Daniel Pearl

The Journalist and the Jihadi - The Murder of Daniel Pearl
$19.98
The documentary 'The Journalist and the Jihadist - The Murder of Daniel Pearl' is a well produced, thoroughly documented account of the gruesome and tragic death of the American/Jewish journalist, Daniel Pearl as orchestrated by the English born Muslim terrorist Omar Sheikh. This contemporary event that unfortunately has not been a one time aberration, punctuates the ever increasing violence between East and West, more specifically Muslim and non-Muslim. This is in my opinion the most dangerous and crucial issue facing the world today. It's a simple, unavoidable fact that should make each and everyone of us ponder the situation, examine our thoughts and beliefs, and strive to come to a mutually acceptable solution to this escalating conflict.

That is exactly what journalist Daniel Pearl set out to be, an honest and open bridge of communication between two opposite and opposing factions. You have to admire a man who would travel to such a troubled area just after 9/11. I still have trouble understanding how an American and Jew could so boldly go into Pakistan, a known hot spot of terrorist activity and expect to come out unscathed. To be honest I can't fathom his rational, it's certainly something I would never consider. He was truly someone willing to put his life on the line for the truth, in fact the film posits the thought that the reason for his death might well be that he was killed because he uncovered something too important to allow him to share with the outside world. I guess we'll never really know if that was the reason.

While being the antagonist in this unfortunate true story Omar Sheikh was also a man just as passionate, just as committed to a cause as Daniel was. His cause and his methods were diametrically opposed to those of his victim and his thought processes, belief system, and emotional detachment from his actions are something that we in the West will probably never be able to comprehend. While watching this documentary I felt only revulsion and anger over Omar Sheikh's actions, feelings which I would assume would be shared by most of the viewers out there. Oddly enough, I'm also certain that there are innumerable potential viewers out there who identity with the other side of the equation and view Omar's acts as moral, heroic and justified. In the final analysis it is this juxtaposition of cultural paradigms where the battle between East and West will eventually be won or lost.

'The Journalist and the Jihadist' is an important film that deserves to be watched not only because it's an excellent production concerning an event that captured the attention of a worldwide audience not so long ago, but more importantly because it illuminates an ongoing dilemma the world has yet to come to grips with. God save us all.

Daniel Smith Duochrome Blue Pearl Watercolor 15ml
$13.16
Daniel Smith Watercolors...Currently we make over 200 different colors with more in the works. The range of possibilities they provide is unparalleled from our amazing selection of natural earth and PrimaTek Colors to the brightest boldest colors modern technology can offer. Carefully selected pigments ground to optimize their specific qualities are blended with the finest imported Gum Arabic put in tubes and labeled by hand.

A Mighty Heart: The Daniel Pearl Story
$1.54
Although I knew the outcome of this riveting story before reading the book, it held my interest from page one. The names and places in Pakistan were a bit confusing, but the themes of love, hope, and courage shone through every event, the happy and the sad. Mariane Pearl thinks of her husband Danny as having a mighty heart, but I think most readers of this book will argue that she too has a mighty heart, a brave one.

Interwoven within the horrors of the kidnapping and the interminable waiting that goes on, there is a love story. You sense the love the Pearls have for each other, the dreams for their unborn child, and the excitement of the life they have together. You sense the feeling of terror that Mariane feels when Danny doesn't answer his phone; nor does he call her. Still, life must go on, and she co-hosts a dinner party, one that she knows he would never miss if he were available. She suspects the worst, and by morning authorities have been contacted. There follow several tortuous weeks of waiting and hoping, of promises to bring "your Danny home" to the horrible tape that shows Danny's death.

Educational, A Mighty Heart is also a story of contrasts, good and evil. Although Danny Pearl was killed in a merciless manner, his loyal friends, loving wife, family in the states, and Adam (born at the end) demonstrate that there's still love in the world...and hope.

Who Killed Daniel Pearl?
$26.85
BHL is a specialist in intox and here the rape of conscience against a backdrop of megalomania (his own).

His portrait is quite rightly camped in "Une imposture fran���aise" by French journalists Nicolas Beau and Olivier Toscer where "Who Killed Daniel Pearl" is analyzed into its component field. There is evidence that BHL was in a physical impossibility to reach the scene of the execution of journalist Daniel Pearl and that any description of the scene is fantastic.

I quote Mrs. Daniel Pearl, the widow of murdered journalist Daniel Pearl, in response to this rag overstated: Bernard-Henri Levy is a man whose "ego destroyed intelligence."

BHL is an imposter in agreement with the Larrousse: "a person who deceives by false appearances, which is pretending to be someone else."

Reader, do not be fooled nor accomplice.