Termination

Rumbles

By Monday, things were beginning to gel. People had expressed heard the news and expressed their opinions, and some started making plans. One of the radio stations was running a hastily composed ditty mocking Al-Arian.

• The Bangor Daily News editorialized in *Patriot Test that ``Now it is time for a law that has many law-abiding and thoughtful Americans, liberals and conservatives alike, worried with good reason about the toll the war on terrorism will take upon civil liberties, to prove itself.''
• The Boston Globe reported that *Professor in terror indictments was a Bush supporter, key figure among Muslims in Tampa
• The Florida Alliance for Peace and Social Justice announced a demonstration in support of Dr. Al-Arian.
• Fox News the Big Story ran a *Interview With Frank Gaffney.
• The Miami Herald described the history of the conflict at USF in their article USF tells how terror allegations unfolded: 4 from school named in indictment. Former USF President Castor said of the decision to let Al-Arian return to the classroom in 1998: ``The university always cooperated with law enforcement and particularly the FBI ... [Law enforcement] could never extend enough information.''
• The New York Post reported on a *White House Twist in Terror Prof' Case about Bush's meeting with Al-Arian.
• And the New York Post ran a column by Daniel Pipes on Terrorist Profs, who wrote ``That three accused terrorists passed without suspicion as genuine Middle East studies scholars points to the crisis in this academic discipline. This academic field is already criticized for providing refuge to what might be called intellectual terrorists - scholars known for their extremism, intolerance, and dishonesty. Now we learn it apparently has been harboring the real thing. Conclusion: This field must be scrutinized very closely, especially by the U.S. Congress, which provides vital subsidies to Middle East studies programs.''
• Slate.com's Explainer explained how How Can a College Professor Lose Tenure?, beginning with ``The exact procedure varies from campus to campus, but tenured professors are generally guaranteed the right to a fair hearing before a committee of their peers. The administration must convince the committee that the professor in question is guilty of either moral turpitude (such as sexual harassment) or gross incompetence (such as repeatedly missing class).'' Incidentally, USF has no such committee, and is being forced into grievance proceedings instead. That's part of what the dispute on campus is about.
• The USF Oracle ran its collection of articles on the case.
  • Columnist Sebastian Meyer wrote that Al-Arian arrest creates precedent for future trials. Meyer expressed some skepticism of the charges, and wrote, ``In this country you are innocent until proven guilty, and not until your face appears on The O'Reilly Factor.''
  • The Muslim's Students Association is participating in the FAPSJ demonstration: MSA reacts to Al-Arian arrest, plans courthouse protest Tuesday. MSA Vice President Aliyah O'Keeffe said, ``As Muslims, we do not ask for special treatment, but simply equal treatment under the law,'' adding, ``This press conference is about due process and restoring the public's perception of fair play within the system.''
  • There was a story on the WISE report: 1996 report a sign of things to come; the report itself is on-line at the USF Main Library's site.
  • The Oracle also editorialized that Al-Arian speculation should stop, saying ``whether he is guilty or not will be determined in court, and it is not for the public to decide if he should be fired or his family deported.''
• The Washington Post wrote of The Al-Arian Defense that ``Mr. Al-Arian's defenders also ignored the possibility that their man was actually a terrorist'' and then listed the UFF, the AAUP, and Georgetown University Professor John Esposito. What UFF and AAUP are defending are Al-Arian's due process rights, and UFF has explicitly said repeatedly that if the government believed that Al-Arian was guilty, then it should prove its case. Unless the Washington Post is advocating putting the Constitution on a shelf, it is difficult to see what the Post is saying. Anyway, this column was published in the Feb. 25 St. Petersburg Times (with attribution) and posted on the Feb. 25 Tampa Tribune (ahem, without attribution).

• The University of Virginia Cavalier Daily reported that *Some at U. Virginia concerned for academic freedom following prof. arrest, where an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering said, ``There is always a peer pressure ... If you have an opinion, you don't want to be too far out of the mainstream.''
• Fox's O'Reilly Factor ran a *Interview With the Investigative Project's Evan Kohlman, where it turned out that Bush's meeting with Al-Arian was all Hillary Clinton's fault.
• The Miami Herald posted on Lexis an editorial on *Watershed trial? Terror case is chance to judge nature of terrorism which noted that at least, there would be a public trial, unlike some other pending cases.
• On Feb. 25, the New York Post ran a column by Frank Gaffney on Outreach to Terrorists?, which futher delved into Al-Arian's visits to the White House.
• The USF Oracle reported that Al-Arian faces tough mob law: Al-Arian is charged with violations of the RICO act, which has been used against mafiosi, tobacco companies, and the Roman Catholic Church.
• The USF Oracle also published a column by Chris O'Donnell, Al-Arian arrest makes War on Terror personal, in which he warns that an inconclusive resolution might be disastrous.
• The St. Petersburg Times posted a Feb. 25 AP story that Al-Arian calls self 'prisoner of conscience,' victim of hysteria, quoting Al-Arian saying, ``I'm crucified today because of who I am, a stateless Palestinian, an Arab and Muslim, an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights.'' They also reported that the defendents had asked for more time before being arraigned (the arraignment had been scheduled for today), and so the arraignment has been delayed to March 24. According to Ms Al-Arian, Al-Arian was still on a hunger strike, and since Thursday has lost ten pounds.
• The Feb. 25 St. Petersburg Times can't resist an old photo: Bush, Al-Arian photo resurfaces, but they don't post the photo on-line!
• The Feb. 25 St. Petersburg Times published a letter from PRIMER director Norman Gross on The indictment of Al-Arian: 'He had it coming'.
• On Feb. 25, Salon.com columnist Scott Rosenberg asked, From the White House to the jailhouse: If the government has long known that Sami Al-Arian was supporting terrorism, why did the controversial professor win an invitation from Karl Rove? John Podhoretz called Nicholas Kristof and Eric Boehlart ``idiots'' for questioning the accusations against Al-Arian, but Rosenberg notes Al-Arian's support for Bush in the 2000 campaign --- and Bush's publicly expressed gratitude.
• The Feb. 25 Tampa Tribune published an AP article on how Al-Arians Donated $7,700 To 5 Congressmen --- three Democrats and two Republicans --- with the most to former Congressman Daniel Bonior.
• Temple Terrace, the old town (not a suburb of Tampa) where Al-Arian lives and runs his educational, religious, political (and, according the the Department of Justice, illegal) organizations, is a pleasant, middle class town with two biweeklies of its own. One of these, the Temple Terrace/University Beacon (apparently not on-line), published in its Feb. 26 - March 11 edition ``Temple Terrace: Central Command for terror?'' USF student and president of the Muslim Students Association is quoted: ``Although we are nervous, I still feel safe here at USF.'' And Deputy Police Chief (of Temple Terrace) is quoted: ``The only involvement is that we are a member of the Terrorism Task Force.''
• On Feb. 25, the Mar. 3 Weekly Standard was posted on Lexis, and contained a scrapbook column on ``On Prof. Jihad, Maureen Dowd, and more.'' The ``and more,'' by the way, was Joseph Lieberman.

The United Faculty of Florida is involved in this controversy because of the contract, and once again, we are reminded that that is another story --- indeed, from the point of view of UFF's mission, the contract is the main story. Faithful readers will recall that the Board of Trustees blamed a hideous communication problem for their ``mistake'' in enacting a problematic misconduct rule. Many faculty, including the Faculty Senate, suggested that perhaps what was needed was more communication. On Feb. 25, the USF Oracle reported that BOT, faculty yet to meet. Faculty Senate President Greg Paveza said, ``As soon as we come up with a plan for the president and the provost, we can have a meeting with the Board and Faculty Senate.'' But Chairman Dick Beard hadn't heard about such a meeting, and saw no need for one: ``I don't know why the Board would be meeting with the Faculty Senate. We're not involved in the day-to-day operations of the university.''

Bay News 9 was running an unscientific poll, asking visitors Should the judge in the Sami Al-Arian case grant his request for bail?. Early Tuesday, Feb. 25, 21 % said yes; by late Tuesday, 28 % said yes. At 11:10 am Wednesday, 46 % said yes, and there were 41 comments on 5 pages. And so, on Wednesday, Feb. 26:

• BBC News reported that Accused academic speaks out: A British academic accused by the US of leading an Islamic terror group has defended himself, saying his only "crime" was to talk about politics to friends on the phone, and that Nafi is in Great Britain on an Irish passport.
• Fox's O'Reilly Factor reported that *Arrest of Al-Arian Tarnishes Muslim American Image, where O'Reilly said, ``... if the professor is found not guilty, he should get his job back with retroactive pay.''
• On Feb. 26, FrontPage.com ran a column by Robert Spencer on Al-Arian: Terrorist Professor and His Campus Allies, and said that ``Now that he has been indicted, Al-Arian is more of a hero to the Left than ever,'' and comparing Al-Arian to Alger Hiss.
• The London Evening Standard reported in *Case against the British lecturer accused of terror that the USA may have difficulties extraditing Bashir Nafi from Great Britain. The Standard also reported that *Key US claims from Nafi's 'tapped calls'.
• The Miami Herald reported that *Federal case against Florida professor treads new ground under Patriot Act, which quoted ABA Chair on terrorism law Neal Sonnett saying, ``What was intended to be a foreign intelligence act has now turned into a de facto domestic intelligence act ... The line was blurred with FISA for a long time. And when they passed the Patriot Act, they wiped it out completely.''
• National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg gave Two Cheers for “McCarthyism”?, and went from ``Senator Joe McCarthy was a lout, generally speaking. But he was on the right side of history and, in a broad sense, of morality as well,'' to Al-Arian, on whom ``Professors reveled in the opportunity to change the subject to `academic freedom,' in much the same way as defenders of Stalin's gulag used to insist that the only issues worthy of public passion were the civil liberties of spies and traitors.''
• The USF Oracle reported that Bail hearing delayed again, and that the difference between Al-Arian's first and second appearances in court was ``... much more subtle, and not physical. Al-Arian walked to his chair looking forward at the gallery and wearing a smile. He chatted with attorney Nicholas Matassini throughout the hearing and, looking directly at Judge Mark Pizzo, put forward an air of confidence.''
• The USF Oracle also reported that Protesters: Al-Arian is a victim of political punishment, which reported comments, pro and con, at the courthouse.
• And USF Oracle columnist Chris Ricketts wrote that Al-Arian's day in court may be the best thing, saying, ``I would think Al-Arian would welcome his day in court. It will finally give him the chance to dispel accusations in public,'' and adding, ``If he testifies, he can always invoke the Fifth Amendment another 99 times.''
• The Press Association reported that *Accused academic says only crime is discussing politics, with many quotes by Bashir Nafi.
• The St. Petersburg Times reported that Al-Arian will remain on paid leave at USF, reporting that the USF Administration had ruled on Al-Arian's grievance, and ruled that placing Al-Arian on leave was not a disciplinary action. The next step would be for Al-Arian to file an appeal for a ``Step 2'' hearing; since Step 2 hearings were heard in Tallahassee, it is not clear what a Step 2 hearing would be in the reorganized system.
• The St. Petersburg Times reported that Al-Arian stirs the court of public opinion: A judge delays the bail hearing for the USF professor. Outside court, his supporters protest the charges against him, and quoted Omali Yeshitela of the Florida Alliance for Peace and Justice: ``That's a frightening thing that somebody in Washington, D.C., can draw up a list and say that these are terrorist organizations and anybody who supports these organization by association also becomes a terrorist.''
• Tampa Tribune columnist Daniel Ruth is still furious that Bill O'Reilly is trying to claim credit for all of Michael Fechter's hard work: Nothing Is `Free' About Bill O'Reilly's Froth Factor. Ruth calls O'Reilly ``the Father Coughlin of cable TV'' and ``probably shameless enough to claim authorship of ``Primary Colors''' and ``the Joe Isuzu of journalism'' and ``journalism's answer to Willie Sutton'' and ``like William F. Buckley with rabies'' and ``the Torquemada of television'' and ``the Oliver Cromwell of mass communications'' and ``the Bubba the Love Sponge of Self-Promotion'' and ``the Penn (& Teller!) of chitchat'' and ``the Clifford Irving of coaxial cable'' and ``the Piltdown Man of Rupert Murdoch's media empire'' and ``the Nathan Thurm of talking heads'' and ``a creepy, sleazy, insecure guy who isn't man enough to give credit where credit is due'' (okay, Ruth just said that other people think of O'Reilly this way) and ``the Joe Pyne of Whine.'' Ruth also calls the Fox News Network the ``Deutschland uber Ailes Network'' and ``the Crock Network'' and ``the Morton Downey Jr. Lite Network.'' Ruth said that O'Reilly's claims on ``the No Spittle Zone'' were ``drivel.'' As Ruth advised O'Reilly, ``... ranting and raving and conducting a few foaming-at-the-mouth interviews with the usual subjects about Middle Eastern terrorism is not the same thing as reporting, advancing a story.''
• USA Today reported that Indictment: Smiling face hid hatred, and portrayed Al-Arian as a man attracted to the limelight of civics activism.
• USA Today also reported: 'No way,' wife says of charges, and quoted her saying: ``Let's pray justice will have its say, and everything will be in the open ... People don't know his sincerity. They think he is some kind of trickster, but it isn't true.''

On Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 1 pm, President Genshaft held a press conference announcing that Al-Arian was fired. In her announcement, she said:

• Dr. Al-Arian has repeatedly abused his position at the university. He has misused the university’s name, reputation, resources and personnel. Dr. Al-Arian has the responsibility to uphold the ethical standards of our profession – as a teacher, researcher, intellectual mentor and counselor. Yet it is clear that throughout this process, Dr. Al-Arian’s statements about his activities have been false and misleading, and he has failed to meet our high professional standards.
• We have determined that USF must sever all ties to Sami Al-Arian once and for all. Today, the Provost has issued a letter to terminate Dr. Al-Arian’s employment immediately. His use of this educational institution for improper, non-educational purposes, will not be tolerated.

• The ``bases for termination'' included:
  • ``... your engagement in activities outside the course and scope of your employment that adversely affected the legitimate interests of the University ...''
  • ``... a conflict between your private interests and the public interests of the university ...''
  • ``... the interference of those activities with the full performance of your institutional responsibilities and obligations ...''
  • ``... and your failure to report these activities ...''
• Six specific actions were listed: his founding of the ICP, his organizing and participating in ICP conferences from 1988-1992, his use of USF's name at one of these conferences, his founding of WISE (``... an organization with significant linkages to terrorists ...''), his ``sponsorship or support of the entry of terrorists into the United States...,'' and his ``... fundraising for terrorist organizations.''
• The letter states that on Feb. 20, the USF Administration was shown some of the evidence described in the federal indictment, and the USF Administration used this evidence in making its decision and its case.
• As the gentle webmaster reads the letter, the USF Administration is itself alleging that Al-Arian was a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and provided many services to it at USF's expense and detriment. The letter alleges that these activities continued past the publication of the second Letter of Termination of Aug. 21.

• Within an hour, AP reported that Florida Univ. Fires Indicted Professor.

Aftermath

Everyone was ready to react to Al-Arian being fired. Including Al-Arian's attorneys, who filed a grievance, under the new rules promulgated by the Board of Trustees.

• AP reported that *Lawyer will seek re-instatement of fired professor: Al-Arian's labor lawyer Robert McKee said, ``The fairest thing to do would have been to allow Dr. Al-Arian an opportunity to take an unpaid leave of absence to attend to this criminal matter,'' while Al-Arian's criminal lawyer Nicholas Matassini said, ``If his case is dismissed or he's found not guilty, she'll have egg on her face.'' The Boston Globe carried Jeff Jacoby's column on The Islamist Connections, who wrote, ``A resume like that should have made Al-Arian radioactive - the kind of person anyone with political ambitions or decent instincts would shun. So why in the world would he be treated as a friend and ally by - of all people - George W. Bush?''
• The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that U. of South Florida Fires Professor Accused of Terrorism and quoted USF Professor Elizabeth Bird saying, ``For many months, I've heard informally that people thought, If only the FBI would charge him it would make things easier. Without the charges, I think we'd still be in this stalemate.'' AAUP spokesperson Ruth Flower said, ``It's the due-process issues that have always engaged our concerns. The decisions are being made by the president, not with a council of peers as would be normal in an academic situation.''
• The Florida State University Florida Flambeau reported that U. South Florida attempts to recover from accused terrorists in midst reviews the history of the case in the 1990s.
• The Independent Florida Alligator reported that *Indicted professor Al-Arian loses tenure position at U. South Florida, which quoted the UF Chapter President Jon Reiskind of UFF saying, ``We're always concerned about any faculty member anywhere in the world getting a fair shake and being treated fairly.''
• The Miami Herald reported that *University fires tenured professor accused of terrorism.
• The USF Oracle ran several articles.
  • The USF Oracle's main story was Terminated, in which President Genshaft said, ``We are not about criminal law. I must make very clear that this is an employment relationship, not a criminal law issue,'' and, ``We have always been thoughtful and deliberative about this process,'' while Ms. Al-Arian said, ``They're liars. The indictment came because of (USF administration) and because of their corporate initiative that ruined the university," and USF/UFF Chapter President Roy Weatherford said, ``The burden of proof is on the university ... to show there is legal justification in the dismissal'' and ``What they did was stall until ... they would follow him out with the indictment and no further consultation.''
  • The USF Oracle also reported that AAUP says university botched up due process, which quoted AAUP Associate Secretary Jonathan Knight saying, ``To dismiss the person because he has been indicted, seems to us to turn the due process upside down ... They sentence the person, and then later have some hearing on the matter,'' and quoted USF Spokesperson Michael Reich retorting, ``The AAUP has made it clear that they think that tenure entitles you to a job for life even if you support terrorism.''
  • The USF Oracle also ran an analysis, A hasty conclusion?, which enumerated a number of anomalies in the USF Administration's position, and warned, ``If nothing else, this is dangerous for the university. Should Al-Arian be found innocent in a trial, the letter of termination is a multi-million dollar lawsuit waiting to happen.''
  • And the USF Oracle reported that Al-Arian's termination gets mixed reviews which quoted USF Professor Greg McColm (the USF/UFF webmaster) saying, ``The union's position is that the university should follow some kind of due process ... in most respectable places, they have a system where it's not just one person making up their mind,'' while USF Student Government President (and USF Trustee) Mike Griffin said, ``This has never been an issue of academic freedom,'' although if Al-Arian ``... was a political science or international relations professor, I could see the argument a little more clearer.''
• The St. Petersburg Times reported that USF fires Al-Arian after terrorism charges: The university has accused the professor of misusing his position in order to operate a terrorist organization. USF Faculty Senate President Greg Paveza said, ``We're at a different place than we were 18 months ago ... The president's actions were justified,'' but and USF/UFF Chapter President Weatherford said, ``As a general rule, you're innocent until proven guilty -- except at USF.''
• The Tampa Tribune reported that USF Fires Al-Arian, and that USF General Counsel Friedlander said that (as paraphrased in the story), `the school's concerns do not need to meet the legal standard of a conviction.' But Jonathan Knight of the AAUP said, ``The administration has, in effect, found him guilty of the charges.''
• The Tampa Tribune also reported that Experts: Islamic Jihad Cases Are A Test Of 2 Legal Areas, and quoted one expert saying, ``It's unusual in any sort of prosecution to use intelligence surveillance material'' and another saying of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, ``It was designed to circumvent the Fourth Amendment standard of probable cause.'' And there are the usual concerns about the racketeering act.
• In the Washington Times, Frank Gaffney asked What's wrong with this picture? about the picture of candidate George W. Bush and activist Sami Al-Arian. Gaffney said, ``Whoever is responsible, their behavior has seriously disserved President Bush, and risks becoming more than a mere political liability if it is allowed to persist,'' and said that such a connection with Al-Arian undermines Bush's war on terror.
• The Weekly Planet has just fired practically all its news staff, and brought in a new editor. Readers worried that this might mean less news, but the Weekly Planet had assured readers otherwise. The 2/26-3/4 issue had no news about Al-Arian, but did run a brief Note to readers assuring readers that ``The Weekly Planet, which has strongly supported Al-Arian's right to espouse unpopular political views, will continue to report this story vigorously.'' In addition, the Planet ran an opinion piece by former Planet investigative reporter John Sugg, who has run several exposes of the media coverage of the Al-Arian controversy. Sugg wrote in Hypocrisies, Double Standards and Lies: Al-Arian arrest reveals how selective the press and government are in dealing with terrorism funding that the media and the government have tolerated or even lionized several terrorists (and claims that one of the Al-Arian prosecutors was involved with the IRA), and therefore ... Well, he doesn't reach a therefore, but says: ``Here's what I conclude: Short of wholesale fabrication of evidence -- which I don't believe -- the indictment shows that Sami Al-Arian was far more involved in, at best, a political movement or, at worst, a terrorist group, than he has acknowledged to his supporters and the press.''

• Forward.com reported that White House Hosted Al-Arian Despite Investigation, reporting that ``Al-Arian was part of a 160-person group from the American Muslim Council that was briefed by Rove on President Bush's faith-based agenda and other issues, according to AMC [American Muslim COuncil] spokesman Faiz Rehman. Rehman characterized the meeting as routine, and said that Al-Arian had attended such events before.'' Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York said, ``The Bush campaign went to these people and they helped them win the campaign in 2000 ... Now, they obviously formed some ties with people and they don't vet them very carefully.''
• The Jerusalem Post ran a column by Caroline B. Glick on *Politically correct terrorists, who wrote that, ``Arian's arrest was a watershed because of the political will that stood behind the decision to move forward in the case,'' and decrying that ``terror apologists and perpetrators are viewed as simply another legitimate voice in a free society's marketplace of ideas,'' and says that Israel could learn from U.S. resolution.
• NPR ran a clip on *Firing of Professor Sami Al-Arian from the University of South Florida, on the scene at the courthouse.
• The USF Oracle reported that Al-Arian will file grievance, in which Al-Arian's labor attorney said:
  • Al-Arian is ``completely engaged in the process of helping his criminal defense team prepare ... He wasn't surprised.''
  • Al-Arian's team had gotten some indications that the USF Administration has been communicating with the US Department of Justice: ``We got a hint when they filed the lawsuit in August, they were working on new and improved charges ... Those new and improved charges dovetailed nicely with what was in the indictment.''
  • The grievance is filed under USF's new rules, leaving UFF ``out of the loop'': ``The collective bargaining agreement has expired. We're stuck with the new procedure that has been put in place by the Board of Trustees.'' (The new rules have a grievance procedure with no place for union participation: UFF contends that the contractual grievance procedures, with stronger protections for grievants, are still in force.)
  Incidentally, UFF contends that while the contract has expired, its terms and conditions have not. Thus while the new rules have a grievance procedure with no place for union participation, UFF contends that the contractual grievance procedures, with stronger protections for grievants, are still in force.
• The St. Petersburg Times reported that Al-Arian vows to fight for job: But an attorney says the fired professor will likely focus first on the federal criminal charges he faces.
• The Tampa Tribune reported that Al-Arian To File Complaint Over Firing By University, which reported Al-Arian's employment attorney Robert McKee saying ``If Dr. Al-Arian had not been indicted, he wouldn't have been fired.''