Published: March 11, 2010
Op-Ed Contributor
Islamist Extremism and the Murder of Daniel Pearl
By Leslie J. Sacks
These are edited remarks Senator Joseph Lieberman delivered at the fourth annual Daniel Pearl Memorial Lecture at Stanford University, October 2009.
"Daniel Pearl's legacy is a powerful one, precisely because he embodied so many of the best values and convictions of our country and of the Jewish faith and people, with which he courageously identified himself in the final moment of his life...
I am speaking of the values of freedom of thought and expression, of curiosity and tolerance; and the conviction that people from different backgrounds, cultures, and faiths can not only live together and work together in peace and prosperity but that our world is made a richer, more meaningful place by virtue of doing so. It is the belief that the things that bind all of us together as human beings - history, humor, music, love, and friendship - are capable of transcending whatever differences divide us.
Our responsibility in gathering tonight, I believe, is not only to celebrate the values that defined Danny's life - but also to confront the terrible reality of his death, and the forces that were responsible for it...
What ended Danny's life was a deliberate and calculated act of evil. He was murdered by men who knew what they believed, and who knew what they were doing. What animated and inspired them was not terrorism, which is merely a tactic, but a specific worldview and ideology."
Transcript of the speech in its entirety.
Mr. Leslie J. Sacks
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Los Angeles
CA, 90025
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