From Liberal Jew To Al Qaeda In Two Generations

Carl K. Pearlman, now deceased, was an East Coaster who moved to Santa Ana in OC in 1948, with his wife Agnes to practice medicine. He is the grandfather of Adam Yahiye Gadahn, the mouthpiece of al Qaeda in the West.

Today's OC Register has an interesting article, the first in a three-parter that will trace the Pearlman's love of music, the arts, Israel and peace between religions through their somewhat rebellious son and on to their famous, terrorist grandson. To say it's an interesting tale is underplaying the story.

One doctor who worked with Dr. Pearlman recounts how he was shocked that a ...

... young man related to Pearlman, a Jew who won a humanitarian award for promoting peace among religions, could be part of one of the fiercest anti-Semitic terror organizations in the world. A family known for its love of social tolerance, education and the arts suddenly had to answer for violence-spewing videos featuring Gadahn, now known as "Azzam the American," an angry and articulate voice calling for the streets of his own country "to run red with blood."

The article also reports:

Although Pearlman's colleagues described him as "completely secular," they also recalled that he was a supporter of Israel, which was created just about the time the Pearlmans moved to their home in Santa Ana's Floral Park neighborhood.

"In our conversations, he had a very strong feeling for Israel," said Dr. Mel Singer, a pediatric cardiologist in Orange. "He felt very sincerely and deeply that he wanted that country to survive and make peace with the Arab nations around it."

I'm left in wretched wonder. Here is a family that was active, close, loved nights with Carl on the violin and Agnes on piano, who supported good causes and lived a good life. It is not the typical spawning ground for terror -- even less a spawning ground than John Walker's Marin County.

Yet it happened. A young man turned completely against everything his grandfather, who raised him for a time, stood for ... everything, that is, except his early draw to nihililstic heavy metal, which is still in his heart, if not heard by his ears ... and became a vile promoter of the worst hatred.

Even so, Adam Gadahn returned from Pakistan to attend is grandfather's funeral, then went back to the bosom of al Qaeda, where he lives to today. How curious a creature is Man.

Related Tags: Gadahn, al Qaeda, Terrorism, Pearlman