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| U. of South Fla. Asks to Dump al-Arian... |
| 2002-08-21 |
| University of South Florida officials filed a complaint Wednesday asking a court if it can fire a tenured Palestinian professor accused of having terrorist ties. "Tenured? Nope, nope. Can't fire 'im. Y'haveta wait 'til he dies..." The professor, Sami Al-Arian, who has lived in the United States since 1975, has never been charged with a crime and denies any connection to terrorists. He has been on paid leave since last fall when he was quizzed on Fox News Channel about tapes from the late 1980s and early 1990s in which he said "Death to Israel," in Arabic. Among other things. Israel sez he's one of the founding members of the board of directors of Islamic Jihad. The current head of Islamic Jihad also used to teach at U. of South Florida, when he was head of al-Arian's World and Islam Studies Enterprise, and was sponsored by al-Arian. "I believe that Dr. Al-Arian has abused his position at the university and is using academic freedom as a shield to cover improper activities," USF President Judy Genshaft said Wednesday. Y'might say that... Al-Arian said he never advocated violence and that his words were a statement against Israeli occupation. "It's still a case of academic freedom," Al-Arian said Wednesday. "It's just an indication of how politicized the university has become." Academic freedom is apparently the new first refuge of a scoundrel... |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |