President Bush, Daniel Pearl Family Honor Hanukkah

Bush, Slain Journalist's Parents, To Mark Hanukkah
YahooNews--AFP

US President George W. Bush was to welcome the parents of slain US journalist Daniel Pearl on Monday to light the Pearl family menorah to mark the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the White House said.

Pearl, a Karachi-based correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped on January 23, 2002. A videotape showing his beheading was later distributed on the Internet.
Professor Judea Pearl and Ruth Pearl will join Bush to light the menorah, which will stay at the White House through Tuesday, the final night of Hanukkah, said Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino.

The candelabrum originally belonged to Judea Pearl's grandparents, who brought it with them when they moved from Poland in 1924 to land that would later become part of the state of Israel, to establish the town of Bnai-Brak.

Pearl's final words, captured on videotape, referenced the town and the fact that one of the streets there is named for his great-grandfather.

"Our family is humbled and honored by this unexpected tribute," Ruth Pearl mother said in a statement released by the Daniel Pearl Foundation.

"We hope that our Menorah serves as a visual reminder to all people who are facing darkness that, with hope and perseverance, freedom and goodness will prevail," she said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071210/pl_afp/usattackshanukkahbushpearl