Politics: Things Get Tricky

The story on Sami Al-Arian is tough to figure out. He's obviously very politically active, but I can't shake the belief that he has been forced out of his job and now arrested because the US government and others have nothing more than a bad feeling about his views. His brother in law was arrested and held by Janet Reno's Justice Department for three years on secret evidence. I guess it didn't pan out, because he was released. Then he was arrested again soon after the September 11th attacks and deported, but not charged with any actual crime. Al-Arian was forced out of his job after the attacks, but for the last 17 months, no action has been taken against him, until today.

Again, I can't help believing that these guys (whose extremely outspoken style doesn't really jive with the standard "sleeper cell" terrorist M.O.) are being locked up, deported and deprived of a livelihood because they say things that most people don't want to hear, and advocate for a group of people who most Americans (even before September 11, 2001) fear and hate without any thought.

But don't take my word for it. Learn for yourself in this Salon.com article, or in the faculty union's grievance about al-Arian's unlawful termination, or at this site about his story. You can also read Counterpunch's excellent piece on Dr. al-Arian and his brother. I don't know for sure if al-Arian isn't a terrorist. But I don't know that about anybody.