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Al-Arian Jurors Are Shown Series Of Web Site Postings

By MICHAEL FECHTER mfechter@tampatrib.com

Published: Oct 26, 2005

TAMPA - -- A series of Palestinian Islamic Jihad communiqués posted on the Internet was shown to jurors Tuesday in the terror-support trial of Sami Al-Arian and three other men.

Prosecutors used them to bolster their claim that Islamic Jihad attacks are a form of extortion intended to drive Jews out of Israel.

"Either they leave Palestine or we will make it a graveyard for all of them," stated one Web posting, which listed 196 attacks the group claimed between 1984 and 1999.

They were sorted by year and included the nature of each attack: stabbings, bombings, grenades and others.

"Our daggers and rifles will pursue them until the extraction of the last Jew from our land," was one comment from a 1990 attack.

Al-Arian, Ghassan Ballut, Hatem Fariz and Sameeh Hammoudeh are charged with four conspiracy counts, including racketeering, providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to commit murder abroad.

In cross-examination, defense attorney Linda Moreno pointed to other passages that said the attacks were in response to Israeli violence.

Meanwhile, U.S. District Judge James Moody denied motions to find Al-Arian and Hammoudeh not guilty of the conspiracy charges. Defense attorneys Stephen Bernstein and William Moffitt argued that prosecutors failed to show enough evidence to even present the charges to the jury.

Such motions are standard practice in criminal cases. The law favors letting jurors decide guilt or innocence unless there is virtually no evidence to support the charges.

Attorneys for Ballut and Fariz are expected to make similar challenges after prosecutors rest. That could come today.

Bernstein argued there was no evidence showing Hammoudeh knew about a conspiracy or agreed to join it. Moffitt repeated his argument that Al-Arian is being prosecuted for constitutionally protected free speech.

Both said prosecutors failed to show that money sent overseas led to violence. Moffitt said the evidence shows money went to feed needy Palestinians.

"All my life I thought feeding hungry people was a pretty American ideal," Moffitt said. "This is the first place I've been where that doesn't seem to be the case."

He also took exception to obstruction-of-justice charges surrounding Al-Arian's effort to win freedom for his brother-in-law, who was held without bail while appealing a deportation order.

Al-Arian was helping family, Moffitt said.

In response, prosecutor Walter E. Furr pointed to the Islamic Jihad's bylaws, discovered in an office Al-Arian controlled, which call on members to rally behind jailed comrades.

"This is PIJ business," Furr said. "They're taking care of their own guy. That's what's going on."

Al-Arian, seated with his arms crossed at the defense table, blew through his lips audibly. Furr pointed at him and said, "Yeah, right."