In a disturbing turn of events Jonathan Pollard was not able to speak to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations to deliver his first speech in 30 years. He was unable to present his address at this historic event because of his Draconian parole conditions. Following a leak to the Forward prior to this private, off the record meeting, Jonathan’s attorneys cautioned him that he is not a free person at this time and that anything he may say at the event will be leaked and could be used against him, no matter how inaccurate it is, or how distorted.
Jonathan was introduced as the keynote speaker this morning but made only brief remarks of thanks and introduction, explaining that the leak to the Forward had forced him to stand down. He then handed his notes to his wife Esther and stood at her side as she delivered what would have been his points. A new confidential document (a letter which was hand-delivered to President Obama by Israeli President Ruby Rivlin) was revealed during her speech and used to flesh out the current situation in which Pollard is not only prevented from working and from exercising his religious rights, but also effectively prevents him from ever reintegrating into society.
Participants of the Conference were deeply dismayed to learn that even if all of the severe Parole restrictions were removed Pollard still has 15 years (the balance of a 45 year life sentence) hanging over his head, and he will always be at risk of being thrown back into prison, for any reason, including political ones regarding Israel. In Esther Pollard’s presentation, Jonathan Pollard’s parole conditions and the unjust restrictions were fully explained and a lot of myths were exploded including the media buzz claiming that Jonathan has a new Shabbat observant GPS device. This is simply not true.
Participants were cautioned not to take photographs at this private meeting. The attached photo of the Pollards was taken during a coffee break. It is the property of Justice4JP and may be freely reprinted with photo credit.
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7 Responses
I’m continuing to daven for him to have a complete yeshuah and to be able to build a new life.
Was it worth for Pollard to give up 30 years of his life to imprisonment (not to mention causing the US Government to be more distrustful of Jews) in order to give Israel those documents?
If it saved Jewish live in Israel it was certainly worth it and he will be rewarded for both what he accomplished and what he went through.
Ujm, when you were a kid didn’t you hate when they said “I told you so” or the like? Just saying
Well we need to analyze.
What did the information do for Israel?
If it was something that saved Israel from something very bad then he is considered a hero. If it was the recipe for chicken soup, then it was probably not worth it. So what was it?
it is unclear what Israel has done with the info that was passed to them from Pollard. I have read how infuriated high level US officials were over this incident and with some saying years ago, that he should never be released from prison.
It was information about weapons that Arab nations had. The only damage it did to the US was that it wasn’t in americas best interests that Israel should get this info from them, because they wanted good terms with the Arabs