Letter from the Peyilim to Jonathan
Justice4JPnews - August 1, 2010
B"H, Menachem Av 5770 / July 2010
To our dear Jonathan!
Less than twenty-four hours ago we concluded three consecutive days of activities on your behalf in the "9000 Marathon Days of Solidarity" that we held near the Meitarim Bridge ("Bridge of Strings") at the entrance to Jerusalem, in order to mark your 9000 day of incarceration (how can we even grasp such a number!) We are so excited that we have the privilege to tell you a bit of what we experienced over these amazing three days.
One of the thousands of dear people who took part in the 9000 Marathon created a "Pollard-I care too" group on Facebook about two weeks ago. Already a few thousand people became members of this group, and more join each day. (You probably don't exactly understand this Facebook stuff that I'm talking about. But God willing you'll be free soon, and then you'll get to see for yourself.) In any case, one of the activists (his name is Yair) wrote there, "Jonathan Pollard is in prison 9002 days for our sakes; after today, I 'owe' him 'only' 9001 daysAnd what about you?"
Of course, it is obvious that we can't begin to claim we suffered during the Meitarim Marathon as you do in jail. True, it was very hot and many of us sweat a lot to raise those signposts high as we invited passersby to stay and join our cause at the Marathon 9000. But there is no doubt that we all enjoyed the experience of camaraderie and mutual activity on your behalf. So now, evidently, we also 'owe' you that day as well!
Several times during the day we stopped and looked around, and the following thought occurred to us, "What would Jonathan feel and think if he could see what is going on here, even for a moment?" You see, people kept coming and coming for three days and some of them remained for hours at a time. Everyone was full of joy and enthusiasm for you.
In the past, there had been activities in which we had to beg reluctant bystanders to join us and hold a sign or give out material, but here it was just the opposite: people actually wanted to help. They looked for some way to take part, so that the hundreds and thousands of people passing by in their cars at the entrance to Jerusalem would not be able to ignore you or your cause. Everyone was reminded of our dear brother rotting in jail thousands of kilometers away from us, only because he could not sit quietly while dangers of terror and weapons of mass destruction threatened the Jewish state.
People flocked to us from all over the city and the country: young people and old ones, religious and secular. We met people from Hatzor in the Galil and from Arad, from Ramat Aviv and from Dimona, Petach Tikva and Modiin, Golan and the Negev-all of them came to identify themselves with your cause, to support and demand your liberation and cessation of the terrible injustice that has been visited on you, as you continue to waste away in jail.
The cars going by honked their horns as a sign of identification with the call for your release. True, that doesn't sound like much but we're sure that in jail, as you sit surrounded by murderers and drug dealers and criminals, we hope you can imagine just for a moment what it was like. For three amazing days, there was hardly a minute of quiet: all the drivers that passed by the Meitarim Bridge honked for your cause.
On the first day of the campaign, some of the participants volunteered to act in a short video clip prepared by Shlomi, who came all the way from the Golan to take part in the event. The video clip, that marked the 9000th day of your incarceration, was truly powerful. We are all making great efforts to disseminate the clip on the internet, in Israel and throughout the world, to 'wake up' more and more people to your cause.
I imagine that in addition to this letter, other letters and pictures will start to reach you from the three-day Meitarim Bridge Solidarity Campaign. Thousands of people stood in front of the cameras while grasping your picture or a poster calling for your release. This was their way to express their longings and prayers for your liberation.
Our dear brother, Jonathan!
We know that we are unable to grasp the extent of the sacrifice you made on behalf of us and our country.
We also know that we cannot possibly grasp the depths of physical and emotional suffering you undergo each and every day.
But we hope that you derive some comfort from hearing about the activities on your behalf. Yes, here in the State on behalf of which you did what you did, are many multitudes of people who think about you and take action for you. We hope that this knowledge is able to strengthen your spirits and give you the power to continue to persevere. We pray that Justice will triumph one day, and you will join us here in Eretz Israel in the near future.
We love you very much!
Adi and Tzipporah Ginsberg, on behalf of all the activists