Relisten

1:16:42
Transferrer:
johnx
SHNID:
dr2003-12-07.flac16
Lineage:
DAT->CD->PC->WAV->FLAC
Taper Notes:
View Notes*******************************************************

The Brian MacKenzine Infoshop and SUSTAIN present a benefit concert for the legal defense fund of Dr. Sami Al-Arian featuring David Rovics.

Sponsored by:
Brian MacKenzie Infoshop - www.dcinfoshop.org SUSTAIN (Stop U.S. Tax Aid to Isreal Now) - www.sustaincampaign.org 

Who is Sami Al-Arian?
The son of Palestinian refugees, Dr. Al-Arian came to the United States in 1975, where he has since lived with his wife of 25 years, Nahla, and his five American born children.

Scholar
Dr. Al-Arian has been professor at the University of South Florida, where he taught computer science since 1986 and received two awards for outstanding teaching. In 1990, he co-founded the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), a research and academic institution dedicated to promoting dialogue between the Muslim and Western worlds.

Community Leader
Dr. Al-Arian is a frequent speaker and lecturer on college campuses, churches, and conferences and is dedicated to interfaith dialogue, community development, and civil rights. He served on the board of the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality (HOPE), the largest community group in Hillsborough Co., FL. In 1981, he helped establish the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the largest Muslim grassroots organization in country. He also serves as an imam the local Muslim community in Tampa.

Civic Activist
Dr. Al-Arian has helped empower the Muslim community through his dedicated hard work and personal relationships with other civic, political, and religious leaders in Florida and around the country. He has organized voter registration drives, supported candidates for public office, and lobbied numerous policymakers. Dr. Al-Arian has also attended briefings at the White House and Justice Department, advised several members of Congress, and has met both Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Advocate of Freedom
Dr. Al-Arian is been a tireless voice for freedom and justice at home and around the world. In 1997, he co-founded the Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace, a local coalition opposed to the unconstitutional use of secret evidence and other civil rights violations, as well as ongoing media attacks against Arabs and Muslims. He also co-founded the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, the nation's leading coalition challenging the use of secret evidence, and was elected as its first president in 2000. Dr. Al Arian is the recipient of three Civil Rights
Awards from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the American Muslim Council (AMC), and American Muslim Alliance (AMA).

Prisoner of Conscience
Since 1995, Dr. Al Arian has been the target of an orchestrated campaign to silence him for his views in support of Palestinian rights.

The Al-Arian Case
After nine years of a highly public investigation, the government has yet to provide evidence to support their claims against Dr. Al-Arian and his co-defendants. Meanwhile, the case has already been intensely politicized by years of misinformation and lobbying by pro-Israel groups.

The government's indictment, which relies heavily on innuendos and guilt-by-association, complete distortion and mistranslation and outright fabrication, is based largely on old allegations that have already been debunked. Despite years of investigation, neither Dr. Al-Arian nor his co-defendants, all of whom were fully aware of the ongoing investigation, ever attempted to flee the country. Yet on April 10, Dr. Al-Arian and Sameeh Hammoudeh, who under U.S. law may only be denied bail if they pose a flight risk or a threat to the community, were denied bail.

Al-Arian and Hammoudeh remain in a maximum-security federal penitentiary in Coleman, Florida under the harshest possible conditions. They are the only detainees in the facility who have not been tried, much less convicted of any crime.

How to Help:
To donate to Dr. Al-Arian's legal defense fund, please make checks payable to:

National Liberty Fund
P.O. Box 3568
Washington D.C. 20007

For more information on Sami Al-Arian's case:
Best overview of the case:

http://w3.usf.edu/~uff/AlArian/Overview.html
http://www.academicfreespeech.com/index.html

Background articles:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/01/08/professor/index_np.html
http://www.counterpunch.org/lynchnahla.html
http://www.leftturn.org/Articles/Viewer.aspx?id=410&type=M 

*******************************************************

David Rovics: http://www.davidrovics.com/
David Rovics: http://www.soundclick.com/davidrovics

*******************************************************