The recent arrest of University of South Florida Professor Sami Amin Al-Arian, who was indicted last Thursday on terrorism-related charges, has raised concern in the academic community over issues of academic freedom.
The charges, part of 50 levied against a group of eight conspirators, allege that Al-Arian was directly involved with Palestinian suicide bombings in Israel, naming him the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In September 2001, Al-Arian was placed on paid leave from South Florida when he made a controversial appearance on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor." Three months later, South Florida's Board of Trustees voted to remove Al-Arian from the university.
Al-Arian's arrest on Thursday prompted South Florida to request permission from a federal judge to formally fire the professor. Although the case was dismissed, South Florida's actions have raised concerns about academic freedom at universities around the country.
At the University, some professors said they feel Al-Arian's situation places freedom of speech in a precarious position.
Yibin Zheng, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, said it is important to protect the rights of individuals to express academic opinions.
"As a professor, he has the right to express an opinion on his area of expertise," Zheng said. "Even if the opinion is wrong, we should protect such rights."
Politics Prof. Emeritus Ruhi Ramazani said in times of heightened security, such as after Sept. 11, it is common for individual actions to be closely scrutinized.
"In war situations, unfortunately, there are precedents that civil liberties have suffered," he said. "Security will be accorded the highest priority even if it infringes on individual freedoms."
Al-Arian has been under federal surveillance for over a decade as a result of public comments he made in the 1980s about Israel.
In the early 1990s, Al-Arian founded a think-tank called the World and Islam Studies Enterprise. The FBI raided that organization in 1995 following concerns that the organization was facilitating terrorist activity.
A year earlier, PBS aired a documentary filmed by journalist Stephen Emerson called "Jihad in America." The program made some claims that Al-Arian was involved in financially backing terrorist activity.
The University of South Florida first placed Al-Arian on paid leave in 1996 as a result of fallout from these events. He was reinstated two years later when no conclusive evidence linking him to terrorist activity could be produced by law enforcement.
Al-Arian began teaching at South Florida in 1986, later receiving tenure. In 1993, Al-Arian was named Teacher of the Year in the University of South Florida's College of Engineering.
The university has been unable to remove Al-Arian, who is still on their payroll, because of his position as a tenured professor. There also have been concerns of violating his constitutional rights.
The right to free speech as a professor is a tenuous thing, Zheng said.
"There is always a peer pressure," he said. "If you have an opinion, you don't want to be too far out of the mainstream."
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