From The New University Newspaper (UC Irvine)
May 24th, 2005

Pearl's father calls for peace
Judea Pearl and Akbar Ahmed promote understanding between world religions.
By Julie Littman

On May 16, Judea Pearl, director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory at UC Los Angeles and father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and Akbar Ahmed, the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of international studies at American University, delivered a presentation entitled “The Daniel Pearl Dialogue for Muslim-Jewish Understanding” in UC Irvine’s Crystal Cove Auditorium.

Daniel Pearl was beheaded in Pakistan in 2002 after being abducted by kidnappers while attempting to do an investigative story on militant extremists.

Dean of Students Sally Peterson introduced the event, which was intended to be a dialogue to improve awareness about Muslim-Jewish relations.

Rusty Kennedy, executive director and CEO of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, acted as moderator for the event.

“Diplomacy is the art of working a conversation with people you have differences with and yet you can find a way to talk and communicate,” Kennedy said.

Ahmed said that this dialogue began when he first heard that Daniel Pearl was “killed in such a brutal manner” in Ahmed’s home country of Pakistan.

“Societies feel under siege and when societies feel under siege, they tend to be intolerant and defensive,” Ahmed said. “Muslims feel like this.”

According to Ahmed, dialogues like this one help to promote respect and empathy within the community and result in increased understanding.

“Relations in the Muslim world are complicated and will continue to be complicated if there is not more dialogue and more understanding,” Ahmed said.

According to Ahmed, the importance of dialogue is to increase understanding and tolerance between the two groups.

“Seventy percent of Americans, when polled, admitted that they don’t know anything about Islam,” Ahmed said. “And in the Muslim world, perhaps [the number of people who don’t know anything about America] is even higher. The Muslim world [is also] engaged in ignorance about America and about the West and hostility—a very dangerous combination.”

After Ahmed spoke, Pearl talked about “channeling all the energy and good will ... to fight the hatred that took [Daniel’s] life” by establishing a foundation in his name.

“Danny was a walking sunshine of truth, beauty and humanity,” Pearl said.

According to Pearl, engaging in dialogues is one way that people can help fight against this violence and hatred.

After Pearl’s speech, the two speakers began a dialogue based on the commonality between their respective religions. Ahmed classified the dialogue as “grandfathers concerned ... about the future of their grandchildren’s generation.”

They discussed a recent Newsweek article that reported desecration of the Quran by American soldiers during interrogations of detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The article caused protests within many Muslim communities, though it was later said to be false.

Ahmed and Pearl both said that Christian, Jewish and Islamic religions share a common prophet in Abraham, and that desecration of the Quran is an insult to all religions.

“Islam sees itself as a continuation of Judeo-Christian traditions,” Ahmed said. He explained that the appearance of Abraham and Moses in Islamic texts shows the similarities of the religious texts.

During a Q-and-A session, one student raised concerns about Muslim-Jewish tensions on campus and asked Ahmed and Pearl for recommendations to alleviate these tensions.

“Continue the dialogue,” Pearl said. “Issues should be displayed side by side as two narratives.”

Ahmed said, “What is important is the friendship, [which is] what I believe is what is missing in your dialogue.”

In closing, the two speakers offered their opinions on how to end conflicts between Muslims and Jews.

Pearl said that a leader needs to “come out and say that this is a conflict between two equally legitimate nationalities.”

Ahmed reiterated the need for communication.

“We need to promote talking and understanding,” Ahmed said. “This is an endless cycle that really needs to stop.”

Student reaction to the event was mixed.

“Everyone has a misconception and I honestly think that others need to talk,” said Natalie Rastegar, a first-year political science major. “There needs to be respect.”

Maura Velasco, a fifth-year political science and history double major, was glad that Pearl was able to turn his personal tragedy into something constructive.

“I don’t think we can focus on [just] the tragedies,” Velasco said. “The tragedy of Daniel Pearl caused his father and a Muslim scholar to come together. One tragedy always reveals the better good and better cooperation.”

However, Ahmed Al-Kalby, a first-year earth system science major, wished for “a dialogue with more interaction with the crowd and not just them two, and a dialogue that focuses more on modern issues and not just the Torah and the Quran.”