Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2009, page 60
Human Rights
“USA vs Al-Arian” Tours Midwest
AWARD-WINNING Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen recently toured the Midwest to screen her documentary “USA vs Al-Arian.” The tour was a continuation of an ongoing project by Melva Underbakke and Fred Bryant of Friends of Human Rights (FHR), based in Tampa, FL, to show the film throughout the United States.
The documentary, filmed in Tampa, chronicles the effects of a terrorism trial on the family of accused University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian. Although the jury did not return a single guilty verdict, Dr. Al-Arian has remained in federal custody since 2003, with no end in sight. Though currently under house arrest, most of his five and a half years in prison were spent in solitary confinement.
The Midwest tour began in Mankato, MN with a screening arranged by Karen Lybeck of Minnesota State University’s English Department.
The next stop was Luther College in Decorah, IA, where the film was shown by the Campus Ministries and Amnesty International. Luther College is the oldest Norwegian-founded college in the United States. The audience included students and local residents.
After leaving Iowa, the tour traveled to Missouri, where a busy schedule had been arranged by Jeff Stack of the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation. “USA vs Al-Arian” was shown at William Woods University in Fulton and, in Columbia, at Stephens College and the University of Missouri. In St. Louis, the film was screened at Webster University and at the Center for Theology and Social Analysis.
Director Halvorsen was also interviewed by David Lile of KFRU-1400 AM radio in Columbia, Mark Haim of KOPN radio in Columbia, and Janet Saidi, KBIA-FM (NPR) news director. In addition, Halvorsen and Underbakke spoke to two classes of legal studies students at Hickman High School in Columbia.
Audiences throughout the tour typically were learning about a current situation in the United States of which they were previously unaware—the loss of Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms by some Americans. Halvorsen’s consistent message was that “USA vs Al-Arian” is a very important film for Americans to see—for it is their civil liberties that are at stake. For more information visit <www.usavsalarian.com>.
Judge Leonie Brinkema scheduled a hearing for Dr. Al-Arian on Jan. 16, 2009 in Alexandria, VA in order to rule on dozens of motions, including the validity of the immunity order which led to the current criminal contempt charges against the professor. At the hearing, Judge Brinkema was expected to either set a trial date or dismiss the contempt charges altogether.
—Melva Underbakke
