VIRGINIA-- This past week, Dr. Sami Al-Arian marked the 33rd anniversary of his arrival to the United States. Dr. Al-Arian, who is currently being held at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia, awaits deportation by immigration officials while a Virginia prosecutor attempts to keep Dr. Al-Arian imprisoned indefinitely.
On April 11, Dr. Al-Arian completed his sentence, following an additional year spent in civil contempt for his refusal to testify before a grand jury. A plea agreement reached with the government in 2006 called for Dr. Al-Arian's immediate release and deportation and
promised to protect him from cooperation. After spending more than five years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, Dr. Al- Arian has spent the last six weeks in legal limbo -not serving a sentence and not charged, but not allowed to leave the country.
On May 21, 2008, Dr. Al-Arian spent the 33rd anniversary of his arrival to the United States in a 7 x 10 cell in a rural Virginia jail. The son of Palestinian refugees, Dr. Al-Arian, 50, arrived to
the U.S. from Egypt in 1975 as a 17 year-old college freshman.
He completed his graduate studies almost a decade later, receiving a doctorate in computer engineering and beginning a successful academic career at the University of South Florida in Tampa. While there, he became an award-winning tenured professor. He authored a number of
articles in his field and chapters in textbooks and won several prestigious research grants for his university. Dr. Al-Arian's work in the classroom consistently garnered high praise from students and colleagues alike.
In 1979, he married Nahla Al-Najjar, another Palestinian refugee, who became the source of love, guidance, and support for her husband as they embarked on a mission to build a family and a community. Dr. Al-Arian credits his wife with sharing his devotion and passion for
community building and activism. She was a pioneer for the inclusion of women in leadership positions within the American Muslim community. Along with their five children, they lived in Tampa until 2007 when Mrs. Al-Arian and their two youngest children departed for
Egypt, where they eagerly await Dr. Al-Arian's release and deportation.
In addition to his professional career, Dr. Al-Arian devoted much time and energy to the building of civic institutions to enhance the life of the growing American Muslim community. He has played an integral role in founding and expanding some of the largest national
organizations, including the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Locally, he founded the Islamic Community of Tampa Bay at the Al-Qassam mosque. At its height, the mosque boasted thousands of congregants and became a
leading participant in some of the most important local charitable work, including the annual Feed the Hungry event hosted by Tampa's mayor. Dr. Al-Arian, as the imam, also led the mosque to become the first to join the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality
(HOPE), a social justice coalition made up of nineteen churches.
Pastor Warren Clark of the First United Church in Tampa recalls one of his earliest conversations with Dr. Al-Arian, following the Muslim community's participation in a HOPE event. "(Sami) said, `There are issues in this town that are more than just Muslim issues. We are called on by the Quran to work for the poor, the outcast, the hungry, the widows, and the orphans.' He led his community to engage in this work in many different ways and through many different organizations.
Within the Muslim community, that legacy has continued on, even in his absence."
One of Dr. Al-Arian's proudest achievements is establishing the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF), a full-time school that offered students the highest quality education while instilling them with a sense of moral duty to their community and country. He served as principal of the school for several years, as it became the lifeblood of the community. Graduates of IAF have gone on to some of the top universities in America and most have received scholarships and
acceptance to honors programs.
Dr. Al-Arian was also heavily involved in human rights work, especially with regard to his homeland of Palestine, in an effort to relieve the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupation. He was outspoken in opposition to Israeli policies and eager to inform the American public of the plight of Palestinians in order to effect positive change. The organization he founded, the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP), held annual national conferences and organized charitable activities to help needy orphans in Palestine.
Among his many activities, Dr. Al-Arian actively worked to bridge the divide between East and West. He promoted interfaith dialogue individually and institutionally, in an effort to establish peace, tolerance, and understanding between faiths. Another one of his initiatives, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), was a groundbreaking think tank at USF that brought together scholars, experts, and leading intellectuals from around the world. Its publications were highly regarded by experts in the field. Through this work, Dr. Al-Arian developed many important and lasting friendships.
Melva Underbakke, an instructor at USF and member of Friends of Human Rights, recalls her first impressions of Dr. Al-Arian:"I met Sami in the early 1990s. He was giving a presentation for the teachers at the English Language Institute (ELI) at USF. Most of them didn't know anything about Middle Eastern culture. People liked him in the Foreign Languages Department because he was trying to build bridges between East and West. He had a real reputation for doing that there."
He soon became recognized as a national leader of the American Muslim community, receiving invitations to speak at numerous churches, synagogues, and other institutions, including the U.S. Central Command at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
By the mid-1990s, Dr. Al-Arian's activities were centered on the latest civil rights struggle in American history: the emerging national effort to end the unjust detention of Arabs and Muslims for years without trials through the use of secret evidence. Through tremendous efforts, including coalition-building, grassroots mobilization, and congressional lobbying, Dr. Al-Arian would come to be recognized as "one of the country's leading advocates" of the new
civil rights movement, according to Newsweek magazine.
Having lived in the U.S. for over two decades, he was steeped in the American civil rights tradition and was a strong believer in fighting for change through the designated avenues. Furthermore, Dr. Al-Arian worked hard to empower and enfranchise the American Muslim community on the local and national levels, encouraging Muslims to vote and run
for office.
Dr. Al-Arian's arrest on February 20, 2003, at the behest of the Bush Administration, was the height of injustices committed against Dr. Al-Arian in his three decades as a law-abiding resident who loved his country; a country where he lived twice as long as he had anywhere else; a country that shared his values and beliefs more than any other; a country where he raised his family to live, learn, work, and contribute to its betterment.
The trial and acquittal of Dr. Al-Arian in 2005 served not only to demonstrate his innocence against the government's unfounded accusations, but also as an affirmation of his decades of public service. ICP and WISE, the institutions that the government attempted to destroy in its indictment, were ultimately vindicated. Prosecutors could not show any evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, witnesses called by the government, including professors, lawyers, and federal agents,
testified to the value of these organizations and their genuine nature. Jurors who sat in the trial for six months drew only the logical conclusion that ICP and WISE were legitimate, law-abiding
organizations that were highly regarded.
The government's decision to continue to punish Dr. Al-Arian even after his acquittal demonstrates the politically-motivated nature of the actions against him. This effort has been led by those who are openly opposed to the empowerment of American Muslims in the public
square, and have professed deep hostility to the cause of justice for Palestinians.
For the past five years, Dr. Al-Arian has witnessed the gravest of injustices, some that he spent years of his life fighting against, and others never thought imaginable in a free society. As he
continues to endure imprisonment with no end in sight, abusive treatment at the hands of prison officials, and isolation from those who love and depend on him, many Americans and people the world over wonder if justice is indeed possible in such dark times when the abuse of government power knows no bounds.
Dr. Al-Arian, however, maintains his unshakeable faith that the people, on whom the system of justice depends, will ultimately bring an end to the abuses committed in their name. Each day, more people add their voice to the thousands who call on America to live up to
its time-tested principles.
As Pastor Clark recalls, it is Dr. Al-Arian's strong faith that has always guided him through the toughest of times. "I recall attending an event at the Islamic Community during the height of the media campaign against Sami, after 9/11, but before he was arrested. I asked him how he was doing and I expected him to say things were bad, but he said, `You know Warren, I feel closer to God now than I have ever felt.' It was another window into the deep wellspring he uses to overcome the most terrible circumstances. That really spoke to me."
As we approach a crossroads in the contemporary civil rights struggle, the case of Dr. Al-Arian takes center stage. Agha Saeed, chair of the American Muslim Taskforce for Civil Rights and Elections and a colleague of Dr. Al-Arian's for many years, reflects on the current situation. "Today, Dr. Al-Arian, one of the most prominent political prisoners in the United States, symbolizes the struggle for freedom of Palestine. Tomorrow, let me predict, based on his heroic
sacrifices, he will be recognized as a major 21st century civil rights leader in the Unites States." Such designations do not come without a heavy price. It is up to all those who stand for justice to
ensure that the sacrifices made by Dr. Al-Arian are not forgotten.
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