> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> WHAT:    FLORIDA ALLIANCE FOR PEACE AND SOCIAL
> JUSTICE
> CALLS PRESS CONFERENCE AND DEMONSTRATION IN
> SUPPORT OF DR. SAMI AL-
> ARIAN
>
> WHEN:    TUESDAY, FEB. 25, 8:30 AM
>
> WHERE:    TAMPA FEDERAL BUILDING, 801 N. FLORIDA
> ST., TAMPA, FL
>
> CONTACT:     Penny Hess 727-894-6997 or 580-5573
>
> The Florida Alliance for Peace and Social Justice, a coalition
> of
> organizations around the state of Florida working for peace
> through
> justice, condemns the United State's government's arrests of
> Dr. Sami
> Al-Arian and 7 other Islamic men in this most recent attack
> on the
> rights and liberties of Arab people here.
>
> Made of groups including the Uhuru Movement, the
> American Indian
> Movement, the Gainesville Community Coalition Against War
> and
> Terrorism, Collier County Anti-war Coalition, members of the
> Green
> Party, the Quakers and others, the Florida Alliance
> expresses our
> profound support for Dr. Al-Arian and the other men arrested
> Thursday. We believe these men are political prisoners who
> are under
> attack for their outspoken support for the oppressed
> Palestinian
> people and for the sovereign rights of all Arab nations.
>
> We denounce these arrests as attempts by the U.S. to
> further
> intimidate the American people into support for an unjust and
> unpopular war by whipping up racist attacks on Islamic
> people. The
> Florida Alliance believes these arrests are an attempt to
> frighten
> the people of the U.S. with the specter of "terrorists" hiding
> among
> us as a way of building support for the genocidal attack on
> the Iraqi
> people.
>
> The arrest of Dr. Al-Arian is the latest in a long string of
> attacks
> on the basic democratic rights in this country. Once again it
> is Arab
> and Islamic people who are being targeted. Hundreds and
> even
> thousands of Arab people have already been unjustly
> rounded up in the
> United States since Sept. 11, 2001, and have been held on
> secret "evidence" without claims of any connection to any
> "Islamic
> Jihad" which the U.S. government alleges is tied to the men
> in the
> recent arrests.
>     Among the principles of unity of the Florida Alliance for
> Peace
> and Social Justice is the call to "support civil liberties; oppose
> racial and religious bigotry." We stand by our principles and
> state
> unconditionally that true peace and security will only come
> through
> justice for all people and through national liberation and self-
> determination for oppressed peoples everywhere.
>
> The Florida Alliance for Peace and Social Justice and all of
> our
> member organizations are calling a press conference and
> demonstration
> in support of Dr. Al-Arian at 8:30 am Tuesday, Feb. 25
> outside the
> Federal Court House at 801 N. Florida St. in Tampa in
> advance of the
> professor's hearing at 9 am. We are calling on all freedom
> and
> justice loving people to refuse to be intimidated by this
> vicious
> attack and to stand on principle for the right of Dr. Al-Arian
> and
> all people to freedom of speech and assembly.
>
>
>
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>
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>
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>