Letter: Al-Arian should be innocent until proven guilty

We'd like to point out something to the Duke community that, apparently, Bill English and Mike Simms have forgotten. Sami Al-Arian has been accused, not convicted. We're not going to argue about his innocence nor his guilt here, but we find it truly despicable, not to mention wholly un-American, that Sami Al-Arian has already been tried and sentenced in the minds of so many, and yet to our knowledge, nobody here has seen any of the evidence against Sami Al-Arian. This "guilty until proven innocent" mentality is truly frightening and seems to have become the prevailing theme in today's society. The right to a fair trial has become all but an ideal.

As a result, Abdullah Al-Arian and the Al-Arian family have been hounded vindictively by elements of a frenzied media and an outrageous campaign of innuendo. Such coverage has led to premature conclusions and needless finger-pointing, snowballing into public paranoia.

In an era when Islamophobia is rife, Islam-bashing has become an exercise with no consequences, where the likes of Jimmy Swaggart can blatantly call for the deportation of Muslims. If we do not act responsibly, this trial will set a chilling precedent for the steady erosion of every American's civil liberties.

Abdullah's pieces were some of the best written, most carefully researched columns that ever appeared in The Chronicle. Agree or disagree with him, it's hard to ignore that. Most of the responses that came to his columns tended to lack two things: credibility and evidence. Being allowed to write an article in The Chronicle, or to submit a letter to the editor, doesn't mean that your word is gospel truth. The Chronicle could use more columnists like Abdullah Al-Arian. Columnists who, regardless of their political views and beliefs, are capable of putting together well-written and well-supported columns arguing their side, as opposed to a bunch of slung-together rants and opinions.