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The Federal Bureau of Investigation began investigating Al-Arian's connections to Islamic terror groups in the early 1990s, establishing its first wiretaps on Al-Arian in 1993. In 1995, the FBI began requesting information on Al-Arian and two other professors from USF campus police, not giving the local authorities any details on the investigation. In 1996, USF officials received more information on the investigation, leading university president Betty Castor to suspend Al-Arian in 1996. Recordings and other information gathered for intelligence purposes was not shared with the criminal staff of the FBI in the 1990s, and the university's internal report by Tampa lawyer William Reece Smith did not suggest grounds for USF to dismiss him.
Following the first investigation, Al-Arian became politically active in the United States. He campaigned heavily for George W. Bush during the 2000 election, and was photographed with Bush that year in Plant City, Florida. The following year, Al-Arian's son, Abdullah, became a congressional intern: Abdullah was kicked out of a White House meeting that year because of suspected terrorist connections, sparking a walkout by twenty other Muslims in attendance. However, Bush soon apologized to the Al-Arian family for the incident, and by June 20, 2001, Sami Al-Arian's record was clean enough to allow him entry to the Eisenhower Office Building for a briefing, led by Karl RoveKarl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950 in Denver, Colorado) is as of 2004 U. President George W. Bush's Senior Advisor and chief political strategist. Karl Rove began his political career with the College Republicans, which he chaired from 1973 to 19, with 160 other Muslim leaders.
Al-Arian appeared on the popular polemical television show The O'Reilly FactorThe O'Reilly Factor is a show on FOX News hosted by Bill O'Reilly that discusses political and social issues of the day, with both conservative and liberal guests. The show premiered in 1996 along with the FOX News Channel. It is the number one rated cabl on September 26September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 96 days remaining. Events 1580 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe 1687 The Parthenon in Athens is partially destroyed after an explosion caused by the, shortly after the September 11th attacks. On the program, host Bill O'ReillyWilliam James O'Reilly, Jr. born September 10 1949) is the host of a popular American cable television news analysis program, The O'Reilly Factor on the FOX News Channel. O'Reilly also hosts a radio program syndicated by Westwood One called The Radio Fact resurrected 15 year old charges that accused Al-Arian of using a now-defunct university affiliated IslamCairo Egypt Islm (In Arabic: , "submission (to God)"; In Persian and Urdu: ) is a monotheistic faith and the world's second-largest religion. Followers of Islam, known as Muslims believe that God (or, in Arabic, Allh revealed His Will to Muhammad (c.ic think tankThis article is about the institution. For other meanings, see Think Tank. A think tank is a group of individuals dedicated to high-level synergistic research on a variety of subjects, usually in military laboratories, corporations, or other institutions. that he headed as a front for Palestinian terrorist organizationsThe term Palestinian terrorism is commonly used for terrorist acts committed by Palestinian citizens and Palestinian organizations against Israeli Jews, and occasionally against nationals of other countries. Valid or not, "Palestinian terrorism" is often. Though Al-Arian denied all links to terrorists, O'Reilly made it clear that he believed Al-Arian has terrorist connections.
Following the program's airing, USF received several death threats for Al-Arian. University president Judy Genshaft placed Dr. Al-Arian on paid leave and barred him from the campus on September 27, ostensibly for his own safety and the safety of others at the university.
On December 19, 2001, Genshaft initiated proceedings to revoke Al-Arian's tenure and terminate his employment at the university. Genshaft refused to speak publicly about the Al-Arian case; a spokesman indicated that Genshaft was attempting to fire Al-Arian for supporting terrorism and damaging the university's reputation.
The University filed a lawsuit seeking a pre-emptive judgement that firing Dr. Al-Arian would not violate his First Amendment rights in August of 2002. The suit was summarily dismissed on December 15, 2002, with the judge indicating that such a ruling is not within the scope of the court's function.
The American Association of University Professors indicated that it would formally censure USF if Al-Arian was fired, a move that would have likely dissuaded many top professors from teaching at USF. On January 6, 2003, the United Faculty of Florida , the union representing Al-Arian and other USF professors, filed a formal grievance against Genshaft, alleging that continuing to bar Al-Arian from the campus was tantamount to continued disciplinary action without due process, that the disciplinary actions were a violation of Al-Arian's academic freedoms, and that the university had discriminated against Al-Arian due to his ethnic background.