Palestinian professor asks court to avoid ruling on free-speech issues

By The Associated Press

12.13.02

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TAMPA, Fla. — The lawyer for a tenured Palestinian professor with alleged terrorist ties argued yesterday that a federal judge should not determine the free-speech issues of his firing case, as the University of South Florida has requested.

The university filed a complaint for "declaratory relief" in August, asking the courts to rule that its plan to fire computer science professor Sami Al-Arian would not violate his constitutional rights.

Al-Arian's attorney, Robert McKee, said he wants an arbitrator to handle the case if the university will not change its mind on firing his client.

McKee said USF was trying to circumvent his client's right to a jury trial by getting a federal judge to determine the First Amendment issues in Al-Arian's case. If the university fired him without the court's blessing, Al-Arian would immediately sue the school and be entitled to a jury trial.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew said she would issue a written ruling early next week.

Al-Arian has been on paid leave since an appearance on Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor" TV show shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. He was quizzed about links to known terrorists, and asked about tapes from the late 1980s and early 1990s in which he said "Death to Israel" in Arabic.

Al-Arian said that he never advocated violence against others, and that the statement "death to Israel" was a call to the end of oppression against Palestinians.

But the university insists its move to fire him is not an issue of Al-Arian's words.

"We're not about what he said, we're about what he did," said Dick Beard, chairman of the USF Board of Trustees.

In its lawsuit, USF says Al-Arian raised money for terrorist groups, brought terrorists into the United States, and founded organizations that support terrorism.

Al-Arian has denied the allegations, which earlier this year got his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar, deported to Lebanon. Al-Najjar's visa was revoked by the Lebanese government about a month later and he was sent to Iran.

USF said it would send Al-Arian the termination letter it has already prepared if Bucklew decides not to hear the case — or she hears it and determines Al-Arian's First Amendment rights aren't being violated.

Al-Arian has already said he would sue on the free-speech issue if he is fired. USF is hoping that if Bucklew says his rights wouldn't be violated, his case wouldn't have standing.

If Bucklew does hear the case and determine that it is a First Amendment issue, then USF could not proceed with its attempt to fire him, USF attorney Bruce Rogow said after the hearing. He wouldn't say whether the university would appeal if the case were to go that way.

"The university is acting in the most cautious, sensitive way," he said. "Can the university send Dr. Al-Arian a notice of termination and be assured it does not violate his First Amendment rights? ... It makes sense to seek this kind of advice from the court."

McKee said that the university's request was a "legal quagmire" that the court should avoid. McKee argued that if the court didn't dismiss the motion, it would open a floodgate of employers asking for the court's permission to fire employees who fell under a protected category, such as seniors or minorities.

"You'll have to start up another branch of the court to deal with all those cases," he said.

Last December, at the urging of university trustees, Genshaft said Al-Arian should be fired, citing disruption and breach of contract. The university placed Al-Arian on paid leave last year from his $67,500-a-year job. Genshaft said she based her recommendation on safety issues, both for the school and the professor.

But in August, the school changed direction, and filed suit in state court seeking declaratory relief. The case was later moved to federal court.

Al-Arian and Al-Najjar founded the World and Islam Studies Enterprises, a now-defunct Islamic think tank at USF that was raided by the FBI in 1995. Al-Arian also founded the Islamic Concern Project Inc. in 1988.

Ramadan Adbulah Shallah, a former head of WISE, left the group in 1995 and later resurfaced as head of the terrorist organization, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian insists his organization never took the cause of the Islamic Jihad and that he regretted someone from WISE took it over.

He was put on paid leave for two years after that incident and reinstated in 1998.

Al-Arian has lived in the United States since 1975. He has never been charged with a crime and has consistently denied any connection to terrorists. But in February, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa said that Al-Arian has been under federal investigation. It refused to elaborate.

Update

Suit seeking OK to fire Florida Palestinian professor tossed
Federal judge suggests arbitration in dispute involving accusations that Sami Al-Arian is linked to terrorism.  12.17.02

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Florida college takes bid to fire professor to court
University of South Florida asks state court to decide whether terminating Sami Al-Arian, who is accused of having terrorist ties, would violate his free-speech rights.  08.22.02