Tuesday, 4 October 2011

Over our dead bodies

By BEN CASPIT The Jerusalem Post
October 3, 2011
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=240316


We're wondering what went through your mind, Mr. Biden, when you declared
Jonathan Pollard would be given clemency over your "dead body."

Honorable Vice President of the United States of America, Mr. Joseph Biden:

Shalom and a happy Jewish New Year!

Up until several days ago, you, Mr. Biden, were considered "Israel's closest
and truest friend in the White House." As such, we here in Israel are
wondering what exactly was going through your mind when you declared that
Jonathan Pollard would be given clemency over your "dead body." It's
important to us, here in Israel, to understand. To all of us: to Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's supporters and detractors, to the far right
and the far left, to the rich and the poor, the Ashkenazi and the Sephardic.

Anyone with eyes in their head and hearts thumping in their chests would
like to know what led you to issue that unhinged statement. Are there things
that you know that the rest of the world does not? What has changed since
2007, when you declared, in your own voice, that Jonathan Pollard's bid for
clemency was justified? I'll tell you what has changed: Pollard has spent
five more years in prison, in solitary confinement; his health has worsened
(I recommend you use your influence to verify to what extent); his chances
of starting a family have been decimated; his father died and he was barred
from accompanying him on his final journey; and more and more respectable
people have stepped forward and declared that the time has come for his
release.

That's what has changed.

Is it possible, Mr. Biden, that you know something that James Woolsey,
former director of the CIA, and Dennis DeConcini, former chairman of the US
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, do not? Because the two of them are
both in favor of releasing him. Do you know something that Henry Kissinger,
George Shultz or John McCain does not?

All of them, esteemed American patriots, are in favor of clemency. Do you
know something that the former US attorney-general Michael Mukasey does not?

Are you holding on to intelligence that Lawrence Korb, assistant defense
secretary under Casper Weinberger, was not privy to?

Korb was there, in real time, but Korb, an honest and decent man, felt his
conscience claw at him, and today he leads the call to free Pollard, who
next month will mark his twenty sixth year in American prison.

On Wednesday, you, Mr. Biden, will host a Rosh Hashana party at your
residence for American Jewish leaders. You, as I said, are considered to be
our closest friend among President Barack Obama's inner circle. Now, as the
race toward the presidential elections picks up pace, you have taken upon
yourself to serve as the president's ambassador to the Jewish community.

I suggest that during the festive celebration at your residence, you ask Abe
Foxman, a man whose integrity cannot be called into question, or Malcolm
Hoenlein, one of the most astute watchers of American politics and a man
whose finger is always on the pulse of the American Jewish community, why
they support Pollard's urgent release.

Foremost, though, I ask that you examine your own conscience. Ask yourself,
Mr. Biden, why Pollard has been in prison for 26 years for a crime that
generally receives a two-to-four year sentence in America.

Ask yourself why spies who have committed far graver sins, betrayals that
led to the killing of American agents on foreign soil, received far lesser
sentences? Ask yourself why it is that the blood libel of attributing those
murders to Pollard was circulated so widely. Ask yourself why, once those
allegations were proven to be false, his sentence was not commuted.

Ask yourself why the United States of America, a society governed by law and
order, did not honor its plea bargain with Pollard. Ask yourself where the
limits of human suffering lie. Ask yourself about the nature of compassion.

What, in your eyes, are its dimensions?

Mr. Biden, look at the list of honorable names, the American leaders and
officials who are calling for Pollard's release. All of them believe that
his continued incarceration is an outrage that flies in the face of American
justice.

In America, Mr. Biden, you are regarded as the world's preeminent superpower
not only on account of your weapons and military might. You are the leaders
of the free world also on account of your values: liberty, equality, human
rights, justice and compassion. Where have those morals gone, Mr. Biden,
when assessing Pollard's case? Are twenty six years behind bars, many of
which have been served in solitary confinement, an insufficient punishment
for what remains a relatively minor crime? Does a man who has expressed
remorse and already paid a terrible price not deserve to live out his days
in freedom?

Until now, Mr. Vice President, you have made a name for yourself as someone
with a quick tongue and a short fuse. No responsible parties have charged
you with being cruel, evil, or bloodthirsty. Henceforth, Mr. Biden, the
notorious slips of your tongue are the least of your problems. The message
you conveyed to those rabbis in Florida, that if it were up to you, Pollard
would "stay in jail for life," put you in a whole different league. A league
that you don't want to be playing in and one I don't believe you belong in.

We Jews, Mr. Vice President, have begun the Ten Days of Repentance leading
up to the Day of Atonement. If what was said in Florida was merely a slip of
the tongue, this is the time, Mr. Biden, to take it back. We will forgive
and we will forget. All of us make mistakes. It can happen to the vice
president, too. But if you really stand by the statement that "over my dead
body" will he be released, then it's important to understand that the dead
body is likely to be his. Jonathan Pollard's release, after 26 years, is not
a matter of politics, diplomacy or national security. It should not be
linked to current events. We Israelis, along with many American Jews and
other honorable Americans, believe that Jonathan Pollard's release, in late
2011, is a matter of morality, justice and compassion. Those values are at
the heart of President Obama's beliefs; they are also the very lifeblood of
the great American democracy and of humanity at large. And so, if justice is
to be done, Joe Biden, help us make it happen now!

Courtesy of Ma'ariv

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JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Follow J4JP on Twitter: http://twitter.com/J4JPollard
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