California Conservative

Last Friday, CAIR posted an action alert. Here’s the content of the alert:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to ask that he free Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a former Florida professor currently on a hunger strike in federal detention to protest his treatment by U.S. authorities.

Al-Arian is being held in a medical facility in North Carolina after initiating his water-only hunger strike on January 22. He began his protest after being given a sentence of up to 18 months for refusing to testify before a grand jury in Virginia. His physical condition is deteriorating daily. A family member told CAIR that he has lost 45 pounds since beginning his protest and now spends most of his time in a wheelchair.

Al-Arian’s attorneys say an earlier plea agreement freed him from further cooperation with the government. Supporters also say the government’s actions amount to a form of harassment. Federal authorities say they will soon begin force-feeding Dr. Al-Arian.

You’ve got to admire CAIR’s writer for how deftly he spins the Al-Arian story, avoiding altogether what Al-Arian is convicted of. If CAIR won’t tell you, I will. Last August, I wrote about what Dr. Al-Arian admitted doing:

• In court papers unsealed Monday, al-Arian admits to raising money and lending support to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
• He admits to knowing that the PIJ “achieved its objectives by, among other means, acts of violence.”
• And he admits that he has been lying about it since the allegations first emerged in 1995. “Defendant is pleading guilty because defendant is in fact guilty,” reads the agreement al-Arian signed.

That doesn’t sound like the type of man who deserves to be released. Al-Arian’s rap sheet reads like a Who’s Who of the terrorist world. How any organization can say that “people of conscience” should contact the AG demanding a terrorist’s release is beyond me. People of conscience should demand that this man stay in prison as long as possible.

Furthermore, Al-Arian shouldn’t be released if Al-Arian chooses to go on a hunger strike. I understand that the prison he’s being held in shouldn’t let him starve himself but once that requirement is met, their responsibilities are met.

This is just another example of CAIR’s advocacy on behalf of admitted terrorists. Here’s another portion of CAIR’s action alert:

In 2005, a Florida jury rejected federal charges that Al-Arian operated a cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was scheduled for release and deportation in April.

Even though a jury found that Al-Arian didn’t operate a cell for PIJ, it shouldn’t be ignored that Al-Arian signed documents stating that he was guilty of raising funds for an organization that “achieved its objectives by, among other means, acts of violence.” He also signed a statement that he plead guilty because he was guilty.

I agree with Joe Kaufman that the U.S. government should shut CAIR down. They’ve complained when the Treasury Department shut down the Holy Land Foundation. They complained when an LA billboard proclaimed bin Laden as “the sworn enemy,” finding this depiction “offensive to Muslims.” They’re also handling the imams’ case against U-S Airways.

That doesn’t sound like an organization that touts itself as a civil rights organization.

Technorati Tags: Sami Al-Arian, CAIR, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Treasury Department, Department of Justice, Bin Laden, Terrorism, Holy Land Foundation

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 12:33 am and is filed under Activism, Author: Gary Gross, CAIR, Corruption, Homeland Security, Subversives, Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.