Pollard Activists Break Into Rice's Hotel
Sharon Roffe Ophir - YNET News - February 20, 2007
Activists for the release of American - Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard reach floor of US Secretary of State's room. Activists say, 'Rice preaches to us to release terrorists who murdered civilians while Pollard who saved Israeli lives is imprisoned in the US for 22 years."
Several activists for the release of Jonathan Pollard reached the floor of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's hotel room in Jerusalem on Monday evening and called on the United States to release him.
[Ed: According to a Yediot Achronot report by Itamar Eichner in Hebrew today, 20 protestors succeeded in making it up the stairs to the corridor outside US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's room, where they chanted "FREE POLLARD NOW" which brought the security guards running.]
Police forces have removed the activists from the hotel and detained three of them for questioning.
Around 8 p.m. the group of activists entered the hotel and several of them went up to the floor Rice is staying on. Near her room they were stopped by a metal detector, but two broke through and managed to get within several feet of her room and additional security personnel were called in to remove them from the scene.
The activists said: "Rice came here to preach to us that we should release terrorists who have murdered civilians, while the US has imprisoned Pollard who saved Israeli lives for 22 years. His health continues to deteriorate and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must demand his release before it's too late."
The Committee to Free Jonathan Pollard [and J4JP] disassociated itself from this evening's incidents. "We only employ legal means for our cause, but we can understand those activists who could not take it anymore."
The Jerusalem police said in response: "The hotel is open for everyone. Nine activists entered the hotel and went through the security check at the entrance. They did not enter as a group but individually and then grouped at the entrance to Secretary Rice's hall. There they were stopped by security personnel. Three of them were arrested and taken for questioning. The remaining six were removed from the hotel."
The police added that there are other guests on Rice's floor and that only the immediate area of her room is closed off.