The Road Map to Despotism

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Totalitarianism and Obedience

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Posted on Feb 11, 2007

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By Chris Hedges

Editor’s note: Despite spending an estimated $80 million, the government was unable to prove that Dr. Sami Al-Arian was a terrorist, yet he remains in prison and his sentence will likely be extended. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges warns that the abusive imprisonment of this nonviolent Palestinian dissenter does not bode well for the rest of us.

Professor Sami Al-Arian, whose persecution and show trial are parts of a long string of egregious acts of injustice perpetrated by the Bush administration, has been on a hunger strike since Jan. 22 to protest the prolongation of his imprisonment.

Al-Arian’s travels through the halls of American justice, and now the subterranean corridors of the nation’s Stygian prison system, reads like a bad rip-off of Kafka. Al-Arian was acquitted on eight of the 17 counts against him by a Florida jury, which deadlocked on the rest. He agreed to plead guilty to one of the remaining charges four months later in exchange for being released and deported. The judge gave Al-Arian as much prison time as possible under a plea deal—57 months at his sentencing. He was set to be released this April, something that now appears unlikely.

The trial was a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration’s drive to turn the American judicial system into kangaroo courts. Over the six-month trial a parade of 80 witnesses, including 21 from Israel, attempted to brand the Florida professor as a terrorist. The government submitted thousands of documents, phone interceptions and physical surveillance culled from 12 years of investigations. The trial cost taxpayers an estimated $80 million. The 94 charges against Al-Arian and his co-defendants resulted in no convictions. But because Al-Arian has twice refused to testify before a grand jury in Virginia in a case involving a Muslim think tank, he has now been charged with contempt of court. The date of his release could be extended by as much as 18 months.

Al-Arian, who is a diabetic, began a hunger strike in response.

“I believe that freedom and human dignity are more precious than life itself,” he said in a telephone interview from Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va. “In, essence I am taking a principled stand that I am willing to endure whatever it takes to win my freedom.

“I am still OK,” he said. “I have lost 26 pounds by today. It’s definitely not easy, but I am determined to continue. It’s not a decision you make haphazardly or something that you take lightly. In the end, you have to make difficult decisions because of the larger cause. I drink four large cups of water a day, about 12 ounces each.”

Dr. Al-Arian said he will remain on a hunger strike until the government ends its campaign against him and allows him to return to his wife and children.

The case and continued harassment sets a dangerous precedent for American Muslims, who since 9/11 have been monitored, detained and deported in large numbers. But it bodes ill for the rest of us as well. The new legislation suspending habeas corpus and creating the possibility of legally stripping U.S. citizens of their right to a fair and timely trial is a taste of what awaits us all should we enter a period of instability or national crisis. In many ways the assault against Al-Arian is an assault against the judicial system that lies like a barrier between us and despotism.

“Much of the government’s evidence against me were speeches I gave, lectures I presented, articles I wrote, magazines I edited, books I owned, conferences I convened, rallies I attended, interviews I conducted, news I heard and websites no one accessed...In one instance, the evidence consisted of a conversation that one of my co-defendants had with me in his dream,” he said. “It was reminiscent of the thought crime of Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four.’ The scary part was not that these were offered into evidence, but that a federal judge admitted them. That’s why I am so proud of the jury, who acted as the free people that they were and saw through Big Brother’s tactics.

“I’ve been to nine prisons in nine months,” he explained. “I spent the first 23 months in Coleman Federal Penitentiary, where the conditions were Guantanamo-plus, that is they were like those of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay ‘plus’ one phone call a month and visits with my family behind glass. I was in a nine-foot-by-eight-foot cell, where I was held under 23-hour lockdown. During the first few months, they wouldn’t even allow me to exercise unless I was strip-searched, which I refused to submit to, so I was inside 24 hours. During the first month, I was allowed only one 15-minute phone call, and for six months after that I was not allowed to make any calls.

“I was shackled and handcuffed every single time I left my cell for any reason,” he said. “When I needed to take my legal papers for meetings with my attorney, the guards would not carry them for me, even though they did for other prisoners. Though I was shackled, they forced me to carry them on my back, as I was bent over. I had to walk like that for half a mile. I should also mention the use of fire alarms in trying to disrupt life. In the Special Housing Unit [SHU], a punitive section of the prison where I was the only pretrial detainee, alarms and emergency sirens would go off 15 to 20 times every single day, at 12 a.m., 2 p.m., any time of the day. It was a deafening noise that would continue for five to 10 minutes. It was clearly deliberate. In the SHU, commissary was almost nonexistent. All they offered was potato chips, whereas in the general compound everything was available. The SHU was designed for disciplinary purposes, not for housing a pretrial detainee.

“Not only did they place me in the SHU, but they imposed additional restrictions on me,” he went on. “For instance, everybody else was granted contact visits, while I had to see my family behind glass. They also insisted on strip-searching me before and after these behind-the-glass visits. In May 2003, my wife drove two hours to see me, but they denied her the visit when I would not submit to a strip search.”

Al-Arian is a Palestinian. The injustice meted out to him in America is writ large in the Middle East. He has no passport, no home, no country. He must live on the charity of others, stateless, as most Palestinians are, and without the rights of the citizens around him. He once thought America would be his home. He was, before this charade, in the process of gaining citizenship. All this is over. In George Bush’s America there is no place for activists or dissidents. And when they finish with those on the margins of our society they will turn, if we let them, on the rest of us.

Chris Hedges

We, Too, Are the People!

At the end of last year, Arab intellectuals in Israel published a document in which they did not only insist on equal status for the Arab-Palestinian minority, but they also list an extensive series of demands on the Israeli state. Joseph Croitoru reports

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Arab intellectuals in Israel call on Israel to define itself anew: no longer as the "homeland of the Jews," but as the "common homeland" of Jews and Palestinian Arabs | Arab intellectuals in Israel are causing a stir. The declaration they published last year was signed by over forty leading Israeli Palestinian intellectuals and extracts have been published in Israeli newspapers. It carries the title "A Vision for the Future of Palestinian Arabs in Israel," and the title itself is a statement that the Jewish state's attempt to create "Israeli Arabs" – Arabs who do not identify themselves as being part of the Palestinian people – has failed.

Prominent among the signatories are teachers at universities and independent research institutes. Among them are the historian Aziz Haider of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who has researched into discrimination against Arabs in the Israeli economy, as well as other Arab academics and university teachers specialising in the history and culture of Palestinians in Israel.

In addition there are human rights activists and representatives of Arab Israeli NGOs, as well as the mayors of Arab towns, such as Sheikh Hashem Abdelrahman of Umelfachem or Avni Touma of Kefar Yasif.

Systematic discrimination

The signatories define themselves first and foremost as Arab Palestinians, as, in their words, "part of the Arab nation and the Arab cultural world." Following the defeat of the Arabs in the Israeli-Palestinian war of 1948, Israeli citizenship was forced on them by the Jewish state. As a result they became the minority rather than the majority in their homeland, the historic Palestine.

In a detailed passage, the declaration criticises the way the state of Israel deals with the Palestinian minority. It speaks of systematic discrimination, of the confiscation of land, and of disadvantages in the distribution of state money and other state resources.

But the intellectuals emphasise that, in spite of its attempts to carry out a "colonialist-style Judaisation," with enforced assimilation and Israeli citizenship, the Jewish state has not succeeded in getting Palestinians to give up their national and cultural identity.

At the same time, the authors insist that Palestinians living in Israel must remain part of Israeli society and full citizens of the country.

The demand for real, equal participation

But they put forward a series of demands. They want real, equal participation in the processes of democratic decision-making, allowing the Palestinians in the country, like the Jews, to ensure their national and cultural identity. They speak of the start of a "new era," in which the right to Palestinian identity will be guaranteed by law according to current international standards of minority rights.

But they see no future for themselves in the country unless there is a thoroughgoing revision of the exclusively Jewish character of the state, which they describe in the declaration as "ethnocracy." They call on the state to define itself anew: no longer as the "homeland of the Jews," but as the "common homeland" of Jews and Palestinian Arabs.

A complete reform of the education system, which currently alienates Arabs from their culture and history, is necessary. State symbols would have to be changed. For example, one of the authors, the sociologist Asad Ghanem of Haifa, is prepared to allow the Jewish majority to continue to use its Zionist symbols, but he is opposed to their being forced on the Arabs in the country.

And the Israeli-Arab poet, Suliman Massalha, has already written an alternative national anthem called "Song for the Country," instead of "Hatikva" ("The Hope"). The poem recalls the bloodletting of the past and looks forward to the peace of the future between the "sons of Arabia, Nazareth and Abraham." There is no mention of Jews.

The state body bringing together Israeli Arab organisations has adopted the document. It contains no explicit mention of autonomy, but many Jewish observers consider that this is one of its aims. The Jewish Israeli majority has long feared the so-called Palestinianisation of the Israeli Arab population as a side-effect of the establishment of a state entity in the Palestinian territories, and now, it seems to many, it has come to pass.

It is no surprise that the political right in Israel is alarmed. They see the declaration as a sign that Israeli Arabs represent a fifth column and are on the point of rejecting their loyalty to the Jewish state. Those on the left rather welcome the initiative, even if they are worried about possible Arab Israeli separatism, and the risk that they might be faced with an alternative "Arab parliament."

Ghaida Rinawie-Zuabi, responsible for development in the organisation of Arab local councils in Israel and the driving force behind the declaration, is trying to lay such fears to rest with an intensive publicity campaign. He told the Israeli Ha'aretz newspaper that what was new about this initiative was that this time the Arabs had made themselves heard on their own.

They would have to learn how to do this in a sensitive way, but Jewish Israelis would also have to work on their readiness to listen to their Arab fellow-citizens.

Joseph Croitoru

© Qantara.de 2007

Translated from the German by Michael Lawton

Published: 25.01.2007 - Last modified: 25.01.2007

Catholic Church cancels Christmas Crib

The Sacred Heart Catholic church in St Ives has cancelled its annual ‘Live Crib’ event in protest against the Israeli wall being built around the holy city of Bethlehem. In place of crib, there will be erected a life-size replica portion of the Israeli concrete blockade that is causing untold suffering to the ordinary citizens of the city. The wall will stand as a symbol of the plight of these ‘abandoned’ people.

In addition, large protest banners and stark photographs will stand alongside the ‘wall’ to show passers-by how desperate and ugly the situation is in the Holy Land.

Father Paul, who is a friend of Bethlehem University and a frequent visitor, is confident that the people of St Ives will want to express their support for the people of the Holy Land at Christmas. “The lives of the ordinary citizens of Bethlehem have been devastated by the building of the wall. It affects every aspect of their lives; friends and family are separated, earning a living becomes more and more difficult, access to health care is severely restricted all in the town of Bethlehem that we sing about at this time of the year. If we can provide them with a few extra basic provisions and give them a little financial support, we can help make their lives more bearable.”

This is not the first time the Church of the Sacred Heart in St Ives expresses its commitment to the Palestinian people. In 2003 the Church of the Sacred Heart twinned with the Catholic parish in Aboud Village on the West Bank. Father Maddison, along with groups from St Ives and other places in East Anglia, has made regular visits to take donations and lend support to the Aboud villagers, who are Christians and Muslims. He has seen first-hand the suffering and increasingly worsening plight of the families who live there.

This year, the Church of the Sacred Heart will allocate all the donations and offerings it receives from its friends and supporters, to the different organisations and institutions in the city of Bethlehem.

PHOTO

An unclassifiable identity

Dana Shalash writing from Ramallah, occupied Palestine, Live from Palestine, 15 December 2006

Palestinian students participate in a graduation ceremony at Birzeit University near the West Bank town of Ramallah, 23 June 2006. (MaanImages/Mushir Abdelrahman)

I have just found out that I studied in Jordan. I swear I did not know that. Well, that is not the only recent discovery I've made about myself. I have been learning many new things about myself as a Palestinian individual, all by coincidence. For instance, a few minutes ago I learnt that I took my BA degree from Jordan. No, I am not losing my mind. Or maybe I am.

It is funny how when we Palestinians are striving to prove and maintain our Palestinian identity others still perceive us as aliens. It is as if the concept of "Palestine" only exists in our heads. Well, that was actually a comment I heard by a Jewish American comedian several ago. I can never forget that show. It made me feel as an invisible entity although I was still in elementary school. But since then, lots of struggles to try to make our voices heard have materialized. Nevertheless, our attempts to make the world recognize us as Palestinians seem to be all in vain.

Two weeks ago, a colleague from work asked me for some help with a visa application. The place of origin was filled with the word "Jordan," though he is purely Palestinian, and has never left Palestine. Apparently he noticed my astonished facial expressions, and before I uttered anything, he said, "all the travel agencies consider us Jordanians." I did not spend much time thinking it through nor arguing it.

However, for the past month or so, I have been filling out some schools' applications. Most of them are American. It gets easier by time to repeat what you first have trouble in articulating and then jotting down. All follow the same pattern, yet not when it comes to the nationality part. Of course, "Palestine" is never provided as an option. It crushes one's feelings to find out that you are not considered what you believe you are. It is like hallucinating while the whole world mocks you.

For some schools, I have to select "Israel," for others "the Palestinian Authority," or "the Palestinian Territory." Note that it is singular -- territory rather than territories.

Anyhow, we have got used to those variations. And finding that the notion of "Palestinian," whether authority, territory, or any other affix is provided, lightens us up. It still somehow reveals part of our identity, as long as it is declared. It entails that we are visible, and we Palestinians are accepted and respected as well. It brings back the feeling of being an internationally acknowledged national.

But what really struck me the most is this last joke: we are Jordanians. According to this last application in my hand, Birzeit University (my school) is in Jordan, and my BA degree is awarded, for that matter, from Jordan. For someone who has never been outside the West Bank, it makes me really wonder just how I got my degree from abroad.

The concept of being nameless and without an identity once sounded surreal to me when I was submerged in the world of literature and novels. It is like the classic English literature during Queen Elizabeth's reign when women were nameless, or the African-American literature where human beings are alienated. I heard that history repeats itself, but didn't realize that literature could be made literal.

Dana Shalash is a student of English at Birzeit University. Her blog is Stranger than Fiction.

George Bush’s America

Posted on Dec 4, 2006

AP Photo / Chris O'Meara

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian smiles as he makes his way through the media with his wife Nahla, left, before entering the United States Courthouse Thursday afternoon Dec. 12, 2002 in Tampa, Fla. Al-Arian, who is accused of helping lead a terrorist group that has carried out suicide bombings against Israel, was acquitted on nearly half the charges against him Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005. The jury deadlocked on the rest of the charges.

By Chris Hedges

The Democrats may have taken control of the House and Senate, but we still live in George Bush’s America. It is an America the imprisoned Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who has spent over two years in isolation, knows intimately. Dr. Al-Arian, who was a tenured professor of computer engineering at the University of South Florida until being fired, was given the maximum sentence earlier this year for what the judge, in a case that bordered on the farcical, said was his support of a radical Palestinian organization.

The imprisoned professor, who will be deported when he is released, was to have spent 57 months in prison. But his time now seems likely to be extended since, despite plea bargaining that should have exempted him from further testimony, he has been called to testify before a secret grand jury in Virginia investigating Islamic organizations in the state. It is the newest twist in a case that has become emblematic of the repression meted out to America’s Muslim minority.

Al-Arian endured a six-month show trial in Florida that saw the government’s case collapse in a mass of contradictions and innuendo. During the trial the government called 80 witnesses and subjected the jury to hundreds of hours of often inane phone transcriptions and recordings, made over a 10-year period, which the jury dismissed as “gossip.” Out of the 94 charges made against the four defendants there were no convictions. Of the 17 charges against Al-Arian—including “conspiracy to murder and maim persons abroad’’ --, the jury acquitted him of eight and was hung on the rest. The jurors disagreed on the remaining charges by a count of 10 to 2 favoring his full acquittal. Two others in the case, Ghassan Ballut and Sameeh Hammoudeh, were acquitted of all charges, dealing another body blow to the government’s case. The May sentencing of Al-Arian contradicted the basis of the jury’s acquittal and the reasoning behind the subsequent plea agreement.

Following the acquittal, a disaster for the government, especially since then-Attorney General John Ashcroft had announced the indictment, prosecutors threatened to retry Al-Arian. The Palestinian professor, under duress, accepted a plea bargain agreement that would spare him a second trial, saying in his agreement that he had helped people associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad with immigration matters. It was a tepid charge given the high profile of the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida and the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department agreed to recommend to the judge the minimum sentence of 46 months. But U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. sentenced Dr. Al-Arian to the maximum 57 months. In referring to Al-Arian’s contention that he had only raised money for Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s charity for widows and orphans, the judge said acidly to the professor that “your only connection to orphans and widows is that you create them.”

“The cards were stacked against us,” said the defendant’s daughter, Laila Al-Arian. “The prosecutors showed gruesome videos of suicide bombings in Israel and tried to tie my father to them. He had nothing to do with these attacks. He has always condemned the killing of Israeli and Palestinian civilians. The trial was Orwellian. The government prosecutors would take events and statements that had nothing to do with my father and attempt to connect them to him. This was all about silencing a Palestinian activist, not combating terrorism.”

But all this has not stopped the government from continuing its harassing of Al-Arian. Judge Moody recently ruled that compelling Al-Arian to testify in the grand jury investigation of the International Institute of Islamic Thought in Herndon, Va., would not violate the plea agreement. Several people close to the case fear that the current attempt to make Al-Arian testify is part of an effort to charge him with perjury and set him up for a new trial. The assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia, Gordon Kromberg, like many involved in the case, has made derogatory and racist comments about Muslims. When Al-Arian’s lawyers asked Kromberg to delay the transfer of the professor to Virginia because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan they were told “if they can kill each other during Ramadan they can appear before the grand jury.” Kromberg, according to an affidavit signed by Al-Arian’s attorney, Jack Fernandez, also said: “I am not going to put off Dr. Al-Arian’s grand jury appearance just to assist in what is becoming the Islamization of America.”

“Had he said this about any other ethnic or religious group it would have provoked widespread outrage,” said Laila Al-Arian.

And so, although Al-Arian is scheduled to be deported in April 2007, he could now be imprisoned for an additional 18 months. The federal government has placed him in contempt of court because he is refusing to answer questions before the Virginia grand jury.

This trial says legions about the place of Muslims in the United States following the attacks of 9/11. It is part of a ruthless campaign to strip Americans of fundamental rights because of their religious beliefs.

“The jury spoke a year ago when they acquitted my father and the other three defendants,” Laila Al-Arian said. “This is part of a government campaign to silence and intimidate all Muslims in America by persecuting their leaders. It is part of an effort to disenfranchise American Muslims.”

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