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.” |