For the past decade, conservative activist Joe Kaufman has suggested a Syrian-born professor at Florida Atlantic University may have terrorist connections.
Bassem Al-halabi, an associate professor of engineering, has no criminal convictions, and he has supporters of all faiths at FAU who say his views are closer to pacifism than terrorism.
But Kaufman, keeping his effort alive, organized a protest in front of FAU on Thursday, urging the university to fire him.
“Al-halabi is a danger … and should not be around or be able to hold influence over any of our nation’s youth, especially as a professor at a publicly funded institution,” Kaufman said.
Elsewhere on campus, a group of about 100 FAU students and employees held a counter-protest with a banner reading, “No Islamaphobia at FAU” They say Al-halabi has become the victim of Islam-bashing.
“It’s absurd,” said Joseph Gundel, 29, a graduate student who works with Al-halabi. “He’s been nothing but helpful to me and a lot of my friends. He’s there to help students no matter what their religion.”
Al-halabi attended the counter-protest and dismissed the allegations against him calling them “fabricated and baseless.”
The university released a statement defending the professor.
“Dr. Al‐halabi has never been found guilty of, nor pled guilty to, any criminal activity,” the statement read. “Those calling for his dismissal on the basis of alleged criminal activity are either uninformed or deliberately misrepresenting the truth.”
Kaufman, a Coral Springs resident, heads a group called “Americans Against Hate,” which he describes as a civil rights and terrorist watchdog group. In 2008, he led an effort to remove Jawhar Sadallah “Joe” Badran from the Broward County School Board’s Diversity Committee.
Kaufman complained about recorded comments Badran made in support of the terrorist group Hamas as well as comments in whch he advocated suicide bombings in Israel.
Al-halabi said Kaufman has been effective at persuading others to join his causes. On Thursday, 50 other protesters joined him, mostly members of the Tea Party of Fort Lauderdale and the Church of All Nations in Boca Raton.
“We have an individual teaching at FAU, who supports organizations that want to destroy both the United States and Israel,” Pastor Mark D. Boykin said. “He should not be allowed in this country, let alone teach at such a fine institution.”
Al-halabi said Kaufman has been hounding him for nearly 10 years, writing articles about him on a number of websites accusing him of having close ties to terrorists.
The FAU professor was a research assistant who published engineering articles in the early 1990s with Sami A. Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who pleaded guilty in 2006 to conspiring to aid Palestinian terrorists.
“It was 10 years before he got into any political trouble,” Al-halabi said. “When I published those articles, he was a good man who had a research grant from the Defense Department.”
Kaufman said Al-halabi’s involvement with the Islamic Center of Boca Raton also raised questions. The professor was a founding member of the center and has served on its board of directors.
Before Sept. 11, the mosque received grants and donated money to the Global Relief Foundation, which the U.S. Treasury shut down, in 2002, saying it had ties to terrorism. Mosque officials at the time said they thought the foundation’s sole purpose was humanitarian.
The tensions between Kaufman and Al-halabi escalated in March 2009 when the professor took students to Tallahassee for an annual Muslim Day. Kaufman accused him of assault and battery after a minor scuffle.
Kaufman, who writes for conservative news media, was following the group, the professor said. He said he was handing out the book, “Islamic Mafia” to the students.
“He gave me his hand like he was going to raise it,” Al-halabi said. “I held it, not against his will, but as a culture thing, telling him he was coming too close.”
Kaufman gave a different version saying the professor “violently grabbed my arm and pulled me over to a wall” and then later attacked his cameraman.
Al-halabi was arrested, but the State Attorney’s office in Leon County will dismiss the charge if he completes certain requirements, according to court records.
Kaufman tried to get support from FAU’s College Republicans at a meeting two weeks ago, but they voiced support for Al-halabi instead.
“I listened to Joe Kaufman. He has no proof for anything,” said Ashley Anastasi, president of FAU’s College Republicans. “How am I supposed to believe he is a criminal? We don’t believe he should be fired. We believe he should remain a professor at FAU.”