Sami Al-Arian -- The Lies Continue

The supporters of Palestinian terror sponsor Sami Al-Arian have had a busy winter and spring. These friends of Sami are promoting two aspects of Al-Arian’s life, first, his incarceration in Federal prison, and, second, a film about his trial, “USA vs. Al-Arian.”

Al-Arian remains in prison today because of his refusal to testify in other terrorism cases which led to his being held in contempt of court. (His supporters fail to mention that Al-Arian admitted and pleaded guilty to supporting Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a vicious terror organization.) But you wouldn’t know that if you relied solely on the press releases and “news stories” put out by his friends and the film. Instead of admitting that Al-Arian has been found to be in contempt of court, his friends claim he was subpoenaed “to testify before a grand jury in Virginia, even though as part of his plea bargain, Al-Arian had said he would not testify against anyone else. Al-Arian was then found in contempt of the grand jury so that he could be held up to 18 months before he could resume serving his original sentence. This is a ploy that can be used repeatedly Charles Reese

I’ll need someone to point out to me where in the Al-Arian Plea Agreement you find the government agreeing that Al-Arian is not required to testify in other cases.

As for USA vs. Al-Arian, it follows the same twisted thinking as other articles and stories about Al-Arian.

Al-Arian’s biggest crime is the one of chutzpa, you can look it up. It reminds me of the story of the man who kills his parents and then asks the judge for leniency because he’s an orphan.

In my book, the sooner Al-Arian finishes his contempt sentence and is deported from the United States of America, the better off we’ll all be.

Terror Victim's Law Strengthened- Flatow Amendment

The 1996 law named after terror victim Alisa Flatow has been amended to close loopholes. According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,

A defense bill signed by President Bush includes language that bolsters the ability of victims to sue state sponsors of terrorism. The Defense Authorization Act signed this week incorporates the Justice for Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Act, introduced last year by U.S. Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

Flatow Amendment Strengthened

Oxford University—Still proud of the Oxford Union?

Oxford University, long the epitome of higher education in the United Kingdom and the world, was once able to claim proudly that its Oxford Union made leaders. Founded in 1823, is the Union still what it once was? That is the question being asked in the United Kingdom and around the world as the Union debated whether the State of Israel has a right to exist and struggles with a dispute surrounding a recent election.

It saddens me to think that the existence of a country that has formally existed for 60 years and whose people have existed for 4,000 years is subject to debate. Those sponsoring the debate are among the best in academia or at least that is what we want to believe.

Truth sometimes being stranger than fiction, here are articles from the Jerusalem Post and the Times Online that offer concise reports on the debate and the strength of the Oxford Union.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1201367874283&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3257539.ece

How Are Jihadists Made? Tawfit Hamad has an Answer

What occupies the mind of a jihad-driven Muslim? How is such fervor planted in young and impressionable believers? Where does it originate? How did I - once an innocent child who grew up in a liberal, moderate and educated household - find myself a member of a radical Islamic group?

So begins Tawfit Hamad's essay on the creation of a jihadist that appears in the January 17, 2008 edition of The Jerusalem Post.

Mr. Hamad's story reminds me of the Rodgers and Hammerstein lyrics from "South Pacific," "You've got to be taught, to hate and fear; You've got to be taught, from year to year; It's got to be drummed, in your dear little ear; You've got to be carefully taught."

But Hamad is not singing from some fanciful isle; he's speaking about real life, and the threat that the world faces from an religious educational system that poisons Muslim youth from an early age.

It's a story well worth reading. Here's the link-- The Development of a Jihadist's Mind

The Annapolis meeting - Lessons to be learned from history

Jeff Robbins was a U.S. Delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission during the Clinton administration. He, therefore, brings some experience to the table when he writes about American intervention in foreign affairs.

He writes in today's Opinion Journal on wsj.com,

It is increasingly de rigueur around the world and, for that matter, in certain segments of the Democratic Party, to place responsibility for all international crises on the U.S. government. Unsurprisingly, therefore, when it comes to the Arab-Israeli conflict, it has attained the level of high fashion to ascribe the persistent absence of peace to a lack of adequate U.S. "engagement" in resolving it.

Mr. Robbins is on to something. A review of the New York Times archives in 1967 shows a willingness to misread the Arab-side of the Mid East conflict and to find hope where none existed. Failure at Annapolis will be placed at the feet of the US. Those who fail to understand Arab-Israeli history from 1948 to the present time and recognizing the truth in it, do a disservice to their country.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010889