Free Speech Silenced: Palestinian Activist Sami Al-Arian Arrested In Florida
![sami1.jpg](/uploads/2003/02/20/sami1.jpg)
Sami Al-Arian at Berkeley Palestinian Solidarity Conference
by Labor Video Project + SF-IMC
Tuesday February 19, 2002 at 04:27 AM
lvpsf@labornet.org P.O. Box 42558, San Francisco, CA 94142
At a conference at UC Berkeley on 2/16, Prof. Sami Al-Arian called for solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against the occupation, and spoke out against the repressive, discriminatory tactics of the "J. Edgar Ashcroft" regime. 20 minute MP3.
audio: MPEG video at 8.4 mebibytes
Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Professor of Computer Science and longtime advocate of Palestinian rights, spoke at the National Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement in Berkeley on Saturday, 16 February 2002. A decades-long media smear campaign against Dr. Al-Arian culminated in his receiving notice "of intent to terminate" from the University of South Florida (USF) this past December, due to the disruption – death threats, declining alumni association rolls, etc. – which resulted from his appearance on FOX TV's "The O'Reilly Factor" on 26 September. Related links: • Greens warn that accusations of "terrorism" are eroding rights and freedoms (SF Indymedia, 12 Feb 02) • 2/15-18: Palestine Solidarity Movement Nat'l Student Conf. (SF Indymedia, 10 Feb 02) • "Sami Al-Arian: Victim of Intolerance or Threat to a University's Stability?" Chronicle of Higher Education Interview (06 Feb 02) • By pandering to anti-Arab hysteria, NBC, Fox News, Media General and Clear Channel radio disgraced themselves -- and ruined an innocent professor's life (Salon, 19 Jan 02) • Al-Arian's firing harkens back to segregation (St. Pete. Times, 22 Dec 01) • USF Moves to Fire Al-Arian (St. Pete. Times, 20 Dec 01) • USF News Releases (19 Dec 01) • Opinion: "Behind Al-Arian's Facade" (St. Pete. Times, 01 Nov 01) • College staff find chilling free speech climate (SF Indymedia, 14 Oct 01) • UCLA e-mail poster loses one-week's pay (SF Indymedia, 09 Oct 01) • Interview by FOX's Bill O'Reilly with Tampa reporter and American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (02 Oct 01) • Press Release by Dr. Al-Arian (Tampa Bay Online, 29 Sep 01) • Ongoing Al-Arian Smear-Campaign: "Linked to Enemies of America" (Smartertimes, 29 Jun 01) • Sami's home page at USF
![sami_arrested.jpg](/uploads/2003/02/20/sami_arrested.jpg)
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