“The Daniel Pearl Dialogue for Muslim-Jewish Understanding, Featuring Akbar Ahmed and Judea Pearl.”

Coming together for personal and public dialogues across the U.S., Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic studies at American University, hope to break down negative stereotypes and encourage respect for our common humanity. Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission, will serve as moderator of the one-on-one dialogue, sponsored by UC Irvine.

Judea Pearl is the father of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered in Pakistan in 2002. After his son’s death, he formed the Daniel Pearl Foundation to foster a dialogue to address the causes of intolerance. Pearl is a professor of computer science and statistics at UCLA and the co-author of I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.

 Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and a professor of international relations at American University in Washington, D.C. He is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain. He is a leading authority on contemporary Islam, and the author of numerous books, including most recently Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World.