Only in the U.S.? Pity!

This can only happen in the great bastion of freedom and democracy under the helm of the Great (lame duck) President Cheney Bush. t

Dr. Al-Arian's Third Hunger Strike

By Chris Hedges,

The recent documentary, "USA vs Al-Arian," detailed the absurdity of the show trial held in Florida and the hollowness of the government's case against Al-Arian. When the film was awarded Best Nordic Documentary at the Nordic Panorama in Finland the jury wrote: "The film shows precisely how a common man becomes a victim of the situation in the contemporary world, where the Big Brother is watching you even when you're ordering pizza."

The Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian, imprisoned for five years despite a jury's failure to return a single guilty verdict against him, has gone on a hunger strike in Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va. Al-Arian, who has abstained from food and water since March 3rd, began his hunger strike after being informed he would be called before a third grand jury. He has lost 15 pounds and has been moved to the jail's medical unit.