Supreme Court Rejects Pollardīs Plea to be Prisoner of Zion

Supreme Court Rejects Pollardīs Plea to be Prisoner of Zion

By Hillel Fendel

(IT MAKES ME SICK TO SEE WHAT THE US HAS DONE TO POLLARD AND WHAT ISRAEL HAS NOT DONE FOR HIM.)

Israel's High Court has rejected Jonathan Pollard's request to be a Prisoner of Zion - which would have led to an end to torturous prison conditions and to better chances for his release.

The Supreme Court rejected this morning Pollard's plea to have the State of Israel recognize him as a Prisoner of Zion. The Court accepted the State's position that Pollard did not meet the required criteria, such as teaching Hebrew or encouraging immigration to Israel.

A former Prisoner of Zion, Prof. Ezriel Kochubievski of Rehovot, ridiculed this approach. Prior to the Court hearing last September, he said,

"The government stipulates that Prisoners of Zion must have engaged in Zionism. When I was in the Soviet Union, I did not think of myself as engaging in Zionism; I just wanted to go to Israel. Pollard, however, was sent by Israel to carry out a specific mission. If that's not a Zionist activity that qualifies for Prisoner of Zion status, then I also do not qualify."

Pollard's wife Esther said sadly this morning that granting her husband Prisoner of Zion status would have had two concrete results:
"It would have stopped the torturous conditions that he has been undergoing for 20 years, and it would have led to much better chances for his release. The prison authorities in the U.S. would not dare to harass someone who has been recognized in this way by the Israeli government... It also would have helped smooth the way for diplomatic pressures in both Israel and the U.S., which would have helped secure his release."

Mrs. Pollard said,
"The whole country knows that he has been suffering in prison for 20 years merely because is a Jew who wanted to help Jews. Today's Supreme Court decision is very sad for all of us."

"The government knows how to do all sorts of tricks to find ways to free terrorist murderers," Mrs. Pollard said, "yet for Jonathan Pollard it refuses even to make the simplest gestures."

In January 2005, Pollard's request to be recognized as an official Prisoner of Zion was turned down by the official Prisoners of Zion Authority. One of the stated reasons for the rejection astonished many of those following the Pollard case. "How can we know that he will want to live in Israel upon his release from prison?" the committee wrote. In his frequent letters and messages from prison, Pollard has often stated his deep desire to live in Israel.

In response to the rejection, the Knesset passed a resolution recognizing Pollard as a Prisoner of Zion, but this decision did not obligate the Government.

Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represented Jonathan Pollard in his Supreme Court petition, told the Court that Pollard's life sentence -- for passing information to Israel, classified by the US as a friendly nation -- is unprecedented in U.S. legal history. Persons convicted of actions similar to this, or even more serious than it, generally serve only 4-7 years in prison, while Pollard is now in his 21st year of a life sentence.

Darshan-Leitner also listed many incidents of torture inflicted upon Pollard while he was in prison. He was put in solitary confinement and had his clothes and glasses taken away for long periods of time during the winter months. He was forced to sleep irregular hours on a concrete slab. In addition, he was chained to an iron chair while guards sprayed ice-water at him.

For an entire year, the petition stated, Pollard was forced to reside in a special prison ward reserved for the mentally ill, where he was subjected to electrocution.

Darshan-Leitner's office said at the time,

"The lawsuit also seeks a judicial review of the Israeli government's calculated mishandling of Pollard's case for the last two decades; and its consistent refusal to mount an effective campaign to secure his freedom, as it has done for agents captured in other countries, including Cyprus, Switzerland, Jordan, and New Zealand."


Posted by Ted Belman at January 18, 2006 05:43 AM

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Comments

1. Jauhara al Kafirah said:

How can this be? This is surely one of the most heinous acts of injustice I have ever heard about. My heart breaks for Jonathan and his wife. Is he allowed to receive mail? Is there a way she may be contacted?

Posted by: Jauhara al Kafirah on January 18, 2006 07:44 AM

2. Bill Narvey said:

Hillel Fendel's very sympathetic article regarding the plight of Jonathon Pollard and his wife Esther's failed attempt to have an Israeli court declare her husband a Prisoner of Zion to aid in securing his release from an American prison is calculated to stir the emotions of his readers.

Fendel's article however raises questions that need to be addressed.

1. Is Esther Pollard correct in saying that Israeli governments over the last 20 years done nothing to win her husband's release? If so, why has Israel abandoned J. Pollard? If Israel has made efforts to free J. Pollard, what has it done and why has it not been successful?

2. Why is it so important to the U.S. that J. Pollard remain in prison? Whose and what purposes are being served to keep J. Pollard in prison?

3. What if anything has been done by AIPAC, B'Nai Brith, AJC, and others in the U.S. to prevail on the U.S. government as it was constituted over the last 20 years? If nothing has been done, why not? If efforts have been made, why did they fail?

Fendel's article serves an important purpose of bringing the plight of Mr. and Mrs. Pollard to public attention, but unfortunately does nothing to address the foregoing questions.

It seems obvious that the reasons Jonathon Pollard remains in prison are complex and that much more than sympathy for his plight is going to be needed to win his release.


Posted by: Bill Narvey on January 18, 2006 08:11 AM

3. georg von mecklenburg said:

It should be noted that Pollards espionage resulted in the release of many American Agents that operated in the former Soviet Union to be known by the Soviets and as a result of Pollards actions, they were found out and were executed by the Soviets.

Pollard also did his deed for money, not for Zionism, or Israel, but simply for money.

Posted by: georg von mecklenburg on January 18, 2006 08:21 AM

4. ShyGuy said:

Georg, are you positive about your accusation? Are you now?

Bill, I think you'll find a number (if not all) of your questions discussed at JonathanPollard.org.

Antisemites are only too happy to foam at the mouth on subjects like Pollard. Just ask them to rant on about the USS Liberty, too.

Sorry for feeding the trolls.

Posted by: ShyGuy on January 18, 2006 08:57 AM

5. ShyGuy said:

More articles about the irrelevance betwen Pollard and Ames are linked to from this page.

Posted by: ShyGuy on January 18, 2006 09:06 AM

6. Jerusalem Posts said:

Shy Guy, we all know the truth about Jon Pollard, and also know he never took money for trying to defend Israel.

The successive Israeli governments have been more than neglectful, in an appeasing, kapo-like way, of helping Pollard... but what happened shows exactly how America treats it's "allies" and "friends"! America would have no hesitation in allowing Israel to be destroyed, but Pollard actually prevented one of the most serious betrayals out of conscience. How many more betrayals have there been which we haven't known about?

As for the Jewish organisations, they're about as useful and dynamic as a limp lettuce leaf. They have jobs for life and just as happened in Germany in the 1930's, they'll do nothing except appease governments, because they have very well paid and well funded jobs for life. I've no idea why anyone donates anything when they have as much bite as a toothless lion.

Posted by: Jerusalem Posts on January 18, 2006 09:12 AM

7. Darnell Clayton said:

Although I do have sympathies for his wife, last I checked wasn't Pollard a spy? As in spying against the US?

I don't know if any government, regardless whether they are considered allies or not, spying is not taken lightly anywhere and rivals even treason (if one was spying against their own nation).

Israel has the best intelligence for obvious reasons, and I wish Pollard the best of health. But if you are spying against another country and are caught, you have to face the consequences of whatever hands you fall into. That is how the game is played.

Posted by: Darnell Clayton on January 18, 2006 12:39 PM

8. ShyGuy said:

Darnell,

No one's saying Pollard didn't do anything highly illegal. The punishment, however, doesn't fit the crime - at least if you compare Pollard's sentence to others who have done much worse.

Have you visited. JonathanPollard.org? Read and learn.

Something is rotten and we're not talking about Denmark.

Posted by: ShyGuy on January 18, 2006 12:46 PM

9. t said:

Amazing how the GOI releases murderous terrorists and imprisons little girls!But neglects, even participates in the further captivity of someone who did a great service or Israel. Shame on the two Jewish judges who denied his appeal!

Posted by: t on January 18, 2006 02:49 PM

10. Jerusalem Posts said:

I'm with you on that T... they've behaved disgustingly - and what we're seeing now is only the beginning of what the Israeli government can do to Jews... :(

Posted by: Jerusalem Posts on January 18, 2006 04:08 PM

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