AFFIDAVIT OF ABDELHALEEM HASAN ASHQAR

Abdelhaleem Hasan Ashqar, being duly sworn, deposes and says under penalty of perjury that the following statement is true and correct:

1. My name is Abdelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar. My address is 6170 Old Brentford Ct., Alexandria, VA, 22310. My wife, Asmaa Ashqar, and I are Palestinians from the Occupied Territories. Before coming to the United States in 1989, my wife and I lived under the brutal and illegal Israeli military rule in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. I was employed as an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Howard University, in Washington, D.C., through the just finished spring, 2003 semester, where I taught undergraduate classes in Operations Management and Quantitative Business Analysis, Management of Information Systems, and Software Design. The publicity surrounding the allegations made by the government against me has cost me my teaching position, as the University has declined to renew my contract for the fall semester. I am presently unemployed.

2. I submit this Affidavit in support of my refusal to testify before the Grand Jury in the above-captioned matter before the Court.

3. I am a devout Muslim and a politically active Palestinian nationalist, as well as a teacher, writer and academic. Both my father and his father before him were ardent Palestinian nationalists—my father was an outspoken cleric jailed by the British during the period of Mandatory rule before the illegitimate founding of the State of Israel; my grandfather was jailed for six years by the Ottoman Turkish rulers of Palestine for agitating for home rule. My family’s tradition is one of struggle for a homeland for our people, free of rule by oppressors. The teachings of the Koran are our guide in this struggle. I will not, under any circumstances, testify before this or any other Grand Jury, whose proceedings I believe to be politically orchestrated against the cause of freedom and independence for Palestinians. I consider myself a patriot, and I will never give testimony that may be used against others who struggle in the cause of freedom for Palestine.

4. In November, 1997, I was subpoenaed to appear before the Grand Jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, in a case, which purported to investigate money-laundering activities. I complied with the subpoena and appeared before the Court; however, I refused to answer any questions based on my religious, political and personal beliefs. I made the following statement to the Court at that time:

I respectfully refuse to answer any questions put to me other than my name, address and occupation on the grounds that to do so would violate my long-held and unshakable religious, political and personal beliefs and that my answers will be used against my friends, relatives and colleagues in the Palestinian liberation movement. I would rather die than betray my beliefs and commitment to freedom and democracy for Palestine. I will never give evidence or co-operate in any way with this Grand Jury, no matter what the consequences to me.

I was held in civil contempt for my refusal to testify, and in an effort to coerce my testimony; I was jailed on 23 Februrary 1998. I began a hunger strike the first day of my incarceration and continued it until my release 180 days later, as a means of protesting the way the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s offices in Mississippi and New York treated me. My case received publicity in leading newspapers, TV and radio around the world, especially in the Arabic-speaking countries. I was force-fed the entire time that I was in jail.

5. My experience with the Court five years ago came at a time of relative calm and hopeful, if illusory, progress in Palestine. It seemed for a brief moment that the Israeli military occupation might soon come to an end. Yet even then, I was adamantly unwilling to testify before the Grand Jury. Today, in the third year of the new intifada against the racist Israeli army and its relentless brutality against Palestinian men, women and children, my hopes for a just resolution to the conflict have been all but shattered. And while many in the world welcome the recent, Bush Administration’s so-called “Roadmap to Peace,” it is viewed largely by Palestinians as a vehicle to ensure Israeli security and little more, calculated to make the illegal settlements permanent, and achieve the expansionist aims of the occupation under the fraudulent guise of a “peace process.” Because of this, I am more resolved than ever to resist any attempts to force me to testify. I will never acquiesce in the Court’s coercion to make me violate my religious and political beliefs. If my incarceration in 1998 taught me anything, it is this: I possess the inner strength of mind and spirit, even if the body should fail, to withstand iron bars and stone walls. No amount of jailing by the Court will compel me to testify against others struggling for Palestinian freedom.

6. Let me be clear: I view this grand jury, as I did the one in 1998, as a vehicle of the United States government to further the aims of Israel. As in 1998, my refusal to testify here is not the expression of a desire to obstruct justice or otherwise to interfere with an “investigation.” I view this proceeding as an illegal abuse of process designed to chill dissent and to criminalize legitimate and lawful resistance against the Israeli designs on my homeland. As in 1998, the prospect of jail does not diminish my resolve in any way.

7. I was also jailed by the Israeli military in Ramallah in 1981, for participating in a peaceful, lawful demonstration at Beir Zeit University in the West Bank, where I was a student. On that occasion, I was beaten, kicked, struck repeatedly in the head and body with rifle-butts and fists, and soldiers stomped on my bare feet for hours. I was questioned repeatedly, with beatings administered, and ultimately I passed sixteen days in a tiny cell with as many as six other students at a time, and only a small jar in which to urinate. This jailing was far more violent and inhumane than anything the Court is likely to contemplate for me now.

8. It is my view that the current subpoena is only the latest installment of a campaign of harassment orchestrated against me by the Israeli government and mostly carried out by Israeli and U.S. investigators. This ordeal stretches back many years to when, after receiving my MBA degree, I became a public relations administrator for the Islamic University of Gaza, at the start of the first intifada (1987-1993). At that time, I represented the University on an ad hoc committee of academics publicizing and exposing the Israeli closure of Palestinian universities during an earlier uprising, and trying to rally support for our students among the international academic community. In this respect, I cannot cooperate with the investigation of this Grand Jury because to do so would betray my cause and my people.

9. It is written in the Koran and in the commentaries on Islamic Law (Sh’aria) that an honest and just person must never give testimony against another if that testimony might hurt that person unjustly, or hurt the witness himself. This is my religious conviction, and as I am accused of no crime here in the United States, and I have followed the secular laws of this land, I consider myself both honest and sincere. To give testimony before this Grand Jury in a case motivated by Israel to hurt the cause of Palestinian liberation would be to violate that Koranic precept.

10. Both my family and my community support me in my decision not to testify before this Grand Jury. My wife understands my decision and, as in 1998, she knows that I cannot go against my religious and political convictions by giving testimony to help this unjust persecution by Israel of Palestinian and Islamic activists. In 1998, my wife understood the dangers of my hunger strike, and knew that I could possibly die from my incarceration, yet she stood by my decision then and strengthened my resolve. Likewise, the community of my mosque supported my refusal to testify and discussed it in sermons and study groups, praising my resolve and praying that I would have strength to do what had to be done. I know that I will meet with the same level of family and community support if I am again incarcerated, and I am confident that this support will be as a shield to me against my oppressors.

11. More recently, in Chicago, I gave the following statement to the Grand Jury at my first appearance in this matter, on June 25th, 2003:

I respectfully refuse to answer any question put to me other than my name, address and occupation on several grounds: most important, to do so would violate my long-held and unshakeable religious, political and personal beliefs. Second, any answer I might provide could and would be given to Israel and would be used by Israel against me in an unfair, illegal and politically motivated prosecution for my beliefs and associations and my religion. Third, having been tortured before by Israel for my beliefs, associations, and religion, any answer I might provide could and would be given to Israel which would once again torture me as a result of such answers; and fourth, I have been for years the subject of widespread electronic surveillance which is illegal and being used by the Grand Jury to prepare for and to question me. Approximately, five years ago, I was subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury in New York regarding what I believe to be is the same subject matter as this. At that time, I refused to testify and I was held in contempt and jailed for six months. I began a hunger strike as soon as I was jailed and maintained that strike until my release leaving me with permanent medical problems. It is not my intention to obstruct justice or to interfere with any matters under consideration by this Grand Jury. As I said, I cannot answer any question today, just as I refused to do so five years ago for the reasons I have set forth. I cannot and will not permit my answers to be used against my friends, relatives and colleagues who have committed no crimes or wrongs but are being singled out for their involvement in the struggle for our legitimate political rights as recognized under international law. I would rather die than betray my beliefs and commitment to freedom, justice and democracy for Palestine and Palestinians who have been homeless for more than 50 years. I will never give evidence or cooperate in any way with this grand jury, or any other, no matter what the consequences to me.

12. Israel is the only country I can travel to at this time. Though I possess a Jordanian passport, I am not a Jordanian citizen. This passport bears no serial number. It is solely to be used as a travel document, provided by the Jordanian government, with an explicit limit of only thirty days’ admittance in the country per entry. The privileges conferred by these documents have since been rescinded. In addition, my passport expired in March of this year, and Jordan has declined to renew it, even as a travel document.

13. In December, 1998 I applied for political asylum on the grounds that I had a well-founded fear of persecution and worse in Israel. While I was initially granted asylum, subsequently as a result of adverse publicity and government harassment on the part of the United States and at Israel’s behest, my interim asylum was suspended. In the years since, we prepared for a full hearing on the question of my political asylum. The work undertaken in that regard was very expensive and time-consuming. It required procuring evidence from the Occupied Territories and experts from throughout the world. On the eve of the hearing, my immigration lawyer advised me that while she thought I had a meritorious claim and a chance of prevailing; in order to do so, it was absolutely necessary that I testify on my behalf. My immigration lawyer was emphatic: if I did not testify I could not prevail. I refused to testify at that proceeding though it meant that years of effort were wasted, though it meant that I could not receive political asylum, and though it meant that I would have to leave the United States for an uncertain future overseas. I refused to testify at the hearing for the same reason that I refused to testify at the 1998 grand jury proceeding in New York, and for the same reason that I refuse to testify here. I will not be examined about the Palestinian movement for justice, independence and statehood. I will not allow the enemies of my people, whether it be Israel, or in this case, its surrogates here to use me against my people.

14. Because I could not prevail in the absence of my testimony on the application for political asylum, we negotiated a settlement on my status and claim in the United States. I agreed to forfeit any rights that I had to remain in the United States, and I agreed to voluntarily depart the country within a sixty-day period (which I understand has been continued until the resolution of this grand jury and its related matters.) Although my settlement does not dictate that I go to Israel, in reality, as stateless people, without permanent travel documents, Palestinians largely exist under the specter of being forced eventually to return to Israel. (Just a week ago I received a limited visa to travel to the United Arab Emirates for Because of this, and inasmuch as Israel controls all ports of entry to the West Bank and Gaza, I expect eventually to go to Israel. And once there, I fully expect to be questioned, charged, jailed and tortured for my political beliefs.

15. In addition, although I have received immunity for testimony in this proceeding, the immunity of this Court will not in any event under current law prevent Israel from getting access to my testimony before the grand jury, and will not prohibit Israel from using my own words against me in a proceeding, which will eventually ensue, in that country. Any statements I might make here would certainly be utilized in an Israeli persecution of me. I therefore cannot give any testimony here that might prejudice any future defense I may have to mount against their charges; additionally, any testimony I might give here would certainly be used against other Palestinian nationalists in Israel.

16. The foundations for my belief in an Israeli campaign against me are long-standing and credible. The Israelis have continually targeted me since my arrival in the United States in 1989. The FBI has admittedly acted on their behalf in questioning me on many occasions and the Israeli Army searched the homes of my extended family in the West Bank on two occasions while I was in the United States, in April, 1995, telling my family that they had a warrant for my arrest. There is no way to hide, nor is their any judicial means to protect me if I return to Israel. As established by the material in Appendices A and B1-3, as well as the Affirmation of my attorney Stanley Cohen, there has been an inextricable connection between Israel and the United States in their efforts to target me, and I have been the subject of wholesale electronic surveillance in the US, at the hands of government agencies and at the behest of Israel.

17. The biographical details of my life I set forth here in order to demonstrate that my religious and political beliefs are long-held and unshakable. I was born August 18, 1958 in Seida-Tulkarm in the West Bank, which was then under Jordanian rule. The Israelis captured my town in 1967 when I was nine years old, and since then we have lived under continual Israeli military law and occupation. My father Hasan died of high blood pressure in 1971 at the age of 75 years. He ran the family business in Seida, using the family's small landholdings to grow olive, black plum, fig, almond and apricot trees. The business grew until 1967 when the Israeli invasion occurred, causing a sharp downturn in fruit prices as Israeli regulations and curfews made transport and delivery to market nearly impossible. Sometimes my father used to sell the black plums at a price far below the transport cost, rather than lose his whole crop in the sun. Though my family had been growing fruit on this land since the 18th century, my father watched his trees slowly wither and die as Israeli water rationing choked off the ability to farm and make a living. My father had spent six months in jail when Palestine was a British colony because of his actions against the British Army, as well as for his political and national views. My grandfather spent six years in jail during the Ottoman Turkish rule for his political views. My father had three sons and three daughters from his first marriage. My eldest brother Rashed passed away in 1991 at 65 years of age. He was arrested for two weeks during the first days of occupation, and he left behind five daughters and two sons. My brother Mohammed who passed away last year at 67 years of age was fully paralyzed since 1990. He had four daughters and a son who all helped his mother in caring for their crippled father while he was alive. My brother Helmi, 60 years old, was a school teacher at Kuwait and had to leave in 1990 after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He is unemployed and has two boys and three girls. My eldest sister Rushdeih, 70 years of age, suffers from heart problems has ten boys and two girls. My sister Rasheeda, who I saw only once over the last twenty-five years, lived in Kuwait from 1968 until earlier this year when she passed away. And my sister Shafiqa who passed away in June of 2001 had four children-two boys and two girls.

18. My mother, Amneh who died in 1989 at 75 years due to breast cancer, was my father's second marriage. She was a widow at the time of her death and is survived by her daughter, Samira, and myself and a second son. My sister Samira is 50 years of age and has three sons and three daughters; two of her sons are unemployed. My younger brother Moayed 37 years of age, who has been living in Jordan since 1978, has four boys.

19. I attended Seida Elementary School where we used to have three classes in one room and only one teacher in the room. After 1967, all six classes were kept in one room and only one teacher for all six grades. I finished the middle school at Illar's Boys School, which was a four-mile walk each way, every day. I attended high school at Atile Secondary School, finishing in 1977, where I had sometimes to walk 10 miles every day since there was no regular transportation.

20. When the war erupted in 1967, the Israeli army again seized the West Bank, Gaza Strip, the Sinai Peninsula, and East Jerusalem (which they would later annex as part of Israel), striking terror into the community of Palestinians living in these areas. Terror inflicted on non-combatants in the occupied territories in the first weeks of the occupation hastened a mass flight of many camp-refugees. Most of those who fled went to neighboring Jordan, while the bulk of the refugees, numbering nearly three quarters of a million people, were left under army control. But to leave Palestine or to be caught outside the country at the commencement of hostilities, in most cases meant leaving Palestine forever. Israel's policy then forbade re-entry by native Palestinians, as today they will not permit alienated Palestinians to re-settle in the Occupied Territories, effectively completing for them the systematic expulsion from their homeland begun in 1948.

21. Our life became incredibly difficult in 1967—no running water, limited electricity, no sanitation, curfews, limited schools and school closings and shortages of the basic necessities. We are governed by the occupier’s law, much of which had not been committed to writing until very recently; it remains however totally arbitrary often with young soldiers exercising outright power over our lives and aspirations. Israelis have the right to stop us at any time, to detain us and to imprison us without the right to see a lawyer, all in the absence of any due process. We are tried in military courts where the language is Hebrew, though we speak Arabic. There are limited jobs available and most Palestinians work in Israel as industrial or agricultural workers. The per capita income for the Palestinians in the Israeli occupied territories is $1,000 U.S. dollars compared to $16,000 for the Israelis just a few miles away.

22. The Palestinian people, as a whole, are among the best educated in the world, and virtually all of life's instruction for young boys in the 1960's and 1970's took place in the mosque. Attending classes year-round, Islam is the foundation on which all knowledge is built, and grounding in the Koran is a necessary prerequisite to studying any other subject. A Palestinian boy is expected to take his place in the spiritual life of the community alongside the men, and he must be prepared to this end. By day, I would study my lessons, and by night, I often attended lectures by prominent sheiks and religious leaders at the mosque. Often the discussions were about the future of my people, and our duty to live our lives for Allah and an eventual peaceful future for the Palestinians.

23. My father, who was a prominent cleric in my town, was a great early influence on me. He was in charge of a mosque and taught religious instruction, led prayer and gave speeches. Sometimes, I used to lead prayer groups at the mosque, and at other times I volunteered in charitable and service activities.

24. At school, younger instructors, who explained for the boys the concept of Zionism, and the history of Jewish settlements since the 1890’s, and expansionist goals of the state of Israel, constantly reinforced Palestinian nationalism. My education at the mosque included ceaseless invocation to love my people, and to cherish the cause of statehood and that only Allah could guide the struggle. I have been a political activist since the day of the Israeli occupation. I fervently believe in the liberation of Palestine. I also am a devout Muslim and hold fervent religious convictions. The teachings from the Koran are my mandate. These values have shaped my opinions and are the overarching determinants of how I live my life and conduct myself.

25. I attended BirZeit University, BirZeit, West Bank in 1978. It is 20 miles north of Jerusalem, in the Ramallah area. I participated in many student demonstrations against the Israeli occupation. I was summoned many times to the Israeli military offices because of my activities. The Israelis closed my university and the other universities in the West Bank and Gaza on a regular basis in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Also, I was part of the leadership of the student movement at BirZeit. I was a candidate in the Islamic Block for the election on the student council.

26. In one particular demonstration on November 2, 1981 at BirZeit University commemorating the Balfour Declaration (a 1917 British position paper which expressed the Crown’s commitment to creating a state for the Jews of Europe in Palestine), the Israelis besieged the University from early morning to the evening. The Administration reached an agreement with the Israelis to let the students leave peacefully and the Israeli military would not intervene. But, after we left the University, the Israelis started to break into the student's houses to arrest some of us. I was arrested. The Israeli military came to my house, which I shared with 3 roommates. They accused me of participating in the demonstration and protesting. They handcuffed me, did not allow me to put on my shoes, and shoved me into the military car. They were hitting me and kicking me with their hands and the butts of their guns on my body including my knees, head, hands and feet. They stomped on my feet and I did not have shoes to protect them. The Israeli military took me in a military truck with 16 other students to Ramallah Central Jail. They continued to beat us all that night. My feet were bleeding because they kept stomping on them with their military boots and my head was throbbing because they kept wacking it with the butt of their guns. They processed us at the Ramallah Central Jail where other students were being held and accused us of participating in the demonstration and throwing stones. They told us we had 3 choices—plead guilty and go free, identify other students, or face jail. 16 of us went to jail. After 4 days they took us to court. My lawyer was Leah Tsemel who was the attorney for BirZeit University. Leah Tsemel is an Israeli who represents Palestinians because she believes that the occupation is wrong and Palestinians are treated inhumanely. I would not plead guilty and I would not eye witness against others. Those are not my principles. I remained in jail.

27. I was in a cell with 5 other people. The cell was very tiny, maybe 3 yards by 3 yards. It contained mattresses and a jar for use as a bathroom. We were allowed out of it two hours a day. After 6 p.m., we could not leave the cell. There was one shower in the jail where about sixty people were housed. After the student leaders were arrested, the students conducted further protests and the Israelis closed the University for 2 months. The student movement in other Universities conducted demonstrations in support of us. Finally, there was a lot of pressure on the Israeli government to release us. We were released on the equivalent of $2500 bail. Dr. Hanan Ashwawi—a former chief minister for education in the government of the Palestinian Authority and then the head of the English department at Birzeit University--posted my bail at that time, after sixteen days without charges. I was called to court twice during that time, but my case was postponed and I was never called to the dock.

28. I was summoned many times by the Israeli Intelligence services between 1979 and 1982. I never obeyed their summonses, based on my attorney's advice. On many occasions, my apartment was searched and before certain anniversaries, the Israel military would round up some activists, including myself, in anticipation of protests. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 1982. However, like most Palestinian graduates, I could not get a job in my area. I went to the University of LaVerne, in Athens, Greece, from 1982 -1985. There I obtained a Master’s in Business Administration and then returned to the West Bank to become a Lecturer at The Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza Strip. I became Director of the Public Relations Department from September 1986 to November,1989. During this time I was the formal spokesman for the University. I also was the Editor of the University Magazine and presided over the university's editorial committee for the 1987 Annual Book and the university's catalog.

29. I met my wife, Asmaa Jamal Muhanna, in Gaza in 1986, while I was working at the Islamic University of Gaza. My wife comes from a large Gaza City family and was a student at the Islamic University of Gaza.

30. I was appointed at that time by the Islamic University Administration to represent the university in an ad hoc committee established by the Council for Higher Education in the Israeli Occupied Territories to expose the Israelis procedures against Palestinian academic institutions. The Israelis since the beginning of the uprising in December, 1987 until October, 1991 closed down all academic institutions—universities, schools, community centers, grammar schools and kindergartens. The committee tried to rally support from the western democracies in Europe and the Americas to pressure the Israelis to reopen the schools.

31. I was summoned to the Shin Bet, the Israeli security service, and questioned about my role as the spokesman for the Islamic University and my writings as Editor of the University magazine. I was detained by them and questioned at length. I was threatened with jail and deportation constantly. In January, 1986, the deputy of the Israeli Commander in Gaza invaded my apartment and ordered me to leave Gaza within 24 hours. When I asked him why, he said that he was issuing a military order and that no explanation was necessary.

32. In November of that year David Hakhami, Israeli Deputy Commander for Gaza, interviewed me. He asked questions about The Islamic University and wanted specific information. I told him I was not in a position to answer the questions and suggested he should ask the President. He told me that we would be seeing each other frequently. He called sometimes every day, and at least once each week. High ranking Israeli officials in Gaza, including Ms. VeraTamara, interviewed me many times between November, 1986 and November, 1989. They typically threatened me with jail and deportation at these meetings.

33. In May, 1987, the Israelis issued a military order banning the publication of the University magazine of which I was the Editor. I had written articles describing Israeli actions and treatment of Palestinians and their institutions. One action in particular had occurred on April 19, 1987. The Israelis had broken into the University. They broke the windows, gates, and doors. I wrote an article about it and described the Israeli occupation forces and their actions. Ms. Tamara again called me to the Israeli head office in the Gaza Strip. She told me that I "had crossed the line and we know how to discipline you." She said that they knew that I was a newlywed and that they could hurt me. She said that what I wrote was lies, a provocation, and that I should not have written it. She also told me not to refer to the Israeli army as Israeli occupation forces. She threatened me with jail and deportation.

34. In July, 1987, a Delegation of Academics from the United States visited the Islamic University. It was published in the newspapers. I was called into the Shin Bet again at Abu Khadera. They wanted to know all about the Delegation, who they were, what I told them about the Israelis, or anything else. I was interrogated by them for a long time. They threatened me again with jail and deportation.

35. In December, 1987, after the beginning of the intifada, all academic institutions were closed. Gaza and the West Bank were designated Military Zones under martial law. No one was allowed to enter the University. The Universities offered classes in other locations for the 3rd- and 4th-year students.

36. In 1989 I was awarded a Thomas Jefferson Fellowship financed by USAID and the Fulbright Program, and administered by a group called AmidEast, so that I might obtain my Doctorate at the University of Mississippi. My admission was for fall 1989 but I was unable to attend classes because the Israelis would not allow me to leave the Occupied Territories. I was finally allowed to leave through the intervention of Mr. Abraham Milameed, an attorney and the former Interior Minister of Israel in the Begin government. He was on the Executive Committee of Mefdel Party, the National Religious Party. He convinced the Shin Bet to let me leave. They told him that I was a political activist and they did not want me to become an activist in the United States because it hurts the Israelis more when Palestinians come to the United States and expose Americans to the Palestinian viewpoint.

37. I came to the United States in November 1989 to attend the University of Mississippi as an exchange student. Nearly two years after I arrived at the University, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s office in Mississippi contacted me; apparently they had been in communication for some time with Nancy Rogers, the Assistant Director of International Programs at the University, with regard to my activities at the University. She introduced me to the FBI and the Assistant U.S. Attorney at a meeting at the University. She asked if I would talk to them and told me that the person was pro-Palestinian. I was encouraged by Ms. Rogers to talk to the government, and I was eager not to displease the University, which had been such a good host to me. The government then maintained contact with me from approximately December 1991 to 1997, making contact between ten and fifteen times. Some of these contacts led to meetings.

38. My first interview was with FBI Special Agent Steve Taylor in Oxford, Mississippi in December 1991. He told me that he was asked by the State department to interview me. Ultimately, I was interviewed by the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office perhaps as many as fifteen times. On one occasion, October 26, 1994, I met with Steve Taylor and E. Avery Rollins, FBI Supervisory Special Agent from Jackson, Mississippi. He told me that the FBI was acting on behalf of the Israeli government and that they had targeted me. He made accusations and asked questions about Palestinian organizations such as Hamas, fundraising, and my work at the Islamic University of Gaza. At the end of the meeting, he told me I had nothing to worry about and to get back to my daily life.

39. I was contacted on a regular basis beginning September, 1996. At that time I was completing my studies and working on my dissertation, while planning to move to New Jersey, where my wife had found a job. I was contacted by John Hailman, Chief, Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Mississippi. He advised that me they had concluded their investigation and told me I had four options: that I would be deported; that I would be charged with crimes; that I would help them build a case against Mousa Abu Marzook; or that the FBI and other U.S. government agencies would release materials portraying me as an informant, in the hopes that I would be discredited with Palestinian groups. I was scared to death. I asked why the government was contemplating such a campaign against me at that time—was it because I was going to New Jersey? Mr. Hailman told me that they did not want me to go there because Jews who are pro- Israeli dominate the FBI office in New York and New Jersey and they didn’t want anything bad to happen to me. Also, I had recently broken my coccyx in a fall down a staircase, and I had begun treatment for the pain at a clinic in Memphis; that very day I had a severe pinched vertebral nerve. I was not to do anything for 24 hours but they insisted on talking to me.

40. U.S. Attorney, John Hailman called me again on October 1, 1996. He wanted to meet on October 2, 1996. I met with him and the following persons: Steve Taylor; Avery Rollins; Richard Calcagno, FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Oxford, Mississippi; and James Feier, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Jackson, Mississippi; at the Ramada Inn, Room 222, Oxford, Mississippi. They threatened me with deportation. They talked about money laundering, the Palestinian resistance movement HAMAS and its leadership in the U.S. They mentioned at one point Mousa Abu Marzook, the HAMAS activist. They were trying to build a case against him and other activists. They offered me inducements such as full-time employment, U.S. citizenship, money, and even a ministerial post in the Arafat government of the Palestinian Authority. They told me to talk to my wife and bring her with me the next day. I met with them again on October 3, 1996 with my wife. It was the same type of conversation.

41. I continued to meet with this group of investigators. I told them I would not cooperate with them to incriminate anyone, testify or identify anyone. John Hailman said the Department of Justice would not bring charges but that they needed me for educational purposes about Palestine, various groups, settlements, refugees, Jerusalem, Israeli actions, etc. I told them I would meet with them for educational purposes.

42. On December 5, 1996 I was introduced by John Hailman and Richard Calcagno to John Atkins, FBI Special Agent, Washington, Metropolitan Field Office. He advised me that he was from the National Security Division. He told me to deal with him. He said the other men were from the criminal investigation. He wanted more information. He also told me he could help with my back injury and send me to the Mayo clinic. I met with him three more times before Christmas and again in January and February, 1997. Also, I was contacted many times by John Hailman through Mrs. Rogers, who advised that they would not let me live peacefully and normally unless I would meet with him.

43. During this time my phone was wired, I was receiving strange calls, my doctor's appointments were canceled, my mail was tampered with, and someone was using my credit cards. Strange things were happening to me.

44. I was awarded my Ph.D in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi in May, 1997.

45. Finally, I was subpoenaed to appear before the Grand Jury in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York investigating money laundering and I complied with the subpoena voluntarily. However, I refused to answer any questions based on my religious, political and personal beliefs. I was held in civil contempt for refusal to testify in an effort to force me to testify. I started a hunger strike the first day of my incarceration, 2/23/98 and continued it until my release on 8/21/98 (180 days later). I was force-fed while I was in jail on civil contempt charges.

46. During my hunger strike, I took only water, and was force-fed by the prison medical staff. It was very painful to have my veins constantly probed by needles and catheterized—my veins were difficult to isolate, and became progressively so as the hunger strike wore on. At one point, the medical personnel catheterized me via the vein in my neck, which was incredibly painful, so much so that I constantly had to think upon those in the history of struggle for religious and political beliefs who had withstood torture, burning, and unimaginable torment. I continually buttressed my convictions by reminding myself that they were men, as am I, and that pain and discomfort is part of the struggle. This thought was my only comfort.

47. I had broken my back falling down a staircase in February 1995, while still completing my studies at Ole Miss. My coccyx was broken in this accident, and has caused chronic pain since then. This pain was greatly increased during my incarceration; not least because of the uncomfortable conditions I was kept in, and because it remained untreated. In addition, as my body weight declined, the discomfort of the coccyx break became more acute, adding a further measure of pain to my hunger strike.

48. After Judge Cote found that I would never testify before the grand jury and ordered my release, I resumed my professional life in Virginia, taking an adjunct teaching position in Business Administration at Strayer University in Loudon, VA. Simultaneously, I became a Research Fellow at the United Association for Studies and Research, in Springfield, VA, where I conducted original research on development and technology transfer; in addition, I reviewed and edited articles for the Association’s Journal, and consulted with the organization on its business management practices.

49. In the fall 1999 and spring 2000 semesters I was employed as an adjunct instructor at the University of the District of Columbia, teaching undergraduate business classes. During the spring 2000 semester I also taught Operations Management as an adjunct at Towson University in Maryland.

50. Although most of the medical conditions that I suffered from before my incarceration in 1998 have abated, I have experienced new ailments that arose as a result of my hunger strike, and my other untreated conditions during the term in jail. Needless to say the conditions of my confinement and their effect on my health were nothing short of devastating and, among other things, included:

* Placement in solitary confinement at the MCC for commencing a hunger strike
* Repeated punitive strip searches
* Unnecessary placement in shackles and black boxes;
* Being moved to hospitals without anyone knowing of my whereabouts;
* Enduring extremely unsanitary hospital conditions at the Westchester Co. Medical Center jail ward;

* Enduring an approximately six month hunger strike, despite plates of food being left at my bedside all day long;

* Enduring the overwhelming stench of mentally disturbed and terminally ill inmates urinating and conducting bowel movements in the bed next to me (and not being permitted to open the windows);

* Enduring the excruciating pain of repeated unsuccessful jabs of needles and IV’s into my damaged, collapsed, shrunken and unreachable veins in my hands, arms, elbows, knees, legs and neck;

* Enduring swelling and pain from bad IV placement and vein sensitivity;
* Enduring burning, thick gelatinous matter put into my veins;
* Enduring the excruciating pain of three tubes being shoved into my internal jugular vein;

* Enduring the extreme pain and tightness of the popping of stitches and dressing and redressing with painful tape of the holes in my neck;

* Enduring re-stitching of my neck without anesthesia;
* Enduring dangerously low potassium, magnesium, glucose and blood pressure level due to my hunger strike and diabetes;

* Enduring infection; severe headaches; fainting; dizziness; severe diarrhea; dehydration; sever acid reflux; inability to sleep; fevers; chills; sweating; rapid weight loss; and the possibility of other sever medical conditions and death due to the catheter tubes in my internal jugular vein and my hunger strike;

* Enduring extreme chronic back pain worsened by the refusal to provide me with any physical therapy, or two of the three medications for my back (withheld to force me to give up my hunger strike);

* Enduring constant noise from a loud television, belligerent disturbed patients, and relentless moaning, groaning and fighting among roommates;

* Deprivation of ju’maah (communal ritual prayer);

* Deprivation of exercise or physical therapy;

* Enduring racist and ignorant people, among the staff and other patients, who continually called me a terrorist;

* Failure of my feeding tubes rammed down my nose into my throat and stomach repeatedly against my will;

* Severe muscle and weight loss; and being shackled to my bed at all four points forcibly, due to my hunger strike.

51. Since my incarceration, my health has further declined, as a result of my hunger strike and the strain that occurred from my time in jail. I now have a chronic, ulcerated stomach as a result of the ordeal, and I must take Prevacid twice daily for the irritation to my stomach. My knees suffer from chronic arthritis, and I have back pain, which is related to the injury I suffered from falling down a staircase before my incarceration, which exacerbated it through the discomfort of my cell and my bad nutrition. I presently take Relaafin for my arthritis. I also suffer from severe migraine headaches, which occur daily, and I presently take Zoloft to treat the pain of these episodes. Finally, I suffer from Type II adult-onset diabetes, which is controlled at this time. Despite all this, as is shown by my resolve in my last incarceration nothing about my current medical conditions or changes in the future will affect my resolve.

52. I will not testify. I was prepared to die in jail in 1998 rather than to testify before the grand jury. The same holds true today.

DATED: Alexandria, VA

On this 12th day of July 2003