A statement from Judea and Ruth Pearl

Read at the advanced screening of A Mighty Heart, in benefit of the Daniel Pearl Education Center East Brunswick, N.J., June 20, 2007.

Daniel Pearl was our only son, and it is very difficult for us to imagine a movie that re-enacts the unsuccessful search for him when he was in captivity -- this was the most dreadful period in our lives.

Frankly, no movie can faithfully capture Danny's character -- his gentleness, integrity and resilience, his music, humor and love of humanity.

We nevertheless hope that "A Mighty Heart" will radiate some of these qualities and that the millions who will watch it will be inspired to join us and the Daniel Pearl Foundation in fighting the ideology of hatred that took Danny's life.

In his death, Danny became an icon to many ideals.

First and foremost, he came to represent the nobleness of the journalism profession, and the courage and integrity of hundreds of principled journalists who are currently roaming the globe with a camera or a laptop in the pursuit of truth, so that all of us can view reality from a deeper level of understanding.

Second, he became an icon of good-old-fashion American values.

America that extends a friendly hand to the less fortunate part of the world, America that builds bridges, cares, and gives without asking in return.

As Bernard Henry Levy put it: Daniel's face became one of the few mirrors at which our era can stare without shame.

Third, his last words "I am Jewish" have become the ultimate, modern-day expression for the right of every individual to find dignity in his/her heritage and identity.

Finally, Danny's tragedy came to symbolize the resurrection of the age-old idea of Right-and-Wrong. After decades of moral ambiguation and cultural relativism, even the staunchest champion of political correctness must now face its limits and admit: Those who boast in the killing of an unarmed journalist and those who vow to end such acts are not two sides of the same coin; they stand on two opposite ends of every civilized moral barometer -- no ifs, ands, or buts.

Moral relativism died with Danny, in Karachi, on January 31, 2002.

It is hard to convey all these ideas in one movie, but we hope you will find their traces visible in the film you are about to watch.

We thank you for being with us in our difficult times, for supporting the Daniel Pearl Education Center in East Brunswick (where Danny was born 44 years ago) and for your determination to build a better world for our children and grandchildren.

Judea and Ruth Pearl
Encino California
June 19, 2007