NEWS ITEM -— A former college professor who pleaded guilty to aiding a Palestinian terrorist group has begun a hunger strike to protest "continued government harassment," his supporters said.
Sami Al-Arian stopped eating after being held in contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury in Virginia, the Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace said in a news release Tuesday.
Al-Arian claims he is surrounded by rats and cockroaches in prison, and is forced to wear dirty and inadequate clothing.
Al-Arian, who has less than 18 months left on a 57-month sentence for aiding the Palestinian Islamic Jihad with nonviolence activities, was found guilty of contempt in November in federal court in Alexandria, Va.

SCOTT – In my opinion, aiding a terrorist organization makes you a terrorist. It is almost unimaginable how much I do not care about this guy going on a hunger strike. When his time his up, he is being deported, where he will almost certainly continue his work to attack and destroy our nation.

For those who question the way we treat prisoners, how many other countries in the world would release this guy – at any point, much less after 57 months – knowing he will continue to try and destroy us.

America makes many mistakes, mostly of omission, but some of commission, but we are still the most amazing, most fair, greatest nation on earth. God Bless America.