An Update on Dr. Sami Al-Arian, and URGENT REQUEST! ~ Window Into Palestine

THE PEACE AND JUSTICE FOUNDATION
11006 Veirs Mill Rd, STE L-15, PMB 298
Silver Spring, MD. 20902

Rabi 1 1429 AH
(March 2008)

AN URGENT REQUEST

Re: Dr. Sami Al-Arian

Assalaamu Alaikum

(Greetings of Peace):

Yesterday I drove to Butner, North Carolina, to lend my support
to the demonstration organized by the Orange County Bill of
Rights Defense Committee to protest the treatment of Dr.
Sami Al-Arian, one of the most prominent Palestinian political
prisoners being held in the United States of America. At
present Al-Arian is being held in the
Butner Federal Medical Center in Butner, NC,
and (after a two week hunger strike) he is conscious but
his condition is GRAVE.

Yesterday's gathering of concerned citizens were privileged
to receive an excellent briefing on the case by one of Dr.
Al-Arian's attorneys, C. Peter Erlinder, a professor of law at
William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, MN. Mr. Erlinder
emphasized how critical the next few days will be in determining
Al-Arian's medical and legal fate.

After the demonstration I attempted to visit Dr. Al-Arian,
without success. We then traveled to Raleigh to provide the
Islamic Association of Raleigh (IAR) community with a
briefing on the day's events, following salatul isha (the night prayer).
We passed on the very specific request that Erlinder made
of Al-Arian's supporters earlier in the day.

Please go to the links that I've provided and get the contact
information for the Committee Chairmen, the Ranking Committee
Member of each committee, and at least THREE additional
Members from each judiciary committee (House and Senate).
We recommend that one of those three additional Members be
Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress –
who up until now appears to have been negligent on this very
important case involving one of his own Muslim brethren.

Contact info for the 110^th Congress

(click on the link for the judiciary committee)

U.S. Senate - http://www.senate.gov/

U.S. House of Representatives - http://www.house.gov/

Erlinder requested that concerned citizens
CALL, FAX and/or SEND E-MAILS (we recommend all three),
and raise two simple questions:

(1) Why aren't the usual protocols being followed at
the Butner Federal Medical Center for Dr. Al-Arian.
(As of yesterday they had not administered any IV fluids
to Al-Arian since he began his protest two weeks ago.)

(2) The court ordered Dr. Al-Arian's deportation
two years ago – why is he still being held two years later?

This request is critical and time sensitive. Federal prosecutors
are poised to demand that Sami Al-Arian appear before a federal
grand jury (in violation of his agreement with the court in Tampa)
AGAIN! This will extend the legal torture of Dr. Al-Arian for
another significant period of time. The House and Senate
Judiciary Committees have the power to put an end to this
madness; but they will not have the collect heart to do so
without positive pressure coming from "We, The People."
Please respond to this humble request immediately.

What follows is a brief listing taken directly from
House and Senate websites.

Yours in the struggle for peace thru justice,
El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan

Senate Judiciary Committee

Committee Room 226
Located in the
Dirksen Senate Office Building

One of the Senate's original standing committees, the Committee on
the Judiciary was first authorized on December 10, 1816. The
Committee has one of the broadest jurisdictions in the Senate,
ranging from criminal justice to antitrust and intellectual property law.

MEMBERS

Patrick J. Leahy CHAIRMAN, D-VERMONT
Edward M. Kennedy D-MASSACHUSETTS	Arlen Specter RANKING MEMBER, R-PENNSYLVANIA
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. D-DELAWARE	Orrin G. Hatch R-UTAH
Herb Kohl D-WISCONSIN	Charles E. Grassley R-IOWA
Dianne Feinstein D-CALIFORNIA	Jon Kyl R-ARIZONA
Russell D. Feingold D-WISCONSIN	Jeff Sessions R-ALABAMA
Charles E. Schumer D-NEW YORK	Lindsey Graham R-SOUTH CAROLINA
Richard J. Durbin D-ILLINOIS	John Cornyn R-TEXAS
Benjamin L. Cardin D-MARYLAND	Sam Brownback R-KANSAS
Sheldon Whitehouse D-RHODE ISLAND	Tom Coburn R-OKLAHOMA

_____________________

House Judiciary Committee

2138 Rayburn House Office Building

Committee History

The Committee on the Judiciary has been called the lawyer for the

House of Representatives because of its jurisdiction over matters
relating to the administration of justice in Federal courts,
administrative bodies, and law enforcement agencies.
Its infrequent but important role in impeachment proceedings
has also brought it much attention.

On June 3, 1813, a standing Committee on the Judiciary
was established by the House of Representatives to
consider legislation relating to judicial proceedings.
Since that time, the scope of the Committee's concern
has expanded to include not only civil and criminal judicial
proceedings and Federal courts and judges, but also issues
relating to bankruptcy, espionage, terrorism, the protection
of civil liberties, constitutional amendments, immigration
and naturalization, interstate compacts, claims against the
United States, national penitentiaries, Presidential
succession, antitrust law, revision and codification of the
statutes of the United States, state and territorial
boundary lines and patents, copyrights and trademarks.
Particularly important in our time is the Committee's
oversight responsibility for the Departments of Justice
and Homeland Security. Hearings on legislation including
the Patriot Act have emphasized the Committee on the
Judiciary's continuing pursuit of the appropriate balance
between constitutional rights and national security.