ISLAMIC GROUP WON'T GET A CHAIR AT TEMPLE UNIVERSITY

Good news from Philadelphia. Temple has rejected donations from an Islamic front group that Sami al-Arian may have been connected with:

Last spring, an Islamic group came to Temple University with an extremely generous offer: $1.5 million for an endowed chair in Islamic studies to honor religion professor Mahmoud Ayoub.

But after months of talks, the deal fell apart when trustees and others raised concerns about the donor, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a nonprofit research organization that was included in a government probe into funding of suspected terrorists.

[...]

IIIT was among 20 charities and nonprofits raided by the government in 2002 to gather evidence against Sami Al-Arian, a former professor suspected of funding Palestinian terrorists through a University of South Florida think tank. Al-Arian was aquitted of most charges but pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and received 57 months in prison.

Is he still in prison? I think a retrial is in order, as he can't be allowed to get away with his terror funding involvement. I'm certainly glad that Temple wouldn't take the offer.