Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
Mar. 12, 2007
DAY 50 of Dr. Al-Arian’s Hunger Strike

TAMPA – Today is Day 50 of Dr. Al-Arian’s hunger strike for justice,
in which he has lost 50 pounds. Despite a report last week stating
that prison officials would force feed Dr. Al-Arian, he has not yet
been force fed; he has only consumed water during the past 50 days.
(Please see below the Associated Press report about that).

I. During the past couple of weeks, there have been tremendous efforts
on Dr. Al-Arian’s behalf. Faithful America, an advocacy network of the
National Council of Churches – USA, sent out an action alert to its
members that resulted in over 3,500 letters to Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales and other officials. Please click here to read more
about the nation-wide campaign and for guidance on sending a letter to
the Attorney General: http://www.faithfulamerica.org/article.php?id=161

Also please a CAIR action alert sent last week for concrete
suggestions on how YOU can help Dr. Al-Arian during this especially
sensitive time.

II. The latest (April) issue of the Washington Report on Middle East
Affairs magazine contains a 10-page spread on Dr. Al-Arian’s ordeal,
featuring articles by Dr. Al-Arian’s attorney, Peter Erlinder,
renowned academics John Esposito and John Voll, former Congressman
Paul Findley, civil rights attorney Eric Vickers, and Laila Al-Arian
among others. To order the issue or subscribe to WRMEA, visit
www.wrmea.com or call 202-939-6050.

III. On March 5, an ad in support of Dr. Al-Arian was published in the
Washington Post. The ad, entitled “Why is Dr. Sami Al-Arian Still in
Prison?” was in the form of a letter addressed to Attorney General
Gonzales respectfully requesting that he “support the immediate
release” of Dr. Al-Arian.

The letter pointed out that the Department of Justice is reneging on
its promise to Dr. Al-Arian to release him in April. It furthermore
cited a letter to Gonzales by Amnesty International, in which the
respected human rights monitor raised concerns about the “anti-Islamic
sentiments” expressed by a federal prosecutor who is trying to force
Dr. Al-Arian to testify in unrelated cases, in violation of his plea
agreement with the government.

The ad was signed by the National Council of Churches � USA, American
Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections, Citizens’ Committee
for Equal Justice, California Civil Rights Alliance and Friends of
Human Rights. Check www.freesamialarian.com tomorrow for the complete ad.

—-
IV. Associated Press
Thursday, March 8, 2007

Ex-professor on hunger strike may be force fed
www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/local/16858129.htm

RALEIGH– A former university professor on a hunger strike for the
past 44 days to protest the circumstances of his imprisonment could
soon be force fed, his attorney said yesterday.

Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian who taught computer science at the
University of South Florida, stopped eating Jan. 22 to protest a
judge’s decision to hold him indefinitely after he refused to testify
before a Virginia grand jury.

Nahla al-Arian said that her husband has lost more than 40 pounds on
the water-only diet and is so weak that he needs a wheelchair.

“His health is really deteriorating,” she said. “We are really worried
that there will be permanent damage.”

Because of that, officials at the Federal Medical Facility in Butner
have told al-Arian that they will begin force feeding if his condition
worsens, said his attorney, Peter Erlinder.
“It’s an invasive procedure, and there’s some danger of injury,”
Erlinder said. “We’re hopeful that that there can be resolution before
that. (U.S. Attorney General Alberto) Gonzales could end this all with
a stroke of a pen.”

Supporters of al-Arian have asked Gonzales to deport al-Arian before
his scheduled release from prison in April.

Prosecutors and al-Arian had agreed to deportation as a part of the
plea deal. Erlinder declined to say where al-Arian would be deported.

During a six-month trial in 2005, prosecutors labeled al-Arian a
leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which the United States calls a
foreign terrorist organization. The trial ended in an acquittal on
some counts and a hung jury on others.

In a plea bargain last April, al-Arian admitted to conspiring to aid
Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced to nearly five years in
prison, although he got credit for the time he had already served.
Al-Arian and his attorneys said that the plea deal also exempts him
from testifying before a grand jury in Alexandria, Va., which is
investigating Islamic charities in northern Virginia.

—

V. CAIR ACTION ALERT #509
ASK ATTORNEY GENERAL GONZALES TO FREE DR. AL-ARIAN

(WASHINGTON D.C., 3/9/07) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) is calling on American Muslims and other people of conscience
to contact Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to ask that he free Dr.
Sami Al-Arian, a former Florida professor currently on a hunger strike
in federal detention to protest his treatment by U.S. authorities.

Al-Arian is being held in a medical facility in North Carolina after
initiating his water-only hunger strike on January 22. He began his
protest after being given a sentence of up to 18 months for refusing
to testify before a grand jury in Virginia. His physical condition is
deteriorating daily. A family member told CAIR that he has lost 45
pounds since beginning his protest and now spends most of his time in
a wheelchair.

Al-Arian’s attorneys say an earlier plea agreement freed him from
further cooperation with the government. Supporters also say the
government’s actions amount to a form of harassment.

Federal authorities say they will soon begin force-feeding Dr. Al-Arian.

SEE: Force-Feeding Near for Fasting Inmate (AP)

In 2005, a Florida jury rejected federal charges that Al-Arian
operated a cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian later
pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was scheduled for release and
deportation in April.

SEE: No Guilty Verdicts in Al-Arian Trial (Tampa Tribune)

SEE ALSO: U.S. Muslims Call Al-Arian Imprisonment ‘Double Jeopardy’ (AMT)

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be firm, but POLITE.)

1. CONTACT the following officials to request that Dr. Sami Al-Arian
be released from detention and allowed to leave the country with his
family. (Make sure to include your name, address and ZIP Code in the
letter)

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Fax: 202-307-6777
Tel: 202-353-1555
E-Mail: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

The Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, VA 22314

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20500

Comments: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
E-Mail: comments@whitehouse.gov

Sample Letter:

Dr. Sami Al-Arian is currently on a hunger strike in federal detention
to protest his treatment by U.S. authorities. He began his hunger
strike after being given a sentence of up to 18 months for refusing to
testify before a grand jury in Virginia. His attorneys say an earlier
plea agreement freed him from further cooperation and that the
government’s actions amount to a form of harassment. I therefore
respectfully request that you support the immediate release of Dr.
Al-Arian so that he and his family may resume their lives in another
country.

2. CONTACT your own elected representatives through:
http://capwiz.com/cair/dbq/officials/

3. SEND COPIES of all correspondence to CAIR at: info@cair.com or fax:
202-488-0833

4. COPY TO Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee. E-Mail: john.conyers@mail.house.gov or fax: (202)
225-0072

– PLEASE ANNOUNCE, POST AND DISTRIBUTE –

—

VI. Remarks by Nahla Al-Arian, Nobel Peace Center, Feb. 19, 2007

Good afternoon, and peace be upon you.

Thank you very much for inviting me to share with you the story of our
struggle against the oppressive and inhumane policies of the most
powerful government in the world. My husband, a political activist,
was the victim of the forces of intolerance, hatred and racism, who
exploited the September 11th tragedy to silence and persecute
political dissidents. My husband’s crime in their eyes was his belief
that every human being has the right to political association,
expression, and assembly. The evidence the government used against my
husband consisted of speeches he gave, books he read, magazines he
published, conferences he organized, rallies he attended, and if you
can believe it, web sites he never visited; and to take a page out of
Orwell- a dream someone had about him.

It is unconscionable that of all the people of the world, the
government targeted the advocates of the Palestinian cause who are
more in need of these (political) rights than anyone else because of
their status as an occupied people. It is precisely because he was an
effective public speaker and a passionate advocate for universal human
rights, who built bridges with the broad spectrum of American society
that he was persecuted. He has a spirit of giving and sacrifice; as a
university professor, he was twice given the best teaching award. As a
community leader, he was actively engaged in the integration of the
Muslim and Arab community into the larger society, particularly in
encouraging them to vote and perform community service.

As I speak before you today, my husband sits in a prison hospital,
where he has entered his fifth week of a hunger strike to protest the
continued abuses against him in the only way he knows how. As a
stateless Palestinian whose adopted country will soon force his
departure, my husband, my children and I face a future full of
uncertainty and instability.

In the 21st century, only the Palestinian are denied a homeland to
return to. Despite the humiliation and the psychological torture my
husband has endured since his arrest four years ago, in the statement
he has addressed to you, his compassion for his people prevails over
his own trials.

-End-