« Home | Blind Fly » | verylittle Project 0002 » | verylittle Project 0001 » | Bobbie's Litter Bin » | Status Anxiety » | 0600 : 0030 » | Miffy » | A Farewell to Arms » | Keep Looking, Don't Settle » | This Stop is Bangkok »

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

A Mighty Heart

Finished A Mighty Heart by Mariane Pearl. There was a couple of times I almost broke into tears when I was reading it on the boat. This book is a memoir Mariane dedicated to Daniel Pearl, her husband. Daniel, the South East Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Jounal, was kidnapped and murdered by the Islamic terrorists in Karachi shortly after 911.



Working on the land of chaos, war held no appeal to Daniel and Mariane at all. Mariane wrote:

"What interested us was the challenge presented by peace. People often see peace as the simple absence of war, but it is instead the result of courageous actions taken to initiate a dialogue between civilizations. Both Daniel and I saw our profession as way to contribute to the dialogue, to allow voices of all sides to be heard, and to bear witness."

I don't know much about news value but I think we all can make a good judgment on decency. CNN Chris Burns was the first person interviewed Mariane after Daniel's murder. Mariane stressed she could not discuss the specifics of the killing before the interview. Yet at the end of the talk, Burns leaned toward Mariane, a pregnant woman, with avidity. "Did you see the video?" he asked. Connie Chung sat in on the interview, too. After she learned the family name of Mariane's brother, she could not figure why her Arabic-looking brother is a Dutuch citizen. She whispered in his brother's ear: "Do you have a middle name?" Mariane's father is the son of a Dutuch Jewish diamond merchant. Daniel's murder was video-tapped. Despite the strong protest of Mariane, Daniel's parents and the State Department, CBS broadcasted it at last.

Mariane is the bravest person on earth. This book is a celebration of humanity.

If you want to contribute, here's the website of Daniel Pearl Foundation.