Al Arian linked 'charity' designated as terror entity - gave money to families of suicide bombers

Links providing background for the case from the Center for Security Policy :

http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/index.jsp?section=static&page=islamists

Who brought the Islamic Jihad leader to the White House?

Indictment of Dr. Sami Al-Arian (PDF file)

Dr. Sami Al-Arian was indicted February 20, 2003 for serving as the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the United States and Secretary of the "Shura Council," or worldwide governing group of the PIJ. He was indicted along with seven other members of PIJ, some of whom worked at Al-Arian's University of South Florida based think tank.

MEMBERS OF THE PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD ARRESTED, CHARGED WITH RACKETEERING AND CONSPIRACY TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS
Press release, US Department of Justice, 20 February 2003

Attorney General Ashcroft: "Our record on terrorist financing is clear: We will hunt down the suppliers of terrorist blood money, we will shut down these sources, and we will ensure that both terrorists and their financiers meet the same, swift, certain justice of the United States of America."

News, Commentary, and Analysis:

Probe of Muslims intensifies
By Jerry Seper, The Washington Times, 25 August 2003

A task force of federal agents has ratcheted up a two-year-old antiterrorism investigation aimed at several Virginia-based Islamic charities suspected of diverting millions of dollars to terror network al Qaeda and other militant radicals...

The investigation, according to the affidavit, has focused on "a group of individuals" suspected of providing material support to terrorists and of money laundering and income-tax evasion through use of related for-profit companies and ostensibly charitable entities under their control.

Affidavit: Al-Arian's group got money from Saudi charity
By Mary Jacoby, St. Petersburg Times, 1 August 2003

"Sami Al-Arian founded the Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace in 1997 to protest the government's antiterrorism strategies. Now, it turns out, his civil liberties activism may have been funded by a Saudi-backed charity that itself is linked to terrorism, a newly released affidavit says."

"The International Institute of Islamic Thought donated $10,000 to the coalition on Nov. 1, 2001 - just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the affidavit."

"The sworn statement by U.S. Customs Service agent David Kane was used to obtain search warrants from a federal judge for a March 2002 raid of a web of Saudi-linked charities and businesses in Hernon, Va., that are suspected of funneling cash to Islamic extremists - including, allegedly, Al-Arian. A federal judge in Virginia unsealed a heavily redacted version of the affidavit this week at the government's request."

Former professor is accused of terror plot
UPI, 1 August 2003

"The Tampa Tribune says the accusations against Sami Al-Arian, who had taught at the University of South Florida, were made by a government agent in a newly released court affidavit. The agent said Al-Arian used his home in Tampa to set up the group known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad."

"It said Al-Arian also helped raise money for the group and helped other Jihad leaders enter the United States."

Affidavit unsealed from Muslim probe
By Jerry Markon, Washington Post, 1 August 2003

"A federal judge has unsealed an affidavit from a U.S. customs agent that was filed in support of last year's raids on at least 16 Muslim homes, schools and businesses in Northern Virginia."

"Much of the affidavit from Senior Special Agent David Kane was redacted because the investigation is continuing. But the affidavit seeks to tie the finances of the raided businesses with such terror organizations as Hamas and Islamic Jihad and with Sami al-Arian, the Florida college professor charged this year with conspiracy to commit murder via suicide attacks in Israel..."

"The raids, conducted over two days in March 2002, targeted companies and charities in Herndon, Falls Church and elsewhere in Fairfax County. The only raided organization not redacted from the affidavit was the International Institute for Islamic Thought..."

"Sources close to the investigation have said the agents were seeking evidence of money laundering and tax evasion as well as possible ties to a worldwide financial empire that Western governments have long suspected of funding terrorism."

Agent: Al-Arian organized Jihad from his home
By Michael Fechter, Tampa Bay Online, 1 August 2003

"Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian organized a notorious Palestinian terrorist group from his home in Tampa, a government agent says in a newly released court document."

"The organization, known as Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has claimed credit for attacks that have killed at least 100 people in Israel and the occupied territories."

"Al-Arian also played a crucial role in writing the Jihad's constitution, the agent says, helped raise money for the organization, helped other Jihad leaders enter the United States, and possessed plans for an elaborate Palestinian espionage operation in the United States."

It is time to rethink the defense of Al-Arian
By Mary Jo Melone, St. Petersburg Times, 3 August 2003

"For a long time, I have defended Sami Al-Arian."

"The former University of South Florida professor indicted last February deserves the chance the law gives him to reply to his indictment in federal court, I said. We should stand by until the charges against him - that he is the leader of a U.S. faction of a Palestinian terrorist group and one of its chief fundraisers - can be aired."

"But the government released an outline of some of its evidence last week, and it is no longer possible to simply look away...."

"Some of the information is not new. But presented in one 17-page document, it reads like a CliffsNotes version of the Al-Arian case."

"The records include plans for military training for Muslims in America loyal to the Palestinian cause."

"If true, this is not the work of a man having his academic freedom and civil rights trashed by government authorities."

"If true, this is a man the government has good reason to pursue."

"The computer contains a draft and final version of a document called "The Manifesto of the Islamic Jihad in Palestine." According to the affidavit, the Jihad's philosophy was based on "rejection of any peaceful solution for the Palestinian cause." The United States is called "the great Satan America" in the manifesto...."

Islamists power play
By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., The Center for Security Policy, 21 April 2003

"...groups like the American Muslim Council (AMC), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America and the Muslim Students Association have, to varying degrees, been quite outspoken in their opposition to many of the President's domestic and foreign policies in the war on terror."

"For example, pro-Islamist groups have strenuously opposed Mr. Bush's liberation of Iraq, playing leading roles in the anti-war movement's mass demonstrations and organizational activities. Their agenda has lately been preoccupied with denouncing and undermining any Bush law-enforcement and homeland security initiatives they can portray as unfair to Muslims. They deny compelling evidence contained in a 50-count indictment against one of their most prominent spokesmen, Sami Al-Arian, that he and a number of his associates were directly involved in and/or supportive of international terrorist activities. Some are even suing the President, Attorney General John Ashcroft and others to block some of the Administration's efforts to protect the American people from further Islamist attacks."

Fight on the Right: "Muslim outreach" and a feud between activists
By Byron York, National Review, 19 March 2003

"...the argument between Norquist and Gaffney is about much more than two men, or even the conservative movement. At its heart, it is about the Bush White House and whether its contacts with some Muslim groups might someday make the administration vulnerable to charges that it cultivated close relations with groups tied to radical Islam — even as it conducted a war on terror around the world..."

"The GOP's Muslim connections attracted relatively little attention in the pre-September 11 world. But after 9/11, when the White House began a very public effort to reach out to Muslims, its choices of Muslim contacts — made with input from, among others, the Islamic Institute — became quite controversial."

What do Saudi 'charities' in the U.S. want to keep secret?
By Matthew Epstein, National Review Online, 19 March 2003

"In an abrupt change of course, several Saudi-financed charities and corporations targeted by the Department of Justice in a terrorism investigation have asked the government not to unseal a federal search-warrant affidavit, after originally demanding that the affidavit be made public.

The pre-arrest al-Arian defense team in the media has fallen silent
By Joel Mowbray, National Review, 19 March 2003

"Now that al-Arian is facing multiple felony counts — based on solid evidence including documents and wiretaps — his defenders are no longer singing from the same hymnal. Some — the Arab and Muslim groups — have dug in their heels, while others — the journalists — are either silent or agnostic."

Saudi form of Islam wars with moderates
By Mary Jacoby and Graham Brink, St. Petersburg Times, 11 March 2003

"For more than three decades, Saudi-backed organizations have poured billions of dollars into the United States and other countries to fund Wahhabi mosques, Islamic schools, conferences and education for imams, or Muslim spiritual leaders."

"Some money comes directly from the Saudi government. Other funds come from wealthy Saudis, investigators say. In the United States, some of the money flowed through a web of Islamic organizations now under investigation for financing terrorism..."

Conservatives are uneasy at the way Grover Norquist curries support from the Muslim community
By Mary Jacoby, St. Petersburg Times, 11 March 2003

"As part of Norquist's well publicized strategy to mine the Muslim community for GOP votes, Al-Arian had campaigned for Bush in 2000, posed for a photo with the candidate at Plant City's Strawberry Festival and boasted publicly that Muslims in Florida may have tipped the close presidential election to Bush."

"Now, Al-Arian was visiting the Islamic Institute, a Muslim outreach group cofounded by Norquist and housed within his office suite..."

GOP jihad: Norquist-Al Arian-Rove connection damages president's tough-on-terror image
By Joe Conason, Salon.com, 6 March 2003

"What does seem obvious in the aftermath of the Florida professor's indictment, however, is that top Republican strategists sought the support of Al-Arian's voting bloc in 2000 -- and that his bust is stoking internal warfare among conservatives, with implications for 2004."

"While this remarkable story has been touched upon in the mainstream media -- notably in Newsweek and the Washington Post -- the main actors, besides Al-Arian himself, have so far avoided the consequences. As I've mentioned before, the chief sponsor of Muslim influence in the Republican Party over the past few years has been Grover Norquist, the peripatetic lobbyist/activist associated with Americans for Tax Reform..."

Undermining the war on terror
By Dr. J. Michael Waller, Insight, 4 March 2003

"Terrorists and their supporters are doing their best to weave themselves into the political fabric of American society, say specialists in homeland security. They are operating front groups and charities to finance their operations, and they are running influence operations to weaken federal antiterrorism laws under the guise of protecting civil liberties."

Did a Muslim professor use activism as a cloak for terror?
By Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, 3 March 2003

"Al-Arian certainly didn't act like a sponsor of suicide bombings. Far from keeping to the shadows, he repeatedly lobbied Congress on civil-liberties issues, made thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to influential members of Congress and renounced violence during appearances on TV talk shows. In June 2001 Al-Arian was invited to a White House briefing for 150 Muslim American activists, at which political director Karl Rove talked about the Bush administration's "outreach" efforts."

Eight down, many more to go (or www.townhall.com)
By Cal Thomas, The Washington Times, 26 February 2003

"The Bush administration has been careful to separate the terrorists from Muslims generally. The problem is he has done so in the company of some Muslim leaders who do not preach or practice what the president says they do."

Outreach to terrorists? (PDF)
By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., New York Post, 25 February 2003

"Sami Al-Arian -- and those who share his extremist views, defend his conduct and have tried to legitimate him politically -- are not on President Bush's side in the war on terror. They should, therefore, be seen as unfit to be by this side in implementing his strategy for winning the war."

The strange case of Sami Al-Arian
By David Frum, National Review Online, 21 February 2003

"...is it too much to ask a wartime White House - please, please choose your friends more prudently!"

Controversial professor arrested in Florida was White House guest
By Kenneth R. Timmerman, Insight, 21 February 2003

"A controversial professor who was arrested by federal agents in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 20 had sufficient political connections to be invited to the White House in late May or early June 2001, three months before the al-Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and to have a photograph taken with President George W. Bush..."

Florida professor, 7 others are accused of terror funding (PDF)
By Jess Bravin and Glenn R. Simpson, The Wall Street Journal, 21 February 2003

"A group headed by Mr. Arian, the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, once gave an award to Mr. [Grover] Norquist. Last year, Mr. Arian visited the Islamic Institute's Washington offices, which shares offices with Mr. Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform..."

"The Islamic Institute has received at least $31,000 from a network of Islamic organizations in Virginia under investigation by federal authorities for suspected ties to terrorism, canceled checks and tax records show. Investigators have said in court papers that the basis of that probe is a financial relationship between the Virginia groups and Mr. Arian's alleged Palestinian Islamic Jihad fronts..."

Muslim extremists denounce their critics as 'racists,' 'bigots'
By David Keene, The Hill, 19 February 2003

"President Bush has come under some criticism recently for his outreach to the U.S. Muslim community because administration officials have apparently met with some groups that have ties -- direct or indirect -- with extremist groups here and in the Middle East...."

"These groups are, in the main, acting as de facto defenders of the sponsors of extremist terrorism. Those who would defend this country are not lumping all Muslims together. It is the Wahhabis and their fellow travelers that see the Muslim population as a homogeneous sea in which they swim, hide and operate."

"I have run into these zealots twice in the last six months or so. On both occasions their targets were recognized experts on Islam and terrorism who they denounced as 'racists,' 'bigots' and men 'who know absolutely nothing about Islam or the Middle East.'"

Saudi connection to America's Muslims
By Mona Charen, Townhall.com, 18 February 2003

"...in seeking out American Muslims to praise and embrace, the president has been led into a hornet's nest, as the most conspicuous Muslim-American organizations -- though not necessarily the most representative -- have intimate ties to Saudi money and are often only one step away from terrorists and their supporters."

With us and with the terrorists (PDF)
By Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., New York Sun, 18 February 2003

"It is much in the President's interest -- and the nation's -- that moderate, law-abiding, peace-loving, and patriotic American Muslims be embraced and empowered by the Bush Administration and that all those who support it in waging a war on terror, not on Islam. To do so, however, the administration must not allow those who are with its enemies in that struggle to continue being with the president and his team."

Letter to Grover Norquist , President of the Americans for Tax Reform and Chairman Emeritus of the Islamic Institute, from Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President of the Center for Security Policy

On 5 February 2003 Grover Norquist proclaimed publicly that Gaffney's efforts to examine more closely the records of certain pro-Islamist American Muslim organizations reeked of "racism and bigotry." In response, Gaffney correctly asked Norquist to explain why he has "gone to such lengths to defend -- to say nothing of legitimize and advance the agendas of -- terrorist sympathizers and others hostile to everything for which American conservatives stand?"

Gaffney writes: "I do not believe that this sort of empowering of radical Islamists -- at the expense of peaceable American Muslims, who abjure terrorism every bit as much as their non-Muslim countrymen -- is in the interest of the United States. It is certainly not in the interest of the President or the conservative movement.

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