Comments on KABOBfest: Dr Al-Arian: GUILTY (Despite Being Found Not Guilt...

Oh and as far as the Judges comments, they were pe...

2008-03-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Oh and as far as the Judges comments, they were personal comments backed by nothing. In fact, the main witness that accussed Sami of supporting suicide bombings was a confirmed FBI informant and had received a lump sum for his cooperation. Lets keep it civil and not jump to conclusions.

Hey guys cool it down. The reason he plead guilty ...

2008-03-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Hey guys cool it down. The reason he plead guilty was because the government was threatening another multimillion dollar lawsuit to try him on the remaining charges that the jury deadlocked on. Dr. Alarian was offered to be deported and join his family if he cooperated and confessed to one of the charges which happened to be the one of material support. The "material" support consisted of helping his brother in law, Mazen al Najjar, with his immigration papers. That was it. He was promised to be released after serving his time but that promise has been broken. He now faces serving time indefinitely. All this is backed up in court records and a couple of articles that I do not have the time to cite. Thank you and cool it down.

Fuck off, Edmund.

2008-03-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Fuck off, Edmund.

Americans taxes have paid for far worse things tha...

2008-03-13T16:46:00.000-07:00

Americans taxes have paid for far worse things than a few bombings and I don't see any of you "lifting one finger" to stop it.

Dude READ what I said. I said I didn't know if he ...

2008-03-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

Dude READ what I said. I said I didn't know if he had done anything wrong.

How can you not know if he did anything wrong? He ADMITTED to having committed a *felony*, Safiyyah!

And is it morally "wrong" to pay people to commit murder? In your non-violent pacifist opinion?

Dude READ what I said. I said I didn't know if he ...

2008-03-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Dude READ what I said. I said I didn't know if he had done anything wrong. If you can't even READ, don't talk to me, please.

It is a sad world that we live in when innocent pe...

2008-03-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

It is a sad world that we live in when innocent people are thrown into prison to rot and people that actually have blood on their hands are left to roam the world freely without a care.

Will, the name of the escort in the spitzer case i...

2008-03-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Will, the name of the escort in the spitzer case is Ahsley Youmans. She's 22. Any relation?

The comment of the Judge who sentenced Al Arian:ht...

2008-03-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

The comment of the Judge who sentenced Al Arian:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Al-Arian

U.S. District Judge James Moody sentenced al-Arian to the maximum 57 months in prison and gave him credit for time served. He will serve the balance of 19 months and then be deported, prosecutors said. In his ruling, Moody harshly criticized al-Arian for doing nothing to stop bombings perpetrated by Islamic Jihad. "You lifted not one finger. To the contrary, you laughed when you heard of the bombings," he said. "You are a master manipulator. The evidence is clear in this case. You were a leader of the PIJ.

He LAUGHED when he heard about the suicide bombings his money had paid for. Laughed. That's your boy, right Safiyyah? That's your non-violent activist, right there, correct? THAT is your moral high ground?

Are you nuts, Emily? He PLED GUILTY, and is a conv...

2008-03-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Are you nuts, Emily? He PLED GUILTY, and is a convicted felon! Convicted of providing material support to a terrorist organization! It's very possible he will still face cahrges in the state of Florida, despite the plea deal he made in the state of Virginia.

Safiyyah,

I never said he was innocent BECAUSE he plead guilty, I said, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT HE'S NOT.

Stop twisting arguments. It makes you look bad. Oh, sorry, it was too late for that anyway. My bad.

You've said a lot of stupid shit on this blog, but that's by far the most ignorant of them all! A guilty plea is a criminal conviction. Period. 90% of the felons in US prisons were convicted as the result of a plea bargain, exactly like the plea bargain the CONVICTED FELON Sami Al Arian agreed to. It's fucking absurd for you dipshits to be claiming he's not guilty, after he PLED guilty to a felony!

Where our resident lawyer at!? What say you, Fadi? Are you going to educate your fellow Palestinian Activists, or are you going to let them continue glorifying a convicted terrorist as an innocent martyr?

Nice job supporting a convicted terrorist, by the way, ya'll. Still wanna claim nobody but the "zionuts" supports violence around this place? lol.

Um, you said you wouldn't read my "stupid" comment...

2008-03-12T20:12:00.000-07:00

Um, you said you wouldn't read my "stupid" comment and then you did and commented on it.

Try being consistent.

I didn't "twist" your argument. You just made a ridiculous one.

Pleading guilty means he is guilty.

Maybe instead of spouting off what you wish to be true, you should actually read his guilty plea and see what it says.

It includes, among other things, a statement which reads, "Defendant is pleading guilty because defendant is in fact guilty."

And then the defendant signs it.

That is, in every way, shape, or form, "an evidence" of guilt.

In court and out.

I never said he was innocent BECAUSE he plead guil...

2008-03-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

I never said he was innocent BECAUSE he plead guilty, I said, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT HE'S NOT.

Stop twisting arguments. It makes you look bad. Oh, sorry, it was too late for that anyway. My bad.

stop being anonymous and I'll read all your stupid...

2008-03-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

stop being anonymous and I'll read all your stupid comments. had enough for now.

Speaking of guilty, looks like Will could be relat...

2008-03-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

Speaking of guilty, looks like Will could be related to the most famous hooker in America:

Born Ashley Youmans but now known as Ashley Alexandra Dupré, she spoke softly and with good humor as she added with significant understatement: “This has been a very difficult time. It is complicated.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/nyregion/12cnd-kristen.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Complicated indeed.

I fully expected him to be released.You should go ...

2008-03-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

I fully expected him to be released.

You should go to law school, or, at a minimum, read more.

Hung charges are frequently retried. The gov't announced its intention to retry him on the hung charges and he chose to plead guilty.

Why would they then release someone who admitted being guilty of a crime? Because you like him?

If you "fully expected" that outcome, you really need to educate yourself.

Pleading guilty is not an evidence of guilt in our...

2008-03-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

Pleading guilty is not an evidence of guilt in our justice system

What do you mean "not an evidence"?

Even someone who couldn't pass the bar, like Will, could (probably - who knows? he's said some ridiculous "legal" things in the past) tell you that a guilty plea has the same legal affect as a verdict of guilty.

Guilty people make deals for guilty pleas all the time. To say that they are innocent because they plead guilty is pretty silly.

As for this, Emily:

I fully expected him to be released. After all, a man found not guilty by a jury of his peers can't possibly stay in prison, right?

Do you only tell half the story because you only know half the story?

Of course he will be released. But likely not before he finishes another series of contempt sentences if he refuses to testify before the grand jury, because the 11th Circuit ruled that he can be compelled to testify like everyone else in the United States.

You conveniently omitted any mention of the trial,...

2008-03-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

You conveniently omitted any mention of the trial, in which he was acquitted and not found guilty. Pleading guilty is not an evidence of guilt in our justice system, as it is part of a deal. As such, and especially in this case, it could qualify as durress.

This is just one case in a string of prosecutions, seizures, arrests, and intimidations that is meant to discourage Muslims from helping their poor brothers and sisters around the world, who are in desperate need of help. The fact that most "terrorist" organizations have extensive healthcare and charity networks should give you a hint. (I use quotes because terrorist is an over-used, usually ridiculous, and poorly-defined word in public discourse).

And his not being willing to testify against his associates is a testament to his moral clarity, and not wanting others to suffer as he has suffered.

I am not saying I know that he never did anything wrong, but your obvious bigotry ("Arab" terrorist), and sensationalized, quick-to-believe-the-worst living room verdict is consistent with the murderous, corrupt, arrogant, and ignorant government we live under. It doesn't qualify as proof. Sorry. That's why we have juries.

Is there anything factually wrong in the al-arian ...

2008-03-12T17:55:00.000-07:00

Is there anything factually wrong in the al-arian entry?

You might be well-advised to do some reading instead of copying and pasting a paragraph from wikipedia.

all your chess references and yet still:WIKIPEDIA ...

2008-03-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

all your chess references and yet still:

WIKIPEDIA MAKES NO GUARANTEE OF VALIDITY

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That is not to say that you will not find valuable and accurate information in Wikipedia; much of the time you will. However, Wikipedia cannot guarantee the validity of the information found here. The content of any given article may recently have been changed, vandalized or altered by someone whose opinion does not correspond with the state of knowledge in the relevant fields.

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check and mate.

2008-03-12T15:35:00.000-07:00

check and mate.

Al Arian is an Arab terrorist.http://en.wikipedia....

2008-03-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Al Arian is an Arab terrorist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_Al-Arian

On April 14, 2006 Al-Arian pleaded guilty to conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and agreed to be deported. In return, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining eight charges against him. Al-Arian was sentenced to the 57 months in prison and given credit for time served. He was to serve the balance of 19 months and then be deported.

However, Al-Arian served a 14-month sentence for civil contempt of court after refusing to testify against former associates. The 14-month sentence was in addition to the criminal sentence. In December of 2007, a federal judge lifted the civil contempt charge. However, in March of 2008, The Justice Department subpoenaed Al-Arian to testify before another grand jury.