Algemeiner Hosts Inaugural West Coast Gala Featuring Larry King, Sharon Stone and Judea Pearl

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Judea Pearl accepted a posthumous ‘Warrior for Truth’ award on behalf of his late son Daniel Pearl.

The Algemeiner hosted its inaugural West Coast gala on Wednesday with an array of high-profile participants, including famed actress Sharon Stone and broadcaster Larry King.

The event, held at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, was attended by close to 300 people, who gathered in support of The Algemeiner.

Actress Sharon Stone introduced the presentation of the ‘Warrior for Truth’ award to the late Daniel Pearl.

Honorees at the benefit included King, the late journalist Daniel Pearl and Rabbi Pini Dunner of the Beverly Hills Synagogue.

Unable to attend in person due to a recent medical procedure, a letter from King was read at the event. “In my 62 years as a broadcaster, I have always tried to connect, educate, inform and inspire people through conversation,” he said. “I’m proud, honored and humbled to be recognized.”

The evening’s master of ceremonies was commentator Lisa Daftari and the event chair was fashion icon Joyce Azria. TV host Gabrielle Loren manned the red carpet.

Other prominent attendees at the event included producers Howard Rosenman and Richard Trank, Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Marvin Hier and screenwriter David Weiss, among many other notable community and industry leaders.

The crowd was captivated by emotional remarks made by Keren Knoll, the granddaughter of Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll who was brutally murdered in her Paris apartment last year. A powerful rendition of “Jerusalem of Gold” by cantor Levi Coleman also moved the attendees.

In his speech on Wednesday, Algemeiner Editor-in-Chief Dovid Efune spoke of the publication’s commitment to make its voice heard, especially in light of the inability of persecuted Jewish communities to do so in the past. “We will always speak up because they couldn’t and we can and therefore we will never cease doing so,” he pledged.

Algemeiner publisher Simon Jacobson highlighted the paper’s ability to cultivate a broad and disparate readership through its publication of a wide variety of perspectives.

Founded in 1972 as a Yiddish broadsheet by the late veteran journalist Gershon Jacobson, The Algemeiner today prints a weekly newspaper in English and runs this website.