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| al-Arian: It all depends on what the meaning of "Jihad" is. |
| 2005-07-15 |
| TAMPA - When Sami Al-Arian called for jihad, was he just encouraging the struggle of Palestinians to recover their homeland or was he stoking a holy war? As a government translator testified in Al-Arian's trial, the word jihad has several meanings. Both sides in the trial had different ideas about what Al- Arian was saying. Al-Arian repeatedly used the word jihad when he spoke at events relating to the Palestinian cause between 1989 and 1991. The translator, Tahsim Ali, a contract linguist for the FBI, did not give the English translation of jihad when he prepared transcripts of Al-Arian's words. Ali said he left words such as jihad and intifada in their Arabic forms because they are commonly used in English, as well. During cross-examination, Al-Arian attorney Linda Moreno asked Ali about the meaning. Consulting a book, Ali said it means ``striving, [and is] used to mean both quest for holiness and waging a holy war.'' He agreed it also can mean ``striving your utmost'' and ``struggling to achieve a goal.'' Krigsman later asked how to judge the meaning, and Ali said he goes by the context. The prosecutor then pointed to several instances in which Al-Arian used the word, including when he said: ``Thus is the way of jihad. Thus is the way of martyrdom. Thus is the way of blood, because this is the path to heaven.'' Al-Arian is on trial along with Sameeh Hammoudeh Hatim Naji Fariz and Ghassan Zayed Ballut on charges they helped organize and finance the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an organization in Israel and the occupied territories that has been linked to terrorist activity. During cross-examination, Fariz's attorney, Kevin Beck, pointed to an instance in which Ali, under questioning by Krigsman, said a particular Arabic word means ``brigades.'' In fact, Beck pointed out, the word used actually means ``pancakes.'' Under follow-up questioning by Krigsman, Ali said there had been a misunderstanding. Also Thursday, Krigsman introduced about 40 translations of telephone conversations and faxes intercepted by wiretaps. Among them was a Dec. 9, 2002, conversation Fariz had with a journalist. According to the indictment, Fariz called the Washington-based reporter, Osama Abu Irshaid, to complain that a recent article about a terrorist attack in Hebron had failed to attribute the attack to the Islamic Jihad. In his opening statement, Beck said the journalist was a former college friend of Fariz, and Fariz was trying to save him the embarrassment of having his facts wrong. In the transcript, Fariz tells Irshaid that people were talking about the journalist and the article. ``So I defended you, and I thought I'd talk to you so as to review the matter with you,'' Fariz says. At one point, Fariz also says, ``The martyrs have died, and may God have mercy on their souls.'' At the end of the court day, U.S. District Judge James Moody said he would not force prosecutors to enter a stipulation about three Palestinian Islamic Jihad attacks. The prosecution and defense have stipulated to the facts of 14 attacks, saving the need for dozens of witnesses and shaving weeks or months off the expected length of the trial. However, prosecutors resisted stipulating to three remaining attacks listed as underlying acts in the indictment. Krigsman argued that the three are of ``critical legal significance to this case.'' For example, a double suicide bombing in January 1995 prompted President Clinton to sign an executive order banning financial dealings with terrorist organizations, including the Islamic Jihad. Although Moody had wanted to compel prosecutors to accept a defense stipulation, Krigsman challenged his legal authority to challenge the issue. Moody said Thursday he had read the case law and would not require the stipulations. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #2 12 good men and true |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-07-15 17:02 |
| #1 He didn't go for the jury trial option, did he? I would think that would be a mistake. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2005-07-15 12:56 |