By Joe Kaufman
The movie USA vs. Al-Arian, about the trial of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian, has been released to the public via the internet. Its producers refer to it as a "documentary." That is just as much of a fable as the way the terrorist's family has been portrayed in the film.
Sami Al-Arian was indicted in February of 2003, charged with leading an American cell for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). During the mid-eighties to mid-nineties, Al-Arian had succeeded in building an entire infrastructure for PIJ within Southwest Florida. As well, he had been involved in the 1981 founding of the future propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and the 2000 establishment of a Tampa subsidiary to Al-Qaeda financier, the Al-Baraka Group.
Regardless of any of this, Al-Arian has his supporters. One of them is a Norwegian filmmaker named Line Halvorsen, who, according to her bio, took an interest in the Al-Arian case in 2004.
USA vs. Al-Arian premiered to a sold-out crowd, in Tampa, Florida, on May 16, 2007. The theatre canopy read in lights, "C.A.I.R. PRESENTS USA VS. AL-ARIAN." Indeed, CAIR has been a major part of the Al-Arian support network -- the group's Tampa chapter head, Ahmed Bedier, playing the role of Al-Arian's unofficial spokesman from the start. Read more ...
The movie USA vs. Al-Arian, about the trial of Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian, has been released to the public via the internet. Its producers refer to it as a "documentary." That is just as much of a fable as the way the terrorist's family has been portrayed in the film.
Sami Al-Arian was indicted in February of 2003, charged with leading an American cell for the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). During the mid-eighties to mid-nineties, Al-Arian had succeeded in building an entire infrastructure for PIJ within Southwest Florida. As well, he had been involved in the 1981 founding of the future propaganda wing of Hamas, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), and the 2000 establishment of a Tampa subsidiary to Al-Qaeda financier, the Al-Baraka Group.
Regardless of any of this, Al-Arian has his supporters. One of them is a Norwegian filmmaker named Line Halvorsen, who, according to her bio, took an interest in the Al-Arian case in 2004.
USA vs. Al-Arian premiered to a sold-out crowd, in Tampa, Florida, on May 16, 2007. The theatre canopy read in lights, "C.A.I.R. PRESENTS USA VS. AL-ARIAN." Indeed, CAIR has been a major part of the Al-Arian support network -- the group's Tampa chapter head, Ahmed Bedier, playing the role of Al-Arian's unofficial spokesman from the start. Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine
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