The Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian, imprisoned for four years despite a jury’s failure to return a single guilty verdict against him, has gone on a hunger strike in Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va. Al-Arian, who has abstained from food and water since March 3, began his hunger strike after being informed he would be called before a third grand jury. He has lost 15 pounds and has been moved to the jail’s medical unit.
“A great nation is ultimately defined and judged by its system of justice,” Al-Arian said in a statement released through his family. “When the system is manipulated by the powerful and tolerates abuses against the minorities or the weak members of society, the government not only loses its moral authority and betrays future generations, but will also be condemned by history.”
The hunger strike is the third by the Palestinian activist, who was to have been released in April and deported. During his first hunger strike, which lasted 140 days, he took liquid nutrients and lost 45 pounds. During his hunger strike last year, which lasted 60 days, he drank only water and lost 55 pounds. Al-Arian is a diabetic.
“We are very worried about his health, but we understand why he’s doing this,” said his daughter, Laila Al-Arian. “The U.S. government, through its vindictive and politically motivated behavior, has given our family no other option.”
The recent documentary “USA vs Al-Arian” detailed the absurdity of the show trial held in Florida and the hollowness of the government’s case against Al-Arian. When the film was awarded Best Nordic Documentary at the Nordic Panorama in Finland the jury wrote: “The film shows precisely how a common man becomes a victim of the situation in the contemporary world, where the Big Brother is watching you even when you´re ordering pizza.”
The decision to call Al-Arian before the grand jury was made although Al-Arian had signed a “no-cooperation” agreement. The agreement stipulated that he would not be required to cooperate with the government in other cases. The government’s attempt to force him to testify, despite the agreement, came a month before his scheduled release. It is seen by his lawyers and his family as an effort by the government to keep the activist in jail indefinitely.
Al-Arian endured a six-month show trial in Florida that saw the government’s case collapse. The Justice Department spent an estimated $50 million and several years investigating and prosecuting Al-Arian. The government called 80 witnesses and subjected the jury to hundreds of hours of often absurd phone transcriptions and recordings made over a 10-year period, which the jury dismissed as “gossip.” Out of the 94 charges made against the four defendants, there were no convictions. Of the 17 charges against Al-Arian-including “conspiracy to murder and maim persons abroad”-the jury acquitted him of eight and was hung on the rest. The jurors disagreed on the remaining charges, with 10 of the 12 jurors favoring his full acquittal. Two others in the case, Ghassan Ballut and Sameeh Hammoudeh, were acquitted of all charges, dealing another body blow to the government’s case.
Following the acquittal, a disaster for the government, especially because then-Attorney General John Ashcroft had announced the indictment, prosecutors threatened to retry Al-Arian. The Palestinian professor, under duress, accepted a plea bargain agreement that would spare him a second trial, saying in his agreement that he had helped people associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad with immigration matters. It was a tepid charge given the high profile of the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the counter-terrorism section of the Justice Department agreed to recommend to the judge the minimum sentence of 46 months. But U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. sentenced Dr. Al-Arian to the maximum 57 months. In referring to Al-Arian’s contention that he had only raised money for Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s charity for widows and orphans, the judge said acidly to the professor that “your only connection to orphans and widows is that you create them.”
Chris Hedges, who graduated from Harvard Divinity School and was for nearly two decades a foreign correspondent for The New York Times, is the author of “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.“
©2008 TruthDig.com
Mid-level brown-shirted bureaucrats making their bosses happy. These Ollie North types wrap themselves in legislation and legalities while pleasing their masters. These guys know the way to get noticed and promoted. This professor is their golden cow and they will try and ride him into fame and fortune. Dr. Al-Arian is a victim of a legal infrastructure recently redesigned to allow for easier prosecution by taking away basic legal rights. He isn’t the first and he won’t be the last. Welcome to the United States of Everything.
Hoa binh
Judge Moody is acting in the same great tradition of Amerikan jurisprudence as Judge Webster Thayer, the trial judge in the Sacco & Vanzetti case.
During the trial, Thayer stated, “This man [Vanzetti], although he may not have actually committed the crime attributed to him, is nevertheless morally culpable, because he is the enemy of our existing institutions.”
He was more succinct after the inevitable conviction, when he remarked to a friend, “Did you see what I did to those anarchist bastards the other day?”
Judge Moody deserves a seat beside Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts! And don’t worry, he’ll be nominated in a landslide after the usual Democratic interrogatory musical numbers. I never get tired of the rapid tattoo of tap shoes!
Judges can be such sadistic idiots.
So many examples. My favorite is in the Canadian legal system. one was a judge who let a woman off for dragging her dog behind a truck on a gravel road to teach him a lesson–the judge let the woman keep animals after that. And then there is Edward “judge moron” Ormston who, after reviewing a videotape of 3 art students laughing as they tortured a cat to death (as-get this: an art project protesting animal cruelty), said that he didnt believe they intended to make the cat suffer. 90 days and time served.
Al-Arian made a mistake entering a plea bargain. Never, never, never plead guilty if you think you’re innocent.
Could I be prosecuted for helping his family?
We’re going to Hell if their is one.
Such incredible courage and fortitude is inspiring not to mention the right on target assessment of the system
by Al-Arian.
Having acquired a bit of an education on the workings of the legal system while employed by attorneys, I say we are a flawed species with those exceptions like Al-Arian showing us where our potential for redemption lies, in the truth.
Ashcroft having been educated not far down the road from us here in Missouri where “vindictive and politically motivated” behavior is often the going mode of operation.
Lessons learned evidently in how not to live a life. Thanks for the heads up by Hedges.
But U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. sentenced Dr. Al-Arian to the maximum 57 months. In referring to Al-Arian’s contention that he had only raised money for Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s charity for widows and orphans, the judge said acidly to the professor that “your only connection to orphans and widows is that you create them.”
It is certainly possible some of these funds did not go to orphans and widows, or even “administrative costs”, but were siphoned off to support patriots or terrorists. But, there is no way Judge Moody could be certain none of the funds went to support orphans and widows. Thus, his statement is a lie, at least to the extent of his certainty.
There is an old joke appreciated by progressives and conservatives alike, although with lawyers it is only among themselves. How do you know a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving. This is funny because there is a lot of truth to it. Substitute politician for lawyer, it is even funnier because there is even more truth to it. A judge is a lawyer, of course, but to some extent (completely in some cases) a judge is a politician also. A judge is not under oath, so people need to remember while outward respect to a judge and the court is warranted, a citizen’s duty is to not blindly obey.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad judges out there. While a jury was not involved in the judge’s sentence, jurors often believe the worst nonsense out of a judge’s mouth. Moody sounds like Judge Judy, absolutely certain of the facts without any reason to be so.
I remember when the Shoe Bomber was sentenced. He made a calm reasoned statement about the US led campaign against Iraq’s babies and elderly called the embargo, although he exaggerated the death toll. The prosecutor made a similarly calm and reasoned statement, not disagreeing with the motive of the defendant. The judge, however, pretty much lost it, which makes the conviction suspect even if the evidence was strong.
I salute Dr. Sami Amin Al-Ari’s stance and am willing to go on hunger strike in his support and to publicize his plight.
Can anyone suggest where and how best this could be accomplished?
“cranky_chatter” talked about helping his family, I also am willing to help his family.
I know how it feels to be a political prisoner and to go on hunger strike in search of justice!
What’s next? Are we to be indicted for “supporting terror” if we contribute to CARE or the Red Cross or any other NGO (or the country of Egypt) trying to ease the suffering of the one million-plus Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza?
Our Endless and Irredeemably Ignorant Worldwide War on Terror is used as an excuse for every stupidity the current administration wants to commit. In Latin America, for just one small example, President Uribe of Colombia is our “friend” because he “cooperates” in the War on Terror and the War on Drugs. (Never mind that he, too, deals in drugs and that when he wanted to serve an extra term, he just changed the constitution by himself.) The resistance group FARC, on the other hand, which opposes Uribe’s ham-handed oppression of the Colombian people, gets the label “terrorist” from our government for not supporting our “friend” Uribe. And if we or anyone in the world chooses to join in that resistance, why they too are “guilty of supporting terror.” (That would include every left-leaning president in S. America.)
Are the Democratic candidates for president the least bit aware of how these policies damage the lives of people all over the world? Are they aware of how the State Dept has been militarized to help in the various “Wars Against… ” in Latin America? And,coming up, in Africa as part of our “humanitarian”/military effort called AFRICOM? There’s a ton of reversal to be done and I’d like to know which candidate is willing to take it on.
“When the system is manipulated by the powerful and tolerates abuses against the minorities or the weak members of society, the government not only loses its moral authority and betrays future generations, but will also be condemned by history.”
They will only be “condmned by history” through the writiings of courageous historians who are willing to discuss the means by which the ruling class and the government puppets who serve it, go about implementing and accomplishing their self-centered goals.
Hi Gail — Let us be in favor of having those understanding and perceptive historians, be Americans writing this year.
Let us be in favor of increasing the circle of knowledge and awareness to everyone capable of independent thought, this year.
Thank you for the spring board to an unprecedented future.
Namaste
… … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … & … ML King … … Inspiration … … … … …
« We must be the change we wish to see in the world »
« There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed »
« We adopt the means of nonviolence because our end is a community at peace with itself » — MLK
“A great nation is ultimately defined and judged by its system of justice.
When the system is manipulated by the powerful and tolerates abuses against
the minorities or the weak members of society, the government not only loses
its moral authority and betrays future generations, but will also be condemned by history.”
AmeriKKKa… I CONDEMN YOU NOW!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!
This is another form of Bush torture and abuse of power over the judicial branch.
I doubt Sami will be released while Bush is still around but If anyone would Like to help, here is more info:
“With only one month remaining until Dr. Al-Arian’s scheduled release,
the government is threatening to keep him imprisoned for many years,
through its continuous abuse of the grand jury system. Furthermore, as
Dr. Al-Arian embarks on yet another hunger strike, the government must
either release him as promised or be responsible for his life.
TAKE ACTION
Please write to the following individuals to ask for an immediate end
to Dr. Al-Arian’s
suffering:
1- Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
2- Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax Number: (202) 307-6777
BY E-MAIL:
E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General,
may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov.
3- The Honorable John Conyers, Jr
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
(202) 225-0072 Fax
John.Conyers@ mail.house.gov
4- Senator Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(299029)224- 4242
senator_leahy@ leahy.senate.gov “
The internet is the new part of history that you can write.
Keep hammering.
The voices of defeat do not make history!
The Best way to help Sami’s family is to keep the pressure on the governmnet for Justice and a show of good will for peace.
Justice brings Peace.