Christopher Chow

After three months of paid leave, computer science professor Sami Al-Arian has been fired by the University of South Florida.

University President Judy Genshaft fired Al-Arian after South Florida's Board of Trustees voted 12 to 1 to terminate him. "After much thought, I have come to the sad conclusion that if Dr. Al-Arian remains an employee of the university, the certainty of prolonged disruption of the university and the continuing threat of our students, faculty, and staff is profoundly real," said Genshaft in a written statement. "What we must decide is how much disruption the University must endure because of the manner in which a professor exercises his right to express political and social views that are outside the scope of his employment."

The Palestinian born professor can appeal to an independent arbitrator. The faculty is planning to file a grievance on his behalf. His lawyer Robert A. Cannella said, "Dr. Al-Arian is considering all the options available to him in order to ensure that his rights are protected."

Dr. Al-Arian was placed on paid leave in September after appearing on the Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor. On the show host Bill O'Reilly directly accused Al-Arian of helping to fund terrorists and promoting violence against Israel. O'Reilly brought up the issue of the professor's organization, World and Islam Studies Enterprises (WISE), a group the FBI once raided.

Al-Arian said that O'Reilly's accusations were, "old news, inaccurate, irrelevant, bigoted, and most importantly lacked time frame and context."

Since the show has aired, South Florida has been swamped with negative publicity. University officials also said they have a six-inch stack of angry e-mails criticizing South Florida for failing to fire Al-Arian. Alumni support has dropped five percent in the last three months. There were even threats of violence against the school and Al-Arian.

Genshaft said Al-Arian was suspended because his appearance on the show had disrupted the University's academic mission and diverted time and millions of dollars. "Clearly the presence of Dr. Al-Arian on this campus at this time affects the operations of the university." She also cited concerns over Al-Arian's failure to distance his comments from the University. "There is a serious question about how diligently Dr. Al-Arian has fulfilled his professional obligation to make it clear he is speaking for himself and not the university," she told board members.

Al-Arian's WISE organization was shut down in 1996 by the FBI for funding terrorism in the Middle East. The group, partially sponsored by the University of South Florida, had its assets frozen and some of its members arrested. The FBI accused WISE of raising money in America for terrorist activities and helping terrorists obtain U.S. visas.

WISE member Ramadan Abdullah Shallah now heads the terrorist group Islamic Jihad. Another WISE member was Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The FBI even linked WISE's Tarik Hamdi to Osama bin Laden's 1998 bombings of American embassies in East Africa.

Al-Arian was videotaped at a WISE meeting shouting, "Death to Israel." But Al-Arian has not been charged with any crime.

South Florida has been nicknamed "Jihad University" after news of its funding of WISE became public. A PBS documentary, "Jihad in America" referred to WISE as "the primary support group for Islamic Jihad."

In the aftermath of the suspension and firing, South Florida's students and faculty alike have rallied in Dr. Al-Arian's defense. Petitions are going around campus calling for his return to work. They blame the negative publicity on O'Reilly's reporting.

"Faculty have the same rights as everyone else to speak out," proclaimed President of the Faculty Senate Gregory J. Paveza. "What this says to faculty is that you must be able to anticipate all consequences of your speech and be responsible for them."

"Professor Al-Arian has been a victim of bad press, and now he's being punished for it," commented professor Nancy J. Tyson, calling O'Reilly's reporting, "yellow journalism."

Faculty Union president Roy Weatherford spoke out in Al-Arian's defense, also placing the blame on O'Reilly. "But in the end, the time to stand up for rights and principles is the time when they are most endangered."

Bill O'Reilly took exception to the conclusion that it was his show that led to the firing, and not Al-Arian's own actions. "If this guy was raising money for terrorists, and some people say he was, all right, we should know about it, because the University of South Florida is now taking the cowardly way out. They're booting this guy off campus, they're blaming [The O'Reilly Factor]. I'm getting blamed for this guy losing his job."