Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
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Before the journalist was beheaded, his last words were, “My father’s Jewish, my mother’s Jewish, I’m Jewish.”
Covering the war on terror, Pearl made repeated trips to Pakistan to investigate the movements of “shoe bomber” Richard Reid.
The terrorists demanded: “We give you one more day if America will not meet our demands we will kill Daniel.” The email included attached photographs of Pearl handcuffed at gunpoint while another showed him holding up a newspaper.
Public efforts calling for Pearl’s release from both his wife and Journal editor went unacknowledged. The United States did not comply with the terrorist demands. The email represented the last update on Pearl’s condition until his death. The terrorists eventually released a hostage video.
While this was not known until three weeks after the fact, Pearl was beheaded nine days after the email was received but not before being mercilessly tortured by the terrorists, on February 1, 2002.
Just two days before Pearl was taken hostage he learned the news that his wife was expecting a child. Pearl’s parents founded the Daniel Pearl Foundation dedicated to the promotion of “cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and dialogue.” The Daniel Pearl Freedom of the Press Act was signed by President Obama on May 19, 2010 and seeks to protect U.S. journalists around the globe.
In a widely seen video shot by the terrorists, Daniel Pearl refused to denounce his Jewish faith and his Zionism. His last words were, “My father’s Jewish, my mother’s Jewish, I’m Jewish.”
May his memory be a blessing.
