Spanish journalist receives Pearl Award

MADRID (JTA) — Spanish journalist Pilar Rahola was presented with the ADL Daniel Pearl Award.

Rahola received the award Thursday in Boston for “writing and speaking out about anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Europe and elsewhere throughout the continent.”
 
The Anti-Defamation League’s Daniel Pearl Award, which is dedicated to the Jewish American reporter who was abducted and murdered in Pakistan in 2002 while pursuing a story about international terrorism, was created to recognize individuals who have made a “positive contribution to promoting improved understanding of Jews and Judaism, be it in journalism, interfaith dialogue,  politics, or diplomacy.”

The award was presented to Rahola during the ADL’s annual meeting which is taking place in Boston from October 7-9. 
 
Pilar Rahola, born in Barcelona in 1958, writes for the Spanish daily La Vanguardia and is a known figure on television and radio. From 1993 to 2000 she was a member of the Spanish Parliament for the Republican Left Party of Catalonia.
 
During the Gaza war in 2009 Rahola, among others, received death threats for her support of Israel. 
 
“We believe that your discourse against anti-Americanism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Israelism in Europe, especially among intellectuals from the extreme left, has been one of the most courageous and encouraging voices that we have heard from Europe in the last decade,” wrote Judea and Ruth Pearl, Daniel Pearl’s parents, in a letter to Rahola.
 
In receiving the award Rahola said that it was “an extraordinary honor, undoubtedly undeserved, one which I will try to carry with humility and responsibility.”

Previous recipients of the Pearl award include Thomas L. Friedman, columnist for The New York Times; Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent for The Atlantic; and Robert Satloff, executive director of The Washington Institute.

Pilar Rahola’s writings can be found at her website: www.pilarrahola.com