An Ode to Dr. Sami Al-Arian

I was blessed with a small correspondence with Dr. Sami Al-Arian.

Here was my fellow brother, hauled through American Justice system because of the state-fostered terror after the mysterious occurances on September 11, 2001.

Dr. Al-Arian was a math/computer professor if memory serves. Many of his students supported him as a gifted teacher. His crime was raising money for a charitable Palestinian organization, where is the harm? No his crime was being born Palestinian at the very time zionists criminals are ethnically cleansing Palestine of the indigenous population, stealing their land, culture, their health & even their very lives.

Well turns out the Federal Government decided the Islamic Charity was a facade for terrorist money laundering. Giving alms and charity is a pillar of Islam, how could the USA not know that?

A few things I learned from Dr. Al-Arian, his gracious, hospitable tone and concern always greeted me. He always thanked me for my support, we might chat a bit about the case or our families, this is a correspondence I treasure. In our mundane letters I caught a glimpse of a gentle man who would go to his grave rather than renounce his values. I admire him immensely.

I wrote to Dr. Al-Arian because I read that he looked forward to mail (being in solitary confinement at the time) and hundreds of miles away from his family. The pettiness of the USA bureaucracy was painful to witness; from Florida to Indiana to Virginia, I suppose Dr. Al-Arian could write a critique of Federal American Prison systems.

And Dr Al-Arian is an empathetic, kindly man who even took the time to comfort me when I vented about the upside-down world we live in.

Dr. Al-Arian is my hero, along with shoe hurler Al-Zaidi, Helen Thomas and Bradley Manning and Viva Palestina & ISM.