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Sunday, November 4, 2007
Pollard: In Jail Because He's A Jew

Pollard: In Jail Because He's A Jew

Brad E. Kauffman - Special to the Jewish Times [Baltimore] - November 02,
2007

After meeting recently with the staffers of six U.S. Senators regarding the
Jonathan J. Pollard case, I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that
most of our political leaders have turned a blind eye to his unbearable
suffering.

Through their silence, our Senators and Congressmen have acquiesced to the
government's blatant violation of Jonathan J. Pollard's constitutional
rights. Even more disturbing, our leaders seem to have no problem with the
government holding Jonathan J. Pollard to a harsher standard because he is a
Jew.

One staffer incorrectly told me that his Senator did not have jurisdiction
to raise the issue of executive clemency for Mr. Pollard. That's an obvious
misnomer. In 1999, 60 U.S . Senators sent an inflammatory letter to
President Bill Clinton urging him to not commute Mr. Pollard's sentence. The
letter proved to be influential in President Clinton's absurd decision to
skip over Mr. Pollard and instead pardon FALN terrorists from Puerto Rico.

[J4JP clarification: There was no link between President Clinton's decision
to pardon the FALN terrorists, very shortly after reneging upon his
commitment to free Jonathan Pollard. Nevertheless, Clinton's pardon of the
FALN terrorists ( to improve his wife's position with the Hispanic community
during the NY Senate race) puts the lie to the claim that at Wye Clinton
buckled under to the threat of CIA head George Tenet to resign if Pollard
were freed. Four months later Tenet also threatened to resign over the FALN
clemencies, but Clinton ignored him and did as he pleased. Tenet was
Clinton's excuse for reneging on Pollard, not the reason. For more
information see the FALN Clemency Page
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/senate.htm and The Wye Double-Cross Page
www.jonathanpollard.org/Wye.htm ].

If the Senators in 1999 believed they had jurisdiction to oppose executive
clemency for Mr. Pollard, they certainly have the absolute authority today
to urge President George W. Bush to commute Mr. Pollard's sentence.

Why then are our leaders adverse to the plight of Jonathan J. Pollard?
Unfortunately, supporting executive clemency for a Jew who spied for the
Jewish state is risky business. The Senators are afraid of angering the
anti-Jewish elements within the CIA which regularly spreads lies about
Jonathan J. Pollard. Our leaders' inability to decry the government's
disgraceful treatment of a Jewish citizen, due to a fear of offending the
CIA, reinforces the fact that anti-Semitism continues to be a powerful force
in America.

The week of October 15th tragically marked 8,000 days that Mr. Pollard
languishes in prison for a crime where the median sentence is two to four
years in prison. Mr. Pollard is the only person in the history of America to
receive a life sentence for spying for an ally. Prominent legal authorities
across the U.S. unequivocally state that Mr. Pollard was not deserving of a
life sentence.

Former Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger, the very man who is
responsible for Mr. Pollard's life sentence, even admitted that the whole
Pollard case' "was made far bigger than its actual importance
http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2002/061402.htm ."

In their briefings to the Senate, the prosecution never alleged that Mr.
Pollard compromised codes or U.S. Satellite Communications. Mr. Pollard did
not have access to codes as a GS-12 Navy Analyst. Despite Sen. Fred
Thompson's (R-Tenn.) erroneous assertion at the Republican Jewish Coalition
Forum that Jonathan J. Pollard "spied against my country," the prosecution
never charged Mr. Pollard with harming the U.S. In what amounts to a
procedural atrocity of monumental proportions, the prosecution submitted
falsified evidence in the form of the Weinberger Memorandum which inflamed
the judge causing him to impose a life sentence.

If Sen. Thompson is concerned that Mr. Pollard compromised national security
which clearly did not occur, where was his outrage when Samuel Morrison sold
satellite photographs to Great Britain? Mr. Morrison served two years in
prison. [J4JP correction: The grandson of a prominent Navy historian,
Morrison served 3 months in prison before he was released!] Likewise, where
was Sen. Thompson's outrage when Abdel Kader Helmy transferred arms
shipments to Egypt which ended up in the hands of Saadam Hussein? Mr. Helmy
served five years in prison. [J4JP correction : Helmy served 2 years and
then was released! ]

How is it possible for a Muslim or Christian who spies for an ally to take a
catwalk into prison, but a Jew convicted of the same crime causing no harm
to the U.S. is subjected to severe cruel and unusual punishment as well as
intense physical and psychological torture? What ever happened to the legal
principle that the punishment must fit the crime? That principle does not
apply to American Jews who spy for an ally.

I suggest that if President Bush is serious about his pledge to eradicate
worldwide anti-Semitism, he should start in the U.S. and immediately grant
Jonathan Pollard executive clemency. As long as Jonathan Pollard
unjustifiably remains in prison, America's purported image of having a fair
and equitable judicial system will be in disrepute.

Brad E. Kauffman is a law student at the University of Baltimore.

See Also:
FALN Clemency Page www.jonathanpollard.org/senate.htm
The Wye Double-Cross Page www.jonathanpollard.org/Wye.htm
Clemency Page www.jonathanpollard.org/clemency.htm
Caspar's Ghost - [ See Weinberger statement on Pollard case being blown up
out of proportion.] http://www.jonathanpollard.org/2002/061402.htm
Comparative Sentencing Charts www.jonathanpollard.org/sentences.htm
Pollard, Longest-held Living Captive Marks 8000 Days [Includes background
information and essay "Why Israel is ignoring Jonathan Pollard to death"]
www.jonathanpollard.org/2007/101507.htm

--
JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Website: www.JonathanPollard.org
RSS: www.JonathanPollard.org/rss.htm

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