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Pearl Was a Victim of Blind Hatred
Monday, February 25, 2002
By James E. Jennings
President of Conscience International, Atlanta

Today many Americans begrudge Arabs and Central Asians control of "our" oil and gas; we resent Iraq's refusal to kowtow to American dominance; we want Afghanistan to be burqa-free and hooked on MTV; and we define terrorism as what they do to us, not what we do to them. Such hubris, the ancient Greeks taught, is a sure prelude to disaster.

The tragic death of Daniel Pearl at the hands of his captors in Pakistan points to an even deeper tragedy -- the war on terrorism's tendency to degrade reason and conscience, accelerating a descent into what President George W. Bush called "barbarism."

If the killers released the horrifying image of Pearl's throat being cut to inflame our passions, they have succeeded. But if the United States overreacts, we'll play into the hands of terrorists by doing exactly what they designed the operation to do. The situation calls for walking a strategic and tactical tightrope.

Daniel Pearl was the unfortunate victim of a vicious mindset related to the ever-deepening vortex of Mideast hatreds. In the terrorist's mind, he was guilty of three things: He was a Jew, he was an American, and he was asking probing questions about connections with al-Qaida. Those who know him say it's unthinkable that he was an Israeli secret agent. But in the highly inflamed atmosphere of Pakistan, these three things "proved" to the extremists that he in fact was.

As one who has for decades walked the streets of numerous Mideast and Central Asian cities, including, in recent months, Kabul, Herat, Peshawar, Lahore and Islamabad, I know that most local people are kind and generous. Yet many Westerners remain blind to the wider context fueling the deep anger -- and the danger -- lurking just below the surface.

Expatriates are often viewed locally as agents of imperialism, if not actual spies. Travel in disturbed areas demands observance of cardinal rules: keep curfew, meet only in safe places, meet new people only through trustworthy interlocutors, make security arrangements your first priority -- as most diplomats, journalists and aid workers know.

But the real key to survival is knowing what's in the minds of the people you meet, especially since al-Qaida declared it a religious duty to "kill Americans wherever you find them."
(More: Newsday News Source)
2002 © Conscience International, Atlanta.

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