Thousands support firing Al-Arian

A petition with 15,000 signatures will be presented to the chairman of USF's Board of Trustees. Al-Arian's lawyer says the impact will be small.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 7, 2002

TAMPA -- Norman Gross said he thought a petition supporting the ouster of controversial University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian might attract a couple thousand signatures.

Today, he said, he will help present a petition with 15,000 signatures encouraging USF president Judy Genshaft to stick to her initial inclination to fire Al-Arian.

The signatures were garnered over several months using a Web site as well as traditional petition drives in the Tampa Bay area, Gross said. Although most of the signatories are Florida residents, some came from other states and overseas, he said.

The list includes USF students and employees and some Muslims, Gross said.

"It should have a very significant impact," said Gross, a persistent Al-Arian critic and president of Promoting Responsibility in Middle East Reporting. "After all, the bulk of the signatories are the employers of Sami Al-Arian: Florida taxpayers."

Al-Arian's lawyer, Robert McKee, does not think the petition will have much impact. McKee and Al-Arian, who remains on paid leave pending the decision, have argued that Genshaft is on shaky legal ground if she fires him. If he is fired, Al-Arian has vowed to appeal and pursue legal action.

"I respect their right to circulate a petition and exercise their First Amendment right to voice their opinion to the appropriate government representative," McKee said. "I also believe that Dr. Al-Arian has the same rights to voice his opinions."

Al-Arian, a tenured computer science professor, became the focus of death threats after his alleged ties to terrorists were aired on national television a few weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The USF Board of Trustees voted 12-1 in December to recommend firing Al-Arian.

But that wasn't the first time Al-Arian has been the center of controversy.

He was under federal investigation in the mid 1990s when agents suspected that an Islamic think tank he operated at USF was a front for Middle Eastern terrorists.

In February, federal authorities said Al-Arian remains under investigation but would not elaborate. Al-Arian has not been charged with a crime.

Genshaft has indicated she is leaning toward firing Al-Arian but has not set a deadline for the decision. She has not used the alleged ties to terrorism as a reason for terminating Al-Arian. Instead, she has said that Al-Arian violated contractual agreements and that his presence on campus would jeopardize the safety of students and faculty.

Gross will help present the petition today to Richard Beard, chairman of the USF Board of Trustees. Genshaft is scheduled to be in Atlanta, Beard said. Genshaft won't make any decision until she knows she's on firm legal footing, Beard said.

"We are grateful for the support and overwhelmed by the effort," Beard said. "It shows a strong level of commitment by those who signed."

-- Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.

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