Daniel Pearl :: essays research papers

The tape began with the Wall Street Journal reporter saying, "My name is Daniel Pearl. I'm a Jewish-American. My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am a Jew." Then, looking at the camera, he recounted numerous family visits to Israel and noted that a street in a town in Israel was named after his great-grandfather, who was one of the founders of the town. Pearl's kidnappers had accused him of being an agent for the CIA and for the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. The Wall Street Journal and the U.S. government adamantly denied that he was a spy. The family of Daniel Pearl has established a charity "to support the causes to which he dedicated his life." Following the discussion of Pearl's heritage, there was a clear edit in the tape. Pearl can be seen looking at the camera and struggling to make statements from memory. "Not knowing anything about my situation, not being able to communicate with anybody, and only now do I think about some of the people in Guantanamo Bay. They must be in a similar situation, and I have come to realize that this is the sort of problem that Americans are going to have anywhere in the world now," he said. Among the demands Pearl's kidnappers had made is that Pakistani nationals being held by the U.S. military at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba be released. The detainees are associated with the al Qaeda network and the deposed Taliban government of Afghanistan. Pearl then looked off camera and makes this statement: "We can't be secure, we can't walk around free, as long as our government policies are continuing and we allow them to continue." There is another clear edit in the tape, and Pearl then is shown saying, "We as Americans cannot continue to bear the consequences of our government's actions, such as the unconditional support of the state of Israel." In the tape, Pearl does not appear to have been beaten. In some segments, his hair is mussed, while in others, it is slicked back. The section of the videotape where Pearl is seen speaking lasts about 90 seconds. As he speaks, pictures of bodies and funerals and words, such as "Afghanistan," are superimposed on the screen. According to Chung, that portion of the tape is then followed by a 50-second section containing graphic scenes of violence against Pearl.