Al-Arian Film Takes Family's Perspective

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 15, 2007

TAMPA - For Norwegian filmmaker Line Halvorsen, the case of Sami Al-Arian is about freedom of speech and about the U.S. government's efforts to silence a tireless voice for human rights.

It is about post-Sept. 11 hysteria and the persecution of a Muslim, as well as the emotionally grinding devastation the prosecution brought to the Al-Arian family.

It is not about the evidence presented in a complex, five-month trial in U.S. District Court two years ago.

Halvorsen's documentary, "USA vs Al-Arian," has won accolades and awards. The producers say it was picked best film at the Norwegian Documentary Film Festival and the New Orleans International Human Rights Festival. The Al-Arians are celebrities in Norway as a result of the film.

The Council on American Islamic Relations is co-sponsoring a showing of the film, which does not yet have a U.S. distributor, at the Tampa Theatre Wednesday night.

Monday, Halvorsen showed the film to local reporters at the Tampa office of CAIR.

Halvorsen said she met Nahla Al-Arian, Sami Al-Arian's wife, at a showing of her last film, about the plight of Palestinian children.

Halvorsen was staying with family in Lakeland during the trial, and she said she persuaded Nahla Al-Arian to let her shoot a documentary from the family's perspective. "They've been very brave, very open," she said.

The film portrays the family's intimate moments and the toll the prosecution and separation had on them. Scenes include Nahla Al-Arian's emotional breakdown during an argument with her husband over a seemingly insignificant issue and her quiet, prayerful despair when she doesn't know what is going to happen next. The Al-Arian children are shown in happier times with their father and then navigating the security and bureaucracy they must pass through to visit their father.

It also makes use of local news broadcasts, showing media depictions of Al-Arian as a terrorist. Former U.S. Attorney Paul Perez is interviewed extensively, but he speaks mostly in generalities about the Justice Department's priorities and his feelings about the case. It's not clear whether he placed restrictions on questions or the filmmakers didn't ask for specifics.

Al-Arian was interviewed at the Orient Road Jail, but Halvorson said since the interview took place before he was sentenced, she agreed not to ask about the evidence. She said she wanted to talk to him later, but could not get access once he went to federal prison.

The film does not mention some of the more damning evidence against Al-Arian, including a January 1995 letter Al-Arian wrote to a Kuwaiti legislator praising a double suicide bombing by the Islamic Jihad that killed 21 people at an Israeli bus junction. Al- Arian's letter requested donations "so that operations such as these can continue."

Halvorsen said the case was "a little too complicated to go into detail" in a 90-minute film. Further, she said, since the evidence was not strong enough to persuade a jury to convict, she didn't feel it warranted mention.

"For me," she said, "the case is about freedom of speech. "I don't have to agree with what is being said. Everyone has a right to have an opinion and say his opinion, even Sami Al-Arian."

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.