the Middle East, and they have seen that the Palestinians are the victims. They are an occupied people, and by international law, have the right to resist an illegal occupation.

The Palestinians are suffering greatly under Israel’s illegal occupation: their homes are being demolished, their means of livelihood are being destroyed, and their children are being killed in large numbers—frequently by a bullet to the head by an Israeli soldier (<www.rememberthesechildren.org>). No, the Israeli army does not use suicide bombers to deliver bombs—it uses Apache helicopters paid for by our tax dollars (over $15 million a day).

At great risk to himself, Dr. Al-Arian has tried to work through our political system to help his people. Now he is paying the price.

Melva Underbakke is an educator, researcher and activist from Tampa, FL, and the founder of Friends of Human Rights, which opposes the denial of due process and human rights to Sami Al-Arian and many others.