The government arrested Haddad on December 14, 2001. The same day the FBI and the US Treasury Department raided the charity he headed, Global Relief Foundation, and its assets were frozen. Haddad was held in solitary confinement for months and permitted only one, 15-minute phone call to his family every 30 days. His wife and three of the couple’s four children now face deportation proceedings.
He explained that the state of Michigan had recently attempted to broaden the definition of terrorism to encompass acts of civil disobedience. The state had even proposed to block the public from seeing the contents of search warrants.
Imad Hammad, regional director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, declared, “What the Arab community is facing is a different form of concentration camp.” He described how the government had attempted to deport him based on secret evidence. “For 21 years of my life it went from one stage to another simply because of my activities defending Palestinian human rights. I never committed any crime.”
He explained that the state of Michigan had recently attempted to broaden the definition of terrorism to encompass acts of civil disobedience. The state had even proposed to block the public from seeing the contents of search warrants.
Imad Hammad, regional director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, declared, “What the Arab community is facing is a different form of concentration camp.” He described how the government had attempted to deport him based on secret evidence. “For 21 years of my life it went from one stage to another simply because of my activities defending Palestinian human rights. I never committed any crime.”