At Los Angeles Tribute, Hussein Is Remembered as a ‘Warrior for Peace’

Calling King Hussein a “warrior for peace,” Gov. Gray Davis joined Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Jewish leaders and consuls general from more than two dozen nations Monday to pay tribute to the late Jordanian leader at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance.

The tribute took place on the same stage where Hussein stood four years ago, becoming the first Muslim leader to visit the museum and the first recipient of its Peace Award.

Throughout Los Angeles, the Islamic community also mourned Hussein’s death, which came Sunday after the king’s long bout with lymphatic cancer.

Monday’s tributes were a local testament to the wide recognition of Hussein as a leader whose message of peace brought friend and foe together and spanned the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“Imagine the courage it took,” Davis said, “for him to get out of bed at the Mayo Clinic to go to the Wye conference and argue one last time for peace.”

Davis was referring to the negotiations in Wye, Md., in October, when Hussein--pale, weak and bald from several rounds of chemotherapy--left the Minnesota clinic to join the talks at a critical moment to help coax Palestinian and Israeli negotiators into an agreement.

Noting that Hussein had survived several assassination attempts, wars with Israel in 1967 and 1973, conflict with Palestinians in 1970, Davis said the king “will now be remembered as a warrior for peace. He was determined to spend his last ounce of energy for peace.”

Riordan described Hussein as “a man of rare vision and integrity.”

“King Hussein has earned a distinguished place in history,” he said. “He has shown great respect for all Jewish people and the state of Israel.”

The Wiesenthal Center’s connection to Hussein began in 1995, when a Jewish delegation led by Rabbi Marvin Hier, the center’s dean and founder, met with him and his wife, Queen Noor, in Jordan. Four weeks later, Hussein’s representatives notified Hier that he wanted to visit the Museum of Tolerance.

Hussein, his wife and three of their children visited in March that year.

Hier said Hussein’s peace efforts endeared him to Israelis and American Jews. Moreover, Hussein won many Jewish followers when he wept openly at the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated in November 1995.

He again stirred emotions when he sat on the floor and offered his condolences to Israeli families whose children were killed in an attack by a mentally disturbed Jordanian soldier in 1997.

People in the Islamic community Monday noted Hussein’s ability to bring opponents together.

Mohammed Qureshi, an administrator at the Islamic Center of Southern California, said the number of dignitaries attending Hussein’s funeral showed “he was a moderating force, able to communicate with Arab leaders and Israelis.”

Across the hall from the main prayer room, young students from the New Horizon School, a Muslim institution, recited prayers. Their principal, Shahiba Alikhan, said: “We were all sad. He was doing so much for the peace process in the Middle East. He was very dynamic in how he dealt with different people.”

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this story.