“Israel is an occupying power. That is the issue. We don’t even use that vocabulary as Americans. I come from a continent which was occupied almost every inch by Europeans and actually engaged in military action to end British rule. This was also called ‘terrorist’ by the British, because we were fighting them in military ways that the powerful regard as terrorist. So I understand Palestinians totally. And I do regard them as an occupied people who are fighting for their freedom.”
“The United States has hundreds of people in detention and the government refuses to release their names. When we were in Africa, we regarded that the height of tyranny.”
“The defense of security is the inevitable defense for taking away liberties. I know of no dictator who doesn’t use security as a reason for narrowing liberties. It’s very easy to say there’s national security at stake, the safety of my people at stake.”
Source: http://inside.binghamton.edu/January-February/7feb02/mazrui.html