Protest for Pollard - At Home and in the Czech Republic
Arutz7/INN - February 16, 2014
A protest for the freedom of Israeli prisoner Jonathan Pollard from US imprisonment has started in an unlikely place: the Czech Republic.On the Israeli Facebook page "I also care about Jonathan Pollard," one user uploaded a photo of a protest taking place outside the US Embassy in the EU member state demanding Pollard's immediate and safe release.
Closer to home, another protest for the release of the alleged spy is being planned for Sunday, February 23, outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. The demonstration will begin at 6PM and will feature MKs and other public officials.
Pollard has recently been subject of a high-profile campaign for his release, after being held in the US for more than 28 years on spying allegations. He was arrested by FBI agents in 1985 and held ever since.
Calls for his release escalated since it was revealed last month that the US and UK have been spying on top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Pollard was arrested on charges far less serious, critics noted, and slammed the Obama administration for "hypocrisy."
The calls for Pollard's release escalated so much so that over 106 MKs attended a special Knesset session in December to protest US President Barack Obama's refusal to release the prisoner, and signed a petition urging the President to reconsider.
Several top US officials, including Former Deputy National Security advisor Elliott Abrams, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Jonathan Pollard affair Lawrence Korb, and former CIA chief James Woolsey have also called for Pollard to be released.