Largo - A Palestinian professor removed from his job because of security concerns after the September 11th attacks saus U.S. policy unfairly persecutes Muslims.
Sami Al-Arian is a computer engineering professor put on paid leave by the University of South Florida. He also says the U.S. government is helping terrorists by rounding up Arab-Americans without evidence.
Al-Arian was put on paid leave on September 28th, two days after he appeared on cable television's "The O'Reilly Factor" and was questioned about his links to known terrorists. The professor founded the World and Islam Studies Enterprises, which was a now-defunct Islamic think tank that was located at USF. But it was raided by the FBI in 1995 and its assets were frozen.
A judge later said there is no evidence the think tank was involved in terrorism. In his speech, Al-Arian cited the treatment of his brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar, as proof that the government has violated civil rights. Al-Najjar was jailed for over three years on secret evidence for alleged terrorist ties.