Now it’s official. The case of former USF professor Sami al-Arian–where combustible politics, national security, jihadi rhetoric, post-9/11 reality and Bill O’Reilly all collided–has finally been disposed of. He has been deported to Turkey.
It jogs a memory: my lunch with al-Arian back in the early 1990s. I was the USF media relations manager, and al-Arian was a well-regarded computer-science professor with an out-of-school agenda that was starting to make waves.
A colleague and I met up with al-Arian for an on-campus lunch. Being the founder of the World and Islamic Studies Enterprise (WISE), an Islamic think tank, gave him a forum that inevitably referenced Palestine, Zionists and “Death to Israel”–rhetorical flashpoints, to be sure. The Kuwait native born to Palestinian-refugee parents participated in his share of panel discussions that drew the attention of varied interests–from academic to investigative.
He was becoming a point man for controversy that the university could easily do without–even though, ironically, he had been a recent “Instructor of the Year” honoree in the College of Arts and Sciences. Even his Jewish students liked him.
I remember the “a-hah” moment at that lunch. After small talk that had to rival that of Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkle and Francois Hollande before they got around to Ukraine, I asked him about a recent comment that had created controversy. He had been questioned about whether he personally “renounced violence” as a means to Palestinian ends. He wouldn’t say he did. There was some backlash.
I gave it another shot. I wasn’t the opposition playing Middle East gotcha games. We had the same employer. I included context I thought would help. I asked if, as a matter of good conscience, and out of respect for any collateral innocent lives inevitably at risk, he could renounce violence as a valid means to those legitimate Palestinian ends. Surely, killing wasn’t necessary in making the case for the moral high ground. Surely.
He answered with a question, which is what any slippery politician would do when trapped in an untenable, rhetorical bind. He asked why no one ever asks Israelis such questions. Why was it only a question fit for Palestinians? It wasn’t fair. Etc.
“Yes, of course, I renounce violence” was all I was looking for. It could have made a difference.
We didn’t order dessert.