Justice for Jonathan Pollard

Frank Eiklor - The Jerusalem Post - December 4, 1992

Sir, - I have been in the fight for equal justice for Jonathan Pollard almost from the beginning. In fact, it really started when I led an ecumenical clergy coalition to Washington to save the life of Ann Pollard, Jonathan's former wife. Now the fight goes on for Jonathan.

Most Americans accepted the US government version that Pollard was a spy who got caught and was being punished. Case closed. No way! This case isn't closed except to those too cowardly, heartless, or willfully blind to demand justice for a man being punished out of all proportion to American law. Questions scream for answers:

1. What information did Jonathan give Israel that was being withheld by US intelligence in spite of the 1983 US/Israel Exchange of Intelligence Agreement?

2. Why did the government renege on its promise of leniency if Jonathan agreed to a plea bargain?

3. What was in Caspar Weinberger's secret memo to the judge that resulted in only Jonathan being given a life sentence without possibility of parole - something not even given to those who spied for the former Soviet Union?

4. After nearly a year languishing in a prison insane asylum, why has Pollard spent the last seven years in 23-hour-a-day isolation in an Illinois penitentiary?

5. Since Pollard has never been accused of treason nor given a trial, why did two Jewish judges recently refuse to review his case while the third judge, a gentile, called the treatment of Pollard a gross injustice?

There must come an end to waiting for lawyers to "work things out" while Pollard rots. There must come an end to all our wonderful but endless rallies, pronouncements and editorials calling for his release. There must come a time to march. If 250,000 Jews and non-Jews march on Washington in a protest demanding Jonathan's freedom, that sound will reverberate through the most hardened Washington halls and heads.

Frank Eiklor,
President, Shalom International,
Costa Mesa, California