Sample JAT Information Alert:
Wall Street Journal Article by Daniel Pearl's Father


DATE:	23 February, 2003
TYPE:	Information
SCOPE:	Global

SUBJ:	Wall Street Journal Article by Daniel Pearl's Father

We pass along the following article by Daniel Pearl's father
and encourage our members to participate in memorial events,
such as the one (publicized in a recent JAT message) at 5 pm
today in Cambridge, MA, at First Parish Church, Harvard
Square (3 Church Street, by the Body Shop). [Topica has been
down for maintenance and will process queued messages when
it comes back up Sunday afternoon. We apologize if this
messages reaches some people too late.]


The Tide of Madness: The world must stand against the evil
that took my son's life.

BY JUDEA PEARL
Thursday, February 20, 2003 12:01 a.m. EST
From the Feb. 20 Wall Street Journal Online.

Tomorrow will mark the first anniversary of the day the
world learned of the murder of my son Daniel Pearl, a
reporter for this newspaper. It is time to step back and
reflect on the significance of this tragedy.

Much has been written on the new challenges that Danny's
murder represents to international journalism. But
relatively little attention was given to one aspect of the
motives of the perpetrators, specifically to the role of
anti-American and anti-Semitic sentiments in the planning
and execution of the murder. In fact, what shocked and
united people from all over the world was the nature of
those motives.

The murder weapon in Danny's case was aimed not at a
faceless enemy or institution, but at a gentle human
being--one whose face is now familiar to millions of people
around the world. Danny's murderers spent a week with him;
they must have seen his radiating humanity. Killing him so
brutally, and in front of a video camera, marked a new low
in man's inhumanity to man. People of all faiths were thus
shocked to realize that mankind can still be dragged to such
depths by certain myths and ideologies.

Danny was killed because he represented us, namely the
ideals that every civilized person aspires to
uphold--modernity, openness, pluralism, freedom of inquiry,
truth, honesty and respect for all people. Decent people of
all backgrounds have consequently felt personally targeted
in this crime, and have been motivated to carry on Danny's
spirit.

Reactions to Danny's death varied from community to
community. In Pakistan, many have condemned the murder as a
barbaric act carried out by a minority of fanatics at the
fringe of society, while some find absolution in assuming
that Danny was a spy. Sadly, anti-Semitism and sympathies
with the perpetrators, as revealed in the trial of Omar
Sheikh, seem to be more widespread than openly admitted. The
trial itself is at a puzzling standstill, with no date set
for appeal decision. In Saudi Arabia, the murder video has
been used to arouse and recruit new members to terrorist
organizations. In Europe, Danny's murder has been condemned
as an attack against journalism, while the anti-American,
anti-Jewish sentiments were played down considerably. This
is understandable, considering the anti-American and
anti-Western sentiment echoed in editorials in some
respectable European newspapers.

In contrast, Danny's captors concentrated on his Jewish and
Israeli heritage. Evidently the murderers were confident
that Danny's Jewish connections were sufficient to license
the gruesome murder they were about to commit. Such a brazen
call to condone the killing of a human being by virtue of
his religion or heritage is strongly reminiscent of the
horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany.

In a world governed by reason and leadership, one would expect world
leaders to immediately denounce such racist calls before they become
an epidemic. However, President Bush was the only world leader to
acknowledge the connection between Danny's murder and the rise of
anti-Semitism: "We reject the ancient evil of anti-Semitism
whether it is practiced by the killers of Daniel Pearl or by those who
burn synagogues in France." No European head of state rose to
John F. Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" with the morally
equivalent statement "Today, I am a Jew."

Not surprisingly, our unguided world has seen an alarming rise of
anti-Semitic activity in the past year. Tens of millions of Muslims
have become unshakably convinced that Jews were responsible for the
Sept. 11 attack. Egypt's state-controlled television aired a 30-part
program based on the notorious anti-Semitic book "The Protocols
of the Elders of Zion," and Egyptians were fed another fantasy,
that Jews are plotting to take over the world. Syria's defense
minister, Mustafa Tlas, released the eighth edition of his book,
"The Matzah of Zion," in which he accuses Jews of using the
blood of Christians to bake matzah for Passover. And on the sideline,
while these flames of hatred were consuming sizable chunks of the
world's population, traditionally vocal champions of antiracism
remained silent.

Against this tide of madness the world is about to remember
Daniel Pearl--a Jew, a citizen of the world, and a dialogue
maker who formed genuine connections among people of
different backgrounds. In Danny's spirit, we have asked
every community that plans to commemorate the anniversary of
his death to invite a neighboring synagogue, mosque, church
or temple of different faith to join in a prayer for a sane
and humane world, a world free of the hatred that took
Danny's life. Interfaith memorials will take place, starting
tonight, in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, London and
Jerusalem, with additional services planned world-wide.

We hope that the combination of multifaith attendance, joint
statements against intolerance, and the unifying global
spirit of the day will serve as catalysts for building
alliances against the rising tide of fanaticism,
dehumanization, and xenophobia.

Mr. Pearl is the father of Daniel Pearl and president of the
Daniel Pearl Foundation (http://www.danielpearl.org).

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Visit the JAT-Action home page at

   http://JAT-Action.org

Contact JAT at

   Team@JAT-Action.org  or  Jatman@JAT-Action.org

(no need to write to both addresses -- they reach the
same people)

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

GENERAL POINTS WHEN WRITING A LETTER:

* make your viewpoint clear in the first sentence;
* do not use inflammatory or abusive language;
* be specific, positive, and professional;
* let your points do the talking;
* letters sent by fax or mail are more effective;
* phone calls may be the most effective;
* messages sent by email are less effective

FOLLOW-UP: Whenever you receive a substantive response to
your correspondence, please send a copy of that response
along with your original correspondence, to:

   email:       FollowUp@JAT-Action.org
   FAX:         208-247-0658

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Valid HTML 4.01!