One of the best letters to the editor you will ever see was written to the New York Times in response to its editorial in favor of 'The Death of Klinghoffer.' It was written by Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl HY"D (May God Avenge his blood).
In
joining protesters of the New York Metropolitan Opera’s production of
“The Death of Klinghoffer,” I echo the silenced voice of our son, Daniel
Pearl, and the silenced voices of other victims of terror who were
murdered, maimed or left heartbroken by the new menace of our
generation, a savagery that the Met has decided to elevate to a
normative, two-sided status worthy of artistic expression.
We are told that the composer tried to understand the hijackers, their motivations and their grievances.
I
submit that there has never been a crime in human history lacking
grievance and motivation. The 9/11 lunatics had profound motivations,
and the murderers of our son, Daniel Pearl, had very compelling
“grievances.”
In
the last few weeks we have seen with our own eyes that Hamas and the
Islamic State have grievances, too. There is nothing more enticing to a
would-be terrorist than the prospect of broadcasting his “grievances” in
Lincoln Center, the icon of American culture.
Yet
civilized society has learned to protect itself by codifying right from
wrong, separating the holy from the profane, distinguishing that which
deserves the sound of orchestras from that which commands our
unconditional revulsion. The Met has trashed this distinction and thus
betrayed its contract with society.
Oh my: US Ambassador Power refers to Daniel Pearl as part of 'cycle of violence'
If you're an American citizen, this is your ambassador to the United Nations:
Daniel Pearl's story is reminder that individual accountability & reconciliation are required to break cycles of violence. @DanielPearlFNDN
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014
Remind me now... to which 'cycle of violence' did Daniel Pearl belong when he had his throat split by a Pakistani Muslim? When was the last time Israel attacked Pakistan?
Daniel Pearl was a Jew, and he was murdered for being a Jew. Although as one of my friends pointed out this morning, the Daniel Pearl Foundation often spits out the same kind of drivel.
There are many comments on this tweet, and they are uniformly against Ambassador Power.
But recall, that this is the woman who wanted to send US troops to drive Israel out of Judea and Samaria. She fits right in with the Hussein Obama administration....
The woman who housed Daniel Pearl HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) and his wife in Karachi, Pakistan the night before he was kidnapped goes to Guantanamo to confront Khalid Sheikh Muhammed and learns what actually happened to Daniel Pearl. Long, infuriating and guaranteed to give you nightmares.
Judea Pearl to light memorial flame in memory of son Daniel
Judea Pearl, the father of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, will light a memorial flame on Monday at a ceremony commemorating Jews who were murdered around the world for being Jewish since the establishment of the State of Israel.
Pearl is an Israeli-born computer scientist and a recipient of
the Turing Award, a top prize given annually in his field.
Also present
will be Daniel Pearl’s mother, Ruth Pearl, his two sisters, his widow, Mariane
Pearl, and his son Adam Pearl, born several months after his father’s
murder.
Daniel Pearl, a Jewish correspondent for The Wall Street Journal
who held dual Israeli-American citizenship, was beheaded by Islamist terrorists
in Pakistan while researching a story about ties between “shoe bomber” Richard
Reid and al-Qaida.
Pearl’s kidnapping and subsequent murder shocked
America, and his last words, affirming his Jewishness, became widely
quoted.
“My father’s Jewish, my mother’s Jewish, I’m Jewish. My
family follows Judaism. We’ve made numerous family visits to Israel,”
Pearl was recorded saying before his murder.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post by phone from his hotel in the capital on Saturday evening, Pearl said that
he was honored to light the memorial flame and that by doing so he felt that he
was “fulfilling a promise to Danny to convey his last words to the people in
Israel and to the people of the world.”
He said that holding the ceremony
in Jerusalem was especially important because it is the city in which his son
had his bar mitzva.
“I think I’m closing the circle here,” he
said.
I'm very pleased that Professor Pearl has come here to light the flame. It is truly an appropriate memorial.
Judea Pearl: 'Anti-Zionism is the worst form of racism'
Judea Pearl, the father of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl HY"D (May God avenge his blood), surprised his listeners at the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Monday night with a scathing indictment of anti-Zionism.
Pearl, father of slain reporter Daniel Pearl, used the annual lecture on the “state of anti-Semitism” to upend conventional thinking, and argue that anti-Zionism is a strain of hate that is far more dangerous to Jews than anti-Semitism.
He called anti-Zionism, which he defined as the denial of Israel’s right to exist in the family of nations, as “the worst form of racism.” Unlike anti-Semitism, he said, it carries a measure of social acceptance, and it “hides itself in the cloak of political debate.”
Those who think anti-Semitism, especially as it colors debate about Israel in the United States, is the greater danger are mistaken, Pearl told the crowd in his opening address on Monday night. Jews, he said, have become experts at fighting anti-Semitism, likening it to a disease in which “the antibodies are known.”
“Anti-Zionism is worse. It is harder to fight. It comes in a camouflage that allows it to penetrate vital tissue undetected,” he said. Then he paused briefly and added, “Like at our universities.”
...
Pearl, who was born in Tel Aviv, speaks with an Israeli accent that sometimes makes it hard to understand his exact words. But there is no mistaking his passionate defense of Israel and his belief in the Jews’ historical connection to the land. Asked about those who criticized Israeli government’s policies, he answered that he thought anti-Zionism often was lurking beneath their words.
In his speech, Pearl called anti-Zionism “morally appalling and strategically harder to fight.
“Anti-Zionism targets the most vulnerable part of the Jewish people, the 6 million people of Israel. It condemns them to eternal statelessness in a very bad neighborhood,” he said.
He encouraged the use of the r-word, to call out as “racists” those who deny Israel’s right to exist.
“First, they are stunned. Then the debate shifts … into our core issue,” which is that they are denying the Jewish people that which is granted to other nations.
In a question handed up from the audience, Pearl was asked what he thought about Jews who say they are anti-Zionists. “That’s easy,” he responded. “It’s a ticket for social acceptance.”
Martin Luther King held similar views, and for what it's worth, I must say that I agree with Dr. Pearl as well. Look at the rhetoric coming out of the Arab Muslim world today. There's no difference between anti-Zionist and anti-Semite, except that being an 'anti-Zionist' is a socially more acceptable cover.
I saw several tweets last night that indicated that an American had been abducted by Muslims in Lahore, Pakistan. I only saw one that indicated that the victim is a Jew.
An American Jew was abducted by gunmen who broke into his house in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Saturday, the Associated Press reports.
The US Embassy identified the victim as Warren Weinstein. According to reports Weinstein serves as the Pakistan director for J.E. Austin Associates, a development contractor that works with the aid arm of the American government.
Weinstein's Linked In website profile says he is based in Lahore and has been in Pakistan for seven years. Calls to the company headquarters in Virginia were not immediately answered, but its website describes Weinstein as a development expert with 25 years experience and a Ph.D. in international law and economics.
Pakistani police said Weinstein was believed to be in his 60s, and had returned to Lahore the previous night from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. He had told his staff that would be wrapping up his final project and leaving Pakistan by Monday.
...
According to Pakistani police, two of the abductors showed up at Weinstein's house and persuaded the guards there to open the gate by saying they wanted to give them food – an act of sharing common during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started in August.
As the guards opened the gate, five other men suddenly appeared. The assailants, who were armed, punched and kicked the security guards, overpowering them before storming the house. Several more abductors were believed to have entered through the back of the residence.
The gunmen snatched Weinstein from his bedroom, hustling him out of the house and into a nearby vehicle. They did not take any other items from the house, police official Attiqur Rehman said.
Police declined to speculate on the motive, and no group immediately claimed responsibility. Security forces are checking vehicles at posts on the outskirts of the city in hopes of finding Weinstein, said Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, a deputy inspector-general of police.
Earlier this week, the US State Department issued a travel warning for its citizens saying that American diplomats are facing increased harassment and they, along with aid workers and journalists, have been falsely identified as spies in the local media.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
