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Date: Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 2:48 PM
Subject: Editorial: Chained by a Malicious Lie
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Editorial: Chained by a Malicious Lie
Hamodia [NY] - Hamodia Editorial - December 9, 2014
This editorial was originally published in the Weekend print edition
November 26, 2014
http://hamodia.com/2014/11/25/chained-malicious-lie/
The anguish-filled saga of Jonathan Pollard took yet another painful
turn last week, when it was revealed that the Parole Board denied
Pollard's request for parole after 29 agonizing years in prison. The
members of the Parole Board, which is an arm of the U.S. Justice
Department, had the opportunity to end a travesty of justice that has
been going on for far too long. Instead, they compounded it, making a
mockery of the American justice system.
Since Hamodia's inception, we have been a vigorous and forceful
advocate for Jonathon Pollard. On numerous occasions we have published
editorials, interviews and opinion pieces calling for his release. On
occasion, we have received inquiries from readers demanding to know
why Jonathan never chose to apply for parole.
The answer is simple: Every legal expert the Pollard camp has spoken
to -- and there were many -- told them that the Parole Board would
reject Jonathan's request out of hand. For one thing, the Department
of Justice steadfastly refused to allow Jonathan's attorneys -- both of
whom have the appropriate Top Secret/SCI-eligible security clearances
-- to see the documents that were submitted to the sentencing judge
prior to Mr. Pollard's sentencing in 1987. With access to that file
denied, persons opposed to parole know that they have free rein to say
absolutely anything about Jonathan without risk of being contradicted
by the documents.
The experts insisted that not only would parole be denied, but the
refusal would actually damage the only viable option to gain his
release. So Jonathan, his wife, Mrs. Esther Pollard -- who has
literally dedicated her life to try to gain her husband's freedom --
and their supporters focused on trying to obtain presidential
clemency.
Over the years, repeated hopes that clemency would be granted were
raised, only to be quashed. In 1998, President Clinton actually
promised to free Pollard as a way to convince Prime Minister Netanyahu
to attend the Wye River Summit. During the summit, Clinton again
promised to free Pollard, but ultimately reneged on his promises. Many
had hoped that his successor, President George W. Bush, widely
considered a friend of Israel, would use his final days in office to
free Pollard. Later, as the ever-growing list of extremely prominent
former American officials lent their voices to the clamor for an end
to this gross injustice, it was hoped that President Obama would
hearken to their pleas and grant clemency.
In December of last year, during President Obama's trip to Israel, the
president indicated that while he was not ready to grant clemency, if
Pollard would apply for parole, he would be treated fairly. Reading
this as a positive sign, Pollard submitted a parole application.
In the meanwhile, last March, mainstream media outlets revealed that
the United States may free Pollard as part of Secretary Kerry's
efforts to save Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. But the peace
talks fell apart, and once more the hopes of so many were shot down.
In June, as he concluded his term as president of Israel, Shimon Peres
visited Washington. Peres, ironically, was the prime minister at the
time of Pollard's arrest, and under his stewardship Israel actually
gave the U.S. documents with Pollard's fingerprints, which
incriminated him -- a bizarre and unprecedented betrayal by a country
of its own agent.
Peres reportedly requested of Obama to at the very least privately
inform the U.S. Justice Department that he didn't oppose parole for
Pollard.
According to the law, the U.S. Parole Commission may grant parole if
(a) the inmate has substantially observed the rules of the
institution; (b) release would not depreciate the seriousness of the
offense or promote disrespect for the law; and (c) release would not
jeopardize the public welfare.
Certainly Jonathan, a model prisoner who has served far longer than
anyone else who committed the same crime of passing classified
information to an ally, fit the bill perfectly. But at the hearing,
which was described by those present as a "kangaroo court," Pollard
was treated with contempt, and his attorney wasn't even allowed to
make his case.
As eight senior former American officials, all with first-hand
knowledge of the case and fully familiar with the classified file,
wrote in a letter to President Obama: "The Parole Commission decision
document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard's actions and makes a patently
false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole."
The government relied heavily on a stale, discredited, 28-year-old
classified memorandum written by former Secretary of Defense Caspar
Weinberger. As Lawrence Korb, who served as assistant secretary of
defense under Weinberger, and knew him well, wrote, that memorandum
was based on an "almost visceral dislike of Israel and the special
place it occupies in our foreign policy."
The eight officials put it well when they wrote that "Denying a man
his freedom based on a claim of damage that is patently false while
ignoring exculpatory documentary evidence and hiding behind a veil of
secret evidence is neither fair nor just, and it simply is not the
American way."
We should also bear in mind the words of former CIA director R. James
Woolsey, who said that "If anybody is hung up over the fact that he's
an American Jew or that he's Israeli, just pretend that he's a South
Korean and set him free."
But our reaction to the parole board decision must be more than
outrage and empathy.
We must recognize the fact that each and every one of us is obligated
to do all we can to help him gain his freedom. It is imperative that
we let the president -- and every elected official who can possibly
influence the president -- know, in a respectful but forceful way, how
hurt the entire Jewish community is over this dreadful miscarriage of
justice. The fate of Jonathan Pollard must constantly be on the front
burner; it must be raised for discussion at every meeting with
government officials.
Most importantly, we must increase our tefillos for Yehonoson ben
Malka, who is 60 years old and in very poor health. Ultimately, his
fate lies solely in the Hands of Hashem. As Mrs. Pollard has pointed
out in past interviews with Hamodia, it is tefillos that are keeping
Jonathan alive. It will be our tefillos that will set him free.
SEE ALSO
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/111414.pdf>: Letter to Obama by
8 Senior US Officials slamming the unjust denial of parole to Jonathan
Pollard
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/120514.htm>Conference of
Presidents Joins 8 Senior US Officials in Decrying Pollard's Continued
Incarceration on False Charge; Calls for his immediate release
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/120414a.htm>The Truth About
Jonathan Pollard's 'Escape Plan': Pesach Lerner - Hamodia [NY]
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/120314.htm>Editorial: Prisoner
of Zion in the US: The Jerusalem Post
=============================================
Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org
For online donations to Women in Green:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Women-In-Green
To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
womeningreen-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to
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please send a blank email message to:
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From: <womeningreen@womeningreen.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 2:48 PM
Subject: Editorial: Chained by a Malicious Lie
To: womeningreen@womeningreen.org
Instructions for unsubscribing can be found in the footer of this message.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial: Chained by a Malicious Lie
Hamodia [NY] - Hamodia Editorial - December 9, 2014
This editorial was originally published in the Weekend print edition
November 26, 2014
http://hamodia.com/2014/11/25/chained-malicious-lie/
The anguish-filled saga of Jonathan Pollard took yet another painful
turn last week, when it was revealed that the Parole Board denied
Pollard's request for parole after 29 agonizing years in prison. The
members of the Parole Board, which is an arm of the U.S. Justice
Department, had the opportunity to end a travesty of justice that has
been going on for far too long. Instead, they compounded it, making a
mockery of the American justice system.
Since Hamodia's inception, we have been a vigorous and forceful
advocate for Jonathon Pollard. On numerous occasions we have published
editorials, interviews and opinion pieces calling for his release. On
occasion, we have received inquiries from readers demanding to know
why Jonathan never chose to apply for parole.
The answer is simple: Every legal expert the Pollard camp has spoken
to -- and there were many -- told them that the Parole Board would
reject Jonathan's request out of hand. For one thing, the Department
of Justice steadfastly refused to allow Jonathan's attorneys -- both of
whom have the appropriate Top Secret/SCI-eligible security clearances
-- to see the documents that were submitted to the sentencing judge
prior to Mr. Pollard's sentencing in 1987. With access to that file
denied, persons opposed to parole know that they have free rein to say
absolutely anything about Jonathan without risk of being contradicted
by the documents.
The experts insisted that not only would parole be denied, but the
refusal would actually damage the only viable option to gain his
release. So Jonathan, his wife, Mrs. Esther Pollard -- who has
literally dedicated her life to try to gain her husband's freedom --
and their supporters focused on trying to obtain presidential
clemency.
Over the years, repeated hopes that clemency would be granted were
raised, only to be quashed. In 1998, President Clinton actually
promised to free Pollard as a way to convince Prime Minister Netanyahu
to attend the Wye River Summit. During the summit, Clinton again
promised to free Pollard, but ultimately reneged on his promises. Many
had hoped that his successor, President George W. Bush, widely
considered a friend of Israel, would use his final days in office to
free Pollard. Later, as the ever-growing list of extremely prominent
former American officials lent their voices to the clamor for an end
to this gross injustice, it was hoped that President Obama would
hearken to their pleas and grant clemency.
In December of last year, during President Obama's trip to Israel, the
president indicated that while he was not ready to grant clemency, if
Pollard would apply for parole, he would be treated fairly. Reading
this as a positive sign, Pollard submitted a parole application.
In the meanwhile, last March, mainstream media outlets revealed that
the United States may free Pollard as part of Secretary Kerry's
efforts to save Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. But the peace
talks fell apart, and once more the hopes of so many were shot down.
In June, as he concluded his term as president of Israel, Shimon Peres
visited Washington. Peres, ironically, was the prime minister at the
time of Pollard's arrest, and under his stewardship Israel actually
gave the U.S. documents with Pollard's fingerprints, which
incriminated him -- a bizarre and unprecedented betrayal by a country
of its own agent.
Peres reportedly requested of Obama to at the very least privately
inform the U.S. Justice Department that he didn't oppose parole for
Pollard.
According to the law, the U.S. Parole Commission may grant parole if
(a) the inmate has substantially observed the rules of the
institution; (b) release would not depreciate the seriousness of the
offense or promote disrespect for the law; and (c) release would not
jeopardize the public welfare.
Certainly Jonathan, a model prisoner who has served far longer than
anyone else who committed the same crime of passing classified
information to an ally, fit the bill perfectly. But at the hearing,
which was described by those present as a "kangaroo court," Pollard
was treated with contempt, and his attorney wasn't even allowed to
make his case.
As eight senior former American officials, all with first-hand
knowledge of the case and fully familiar with the classified file,
wrote in a letter to President Obama: "The Parole Commission decision
document mischaracterizes Mr. Pollard's actions and makes a patently
false claim upon which it bases its denial of parole."
The government relied heavily on a stale, discredited, 28-year-old
classified memorandum written by former Secretary of Defense Caspar
Weinberger. As Lawrence Korb, who served as assistant secretary of
defense under Weinberger, and knew him well, wrote, that memorandum
was based on an "almost visceral dislike of Israel and the special
place it occupies in our foreign policy."
The eight officials put it well when they wrote that "Denying a man
his freedom based on a claim of damage that is patently false while
ignoring exculpatory documentary evidence and hiding behind a veil of
secret evidence is neither fair nor just, and it simply is not the
American way."
We should also bear in mind the words of former CIA director R. James
Woolsey, who said that "If anybody is hung up over the fact that he's
an American Jew or that he's Israeli, just pretend that he's a South
Korean and set him free."
But our reaction to the parole board decision must be more than
outrage and empathy.
We must recognize the fact that each and every one of us is obligated
to do all we can to help him gain his freedom. It is imperative that
we let the president -- and every elected official who can possibly
influence the president -- know, in a respectful but forceful way, how
hurt the entire Jewish community is over this dreadful miscarriage of
justice. The fate of Jonathan Pollard must constantly be on the front
burner; it must be raised for discussion at every meeting with
government officials.
Most importantly, we must increase our tefillos for Yehonoson ben
Malka, who is 60 years old and in very poor health. Ultimately, his
fate lies solely in the Hands of Hashem. As Mrs. Pollard has pointed
out in past interviews with Hamodia, it is tefillos that are keeping
Jonathan alive. It will be our tefillos that will set him free.
SEE ALSO
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/111414.pdf>: Letter to Obama by
8 Senior US Officials slamming the unjust denial of parole to Jonathan
Pollard
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/120514.htm>Conference of
Presidents Joins 8 Senior US Officials in Decrying Pollard's Continued
Incarceration on False Charge; Calls for his immediate release
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/120414a.htm>The Truth About
Jonathan Pollard's 'Escape Plan': Pesach Lerner - Hamodia [NY]
* <http://jonathanpollard.org/2014/120314.htm>Editorial: Prisoner
of Zion in the US: The Jerusalem Post
=============================================
Women For Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green)
POB 7352, Jerusalem 91072, Israel
mailto:wfit2@womeningreen.org
http://www.womeningreen.org
For online donations to Women in Green:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Women-In-Green
To subscribe to the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
womeningreen-subscribe@womeningreen.org
Check your spam filter for confirmation to reply to
To unsubscribe from the Women in Green list,
please send a blank email message to:
womeningreen-unsubscribe@womeningreen.org
Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch. May their memories serve as a blessing.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch. May their memories serve as a blessing.
Most of these emails are posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com
Personal emails to individuals will not be posted to my blog.
