Ambassador Samantha Power Baffles Many with Tweets About Daniel Pearl
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power left many scratching their heads Sunday night after she posted several tweets about the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
On Sunday, Power gave the annual Daniel Pearl Lecture at the University of California, Los Angeles, and sent out a few tweets remarking upon the experience: “Honored to give the Daniel Pearl Lecture at @UCLA and meet his parents, who responded to the hate that killed their son by urging dialogue,” she initially said.
Honored to give the Daniel Pearl Lecture at @UCLA and meet his parents, who responded to the hate that killed their son by urging dialogue.
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014
She also noted what seemed to be the theme of the speech: Press freedom around the world.
We must be vigilant in protecting the rights of the press. 2013 = 2nd highest # of journalist deaths and arrests all-time. @DanielPearlFNDN
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014
But it was this next tweet that caused a stir:
Daniel Pearl's story is reminder that individual accountability & reconciliation are required to break cycles of violence. @DanielPearlFNDN
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014
Some expressed confusion:
what the hell is @AmbassadorPower talking about? https://t.co/dflluLS8fb
— AdiosPiers! (@SooperMexican) February 24, 2014
Anyone have a clue what the hell @AmbassadorPower is talking about re: Daniel Pearl?
— Zach Novetsky (@ZNovetsky) February 24, 2014
And some conservatives took umbrage at what they saw as Power suggesting Pearl could have done something further, like “reconciliation” to prevent his own beheading:
@AmbassadorPower How, precisely, does on reconcile with medieval savages who traffic in videotaped decapitation porn?
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 24, 2014
.@AmbassadorPower Daniel Pearl's story reminds me that some evil bastards will behead an innocent person simply because he's a Jew.
— jon gabriel (@exjon) February 24, 2014
And one lawmaker, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX), even called for Power’s resignation:
President Obama should ask for @AmbassadorPower's resignation. Daniel Pearl had nothing to "reconcile" with his anti-Semitic murderers.
— Rep. Steve Stockman (@SteveWorks4You) February 24, 2014
Power later corrected herself by tweaking one word:
Correction: @DanielPearlFNDN’s work is a reminder that individual accountability + reconciliation are required to break cycles of violence.
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014
But that didn’t clarify much, some Twitter users suggested:
@AmbassadorPower I still have no idea what this means. @DanielPearlFNDN
— T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) February 24, 2014
She also pushed back against those who suggest she made an equivalency between Islamic terrorists and Jews/Americans/Westerners:
As I said last night, the men who murdered Daniel Pearl did so because "he was an American, and most of all, because he was a Jew."
— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) February 24, 2014
