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02/20/2003 Archived Entry: "FBI arrests professor with suspected terrorist ties"

FBI ARRESTS PROF OVER ALLEGED TERRORIST TIES: File this under the "It isn't academic freedom if people die" category.

The FBI today arrested a University of South Florida professor over allegations he raised money in the United States to support the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"[Sami] Al-Arian has been under investigation since the mid-1990s when he and Abdullah Shallah founded an Islamic think tank at the University of South Florida. About a year later, Shallah returned to the Middle East as the new head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. The U.S. State Department has designated it as a terrorist group."

Al-Arian is on tape announcing "Death to Israel" and yet he claims that he doesn't support suicide bombings or the targeting of civilians. Hey, I believe him.