TBO.com News

Al-Arian Trial Was Big News In Middle East

By CHRIS ECHEGARAY cechegaray@tampatrib.com

Published: Dec 11, 2005

TAMPA - While Sami Al-Arian and his co-defendants stood trial here, the U.S. judicial system was on trial in the Middle East.

The overseas media followed every development, the coverage climaxing with last week's combination of acquittals and no verdicts on the terrorism-related charges.

Arab news stations cut from regular programming to the latest developments on the Arab-American professor who spoke out in favor of the Palestinian cause.

Despite the eight- to 10-hour time difference in the Middle East - which put the announcement late Tuesday or in the wee hours of Wednesday - Al-Jazeera announced the outcome immediately.

Ghassan Ballut and Sameeh Hammoudeh were cleared of all charges, Al-Arian was acquitted of eight of 17 charges with no verdicts on the rest, and Hatim Fariz was acquitted of 25 of 33 charges with no verdicts on the rest.

Mohammed Alami, Al-Jazeera's Washington correspondent, did a breaking news report that aired on the station in Doha, Qatar. The next day, Al-Jazeera aired an in-depth, 30-minute segment with Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, as a guest. The topic was the U.S. legal system versus the Patriot Act.

"People were very interested to know what would happen to a university professor who was speaking his mind," Alami said.

Israeli newspapers played the story smaller. There were no blaring headlines or visceral editorials. A link on The Jerusalem Post's Web site, "No Conviction in Al Arian Trial," was gone from the home page by Saturday. Calls and e-mail to the paper and several Israeli television stations weren't returned.

As for Middle Eastern media coverage in general, the trial was reduced to Palestinians against Jews.

The Arab world watched to see whether the United States' touted legal system would work for the men on trial.

Israel saw the trial, as the Post called it, "as the biggest and most elaborate case the U.S. has brought against a suspect in aiding terror since the 9-11 attacks." Israel provided documents and sent witnesses, including relatives of victims of bus bombings, to testify for the prosecution.

Al-Arabiya TV, a Dubai-based station in United Arab Emirates, covered the trial from the beginning. Washington bureau chief Nadia Bilbassy said the ramifications were not lost on viewers.

"It was definitely big news on every [Arab] network," Bilbassy said. "He is a well-known professor and advocate for Palestinian causes. It was presented as a positive story. People were able to see a clear line, a difference between the administration and the legal system in this country."

Several readers of The Jerusalem Post reacted differently. On the Web site's feedback portion, someone who signed a comment Leonard Willens wrote: "When someone like Al-Arian is acquitted, the judicial system is broken. Unfortunately, a significant number of leftist Jews applaud the decision and forget that Al-Arian was coming for them."