Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 21:37:38 -0700 (MST)
From: thekoba  (K J WALSH)
Subject: other news
To: nebukhadhnasar@yahoo.com
Cc: proton_4@rambler.ru, cbpeek@hotmail.com, snail
Reply-To: thekoba 




The following article appeared on page A8 of the 20 December edition of
<The Arizona Republic> and was credited to the Associated Press:

Alleged Terror Ties Hurt Professor

Tampa--The president of the University of South Florida said Wednesday that
she plans to fire a Palestinen-born professor with reported ties to
Middle Eastern terrorists.

President Judy Genshaft sent a termination letter to Sami Al-Arian, a
tenured computer science professor who has been on paid leave since
September because the university feared for his safety.

Al-Arian, 43, who has 10 days to respond to the letter, said he could not
comment until he talked with an attorney.  Al-Arian, who also runs an
Islamic school and community center, denied reports he supports terrorism.

The letter was sent after the university's Board of Trustees recommended
Al-Arian be fired for disrupting campus life.

Al-Arian has the right to have an independent arbitrator review his
dismissal.

He has never been detained or charged with a crime.  But he founded the World
and Islam Studies Enterprises, a now defunct think tank that had headquarters
at the university until the FBI raided it in 1995 and froze its assets.

The think tank and a related Palestinean charity were accused by the FBI and
Immigration and Naturalization Service of being a fund-raising front for
terrorists.



Commentary:  What is truly strange is what this article does not say.
There is no mention of how Al-Arian "disrupted campus life".  Is being
Palestinean enough to cause disruption in and of itself?  If so, that is
discrimination in employment on the basis of national origin, something
that is supposedly unlawful in this country.  

In other news, overshaddowed by Middle Eastern events, President De La Rua
of Argentina declared a 30 day state of siege in response to looting and
food riots in Buenos Aires and several other cities in Argentina.  Aparrently
Argentina has been in a severe financial crisis for some time now and
the rate of unemployment is quite high.  

--Kevin