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Answer
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Name
Editor
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Profession
Question
How and when did you know about professor Al-Arian ‘s case?
Answer
In 2004 I moved to Florida from the Palestinian town of Bethlehem on the occupied West Bank, where I had worked as a freelance journalist and filmmaker for two years.
In the USA I toured with my film “A Stone’s Throw Away” - a film about three Palestinian children growing up under Israeli occupation - and I soon discovered how difficult it was to talk about the Palestinian issue to Americans. Many were misinformed and they had a lot of prejudice towards Palestinians. I met several Muslims who told me about instances of racism and discrimination that they had experienced in the USA after September 11th 2001.
Thousands of foreigners were rounded up in this period, most of them men with Muslim or Arab background. Many were arrested without charges and several were deported. University professors and others who were pro-Palestinians were targeted and silenced by fierce Zionist groups. One night I was invited to screen “A Stone's Throw Away” in Tampa. Nahla Al-Arian attended the screening that night. I had already heard a lot about Sami Al-Arian in the media. I knew he was a controversial Palestinian civil rights activist, and I knew the local media portrayed him as a “terrorist”. At the time we met, Sami Al-Arian had spent almost two years in solitary confinement without a trial, and his case was well known all over the country, particularly in Florida.
We had the opportunity to meet again and Nahla told me about the impact Sami's arrest had on their children and also about the horrible conditions under which Sami was living. I met friends and former colleagues of Sami, who all spoke highly of him and his work. The contrasting image of him as a well-respected scholar, defendant of Muslim civil rights and an activist for the Palestinian cause on one side, and a “leader of a terror-cell” on the other intrigued me. And it was particularly the family’s situation I was interested in. How does it impact the family to go through an ordeal like this. No matter, what the father had or had not done, the children and the wife were innocent victims.
Name
R.M
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Profession
Question
I want to ask, from your experience as a filmmaker, to what extent can art have a big impact on some of the problematic cases like Sami Al Arian's?
How do you find people's reaction after watching your movie?
Answer
Dear R.M,
A good question. I like to think that art can have an impact. The great thing about documentaries for example is that they can have the possibility to reach out to a lot of people. Thanks to this film for example, millions of people now know about the story of Dr. Al-Arian. However Dr. Al-Arian is still in prison. He has served his time, but they don’t seem to be willing to release him. If my film can be used as a tool to educate and mobilize people to fight for justice for people like Al-Arian and others in asimilar situation, I am very happy and feel that my efforts are rewarded.
The family has a webpage called www.freesaminow.com which suggests things you can do if you want to help.
Most people get very upset and shocked when they watch the film, and many feel like they would like to do something to help.
Name
Nancy
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Profession
Question
Did you face any challanges during filming? If yes, tell us more about them.
Answer
Dear Nancy,
Personally, I found it quite emotionally straining to make this film. We witnessed the family go through so much hardship and it seemed to me that each time they won a battle, the rules of the game changed. In addition, it was upsetting to see how isolated the family had become in the Muslim community. People seem to be afraid to get involved with them, and apart from a small group of committed Christians who were of great support, they were fighting a very lonely fight.
A big challenge was that the film is about a man who is in prison and on trial. And we were not allowed to film neither inside the court room nor in prison.. Finally we managed to get an interview with Sami Al-Arian inside prison, with two guards present, and only for one hour. That was the only time we were allowed in with a camera. And we were also the only film crew that has filmed him since his arrest.
Another challenge is that this case is so big and complex, and it is impossible to tell every detail of the story in 100 minutes. But it is also important to have all the facts straight. When the trial started, I suspected that the indictment was inflated but I did not want to take a stand in the case until I had seen the evidence. As I attended the trial, it became more and more evident to me that Sami Al-Arian was being prosecuted for his beliefs rather than his actions. After a while the trial started to feel more like a Kafkaesque (bizarre) nightmare.
A big challenge was editing the film. How to combine the different elements. Whereas the family's story was my main focus, I needed to present the case and the injustice done to them, in order to understand what they are going through. I also wanted to place Sami's case into a larger context, to explain a little about the political situation and the climate of fear in the States right now. I wanted the viewer to understand that this is only one case - and that there are thousands of families in similar situations all over the US.
I tried to get an interview with several people, like for example John Ashcroft and with the FBI, but they wouldn't talk to us.
Otherwise, of course a big challenge was to get funding to make the film. My producer Jan Dalchow was great, he managed to raise support through The Freedom of Expression Foundation in Norway, the Norwegian Film Fund and others.
Name
Ahmed
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Profession
Question
In your opinion, how does directing films like “A Stone Throw Away” and “USA vs. Al-Arian” can make a difference?
Answer
Dear Ahmed,
I hope that films like "A Stone's Throw Away" and "USA vs. Al-Arian" can contribute in creating a greater understanding, educate and engage people. I like to make films where the viewers can identify themselves with the characters, through telling small stories you can understand a lot about the bigger picture. Hopefully I can make the viewer realize that for example a child in Palestine is just like a child anywhere else in the world. And atrocities committed against a Palestinian child is just as bad as if it happens to a child anywhere else in the world. Although I have realized you can't "change the world" by making a film, I strongly believe that if we all contribute with what we are capable of, together we can actually create a change for a better world.
Name
Isma'il
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Profession
Question
Thank you for this documentary, though I have only been able to see a "summary" of it. Have you had responses from US officials, even privately, to the documentary? or even from "mainstream" corners who typically may have bypassed such a topic?
Answer
Dear Isma'il,
No, I have not had any comments or problems with US officials. And I have been in and out of the States several times, screening the film, without problem. We have had difficulties getting distribution for the film in the US, though. So far only Link TV has broadcast it - while it has been broadcast in 13 other countries worldwide so far, and both Al-Arabiye and Al-Jazeera for example, have screened it.
However we have received resistance from ultra-conservative and zionist bloggers in the US. They managed to stop a screening of the film at a Starplex cinema theatre in Irvine, California by calling the Cinema administration demanding that they stop the film, calling it "terrorist propaganda". I don't think any of these bloggers or their readers had seen the film. I guess just the notion that this is a film that shows the story of Sami Al-Arian from a different perspective, scared them.
Name
Editor
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Profession
Question
Tell us about the different feedback that you recieved after screening your film in different places.
Answer
Mostly I have received very good feedback to the film everywhere I have screened it. What I find interesting is that in Europe and in the Middle East, although people get upset while watching the film, most seem to realize and expect that these things do happen in the US today. They are aware of the torture in places like Guantanamo, that the Americans hold people without any charges and without a right to trial.
However, when I screen the film in the States, to Americans, people seem to be more shocked and in disbelief. I think most Americans have a great faith in their justice system, and when they realize that the system can be (and is) abused, they get really upset. I think it is important to remember that there are a lot of Americans that are very concerned with justice and who are very skeptical to the expanded powers assigned to the US Government through for example the Patriot Act. They realize that the law severely threatens civil liberties and opens up a potential for abuse by the Government.
Name
Moustapha
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Profession
Question
How does being an activist help you in your documentaries?
Answer
Hi Moustapha,
I don't really call myself an activist. I am just a documentary filmmaker concerned with human and civil rights. I think that in today's corporate media world, the role of independent filmmakers is getting even more important in order to get stories out to people. Stories our governments and the corporations not necessarily want to be told.
Name
Lucy
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Profession
Question
Did you get positive impacts about your movie from inside USA?
Answer
Dear Lucy,
We have had a lot of screenings in the States and the American audience always get very engaged. In many instances there has been panel discussions after the film, where lawyers, members of the Al-Arian family and others have been present. I attended a screening in Tampa where we sold out 1250 seats, and in Washington DC where we sold out with 850 seats. People often want to do something to help, they will write to their congress members and senators, donate money to Al-Arian's legal defense fund or help by getting others informed.
Name
Nescoooz
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Profession
Question
It seems that you have shoot your film inside Al-Arian’s house? How did you manage to do that?
Answer
Dear Nescoooz,
I wanted to make a film that went beyond the headlines and showed the real story seen through the eyes of a family.
We were a small team, photographer Tone Andersen and myself, filming with a small DV-camera (Sony PD 150). Sometimes it was only me present, working with the camera alone. We spent hours with the Al- Arian family in order to gain their trust and confidence and I think it was essential to the women in the family that we were a female team. The family has had a lot of negative experiences with the media, and I wasn't surprised to find that the eldest children were quite skeptical to us filming them at first.
We didn't arrange any of the scenes, we never instructed the family to do or say anything, we just stayed at their house and followed them wherever they went. It took a while for them to feel comfortable and to let their guard down, but after a while they got so used to having us around that I think they almost forgot we were filming. Working like this is a time-consuming process and not very efficient in terms of shooting ratio, but I think we got a much more intimate and real portrait this way.
I must tell you that I was amazed at how united and resourceful the family were and how hard they worked to aid Sami in his preparation for and during the trial. I really admire their strength and their ability to be so calm and focused, despite everything that happens to them.
Name
Ahmed
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Profession
Question
Are you opptimistic about Al-Arian fate?
Answer
Dear Ahmed,
I wish I could say yes to your question. I wish the suffering for the Al-Arian family would end. I wish the children would get their father back, they have been separated for 5 years now. I wish the American government would release him. He has served his time and there is no reason for them to hold him.
But I know that there is a anti-Muslim prosecutor in Virginia called Gordon Cromberg who is after Al-Arian and wants to charge him for criminal contempt of court because he refuses to testify in a Grand Jury hearing against some Palestinians in Virginia. (He refuses to testify because it is a breach of the plea agreement he made with the Government.)
But I also know that the day when he eventually will be released, he will be deported from the US. And he is a stateless Palestinian with no country to go to. So I really don't know what will happen.
However, I have never in my life met a person who is as mentally strong and optimistic as Sami Al-Arian himself. Despite everything he has been through and despite two hunger strikes that lasted around 60 days. So if he can be an optimist, why shouldn't I?
Name
Na nah
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Profession
Question
Are you working on any other projects now?
How your life is going after making this film?
Answer
Dear Na nah,
Making this film has been a very interesting experience for me, and I have met so many nice people both in the process of making it and also in my travels all over the world screening it. Sometimes I receive e-mails from other Muslim families who are in similar situation who wonder if I can make a film about them, or from people who have suggestions for what I can make a film about next.
I have been busy the past year promoting the film and talking about the case of Sami Al-Arian. I guess it is soon time to start looking forwards to new projects. I have several ideas, but nothing that has materialized yet, and to tell you the truth I am in no hurry. I think that when the time is right, the next film project will find me..just like this one seems to have done ;)
If you want to see the film or learn more about the case, you can purchase a dvd on our webpage www.usavsalarian.com.
I thank all of you for your questions and apologize to all of you who had questions that I did not have time to answer this time.
A warm greeting to all of IslamonLine's readers
Line Halvorsen
Name
Editor
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Profession
Question
I would like to thank Ms. Line Halvorsen for taking the time to answer the questions of IslamOnline.net readers, and all those who participated in this live dialogue.
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