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Pollard Activists Carry
The Cause Locally

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18

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 1991

Staff Writer

onathan Pollard has
some pretty heady
friends in Michigan.
They're not a big group —
nine members at the last
count — but they're
energetic, motivated and
most importantly, convinced
that the Pollard case
dramatizes Jews' tenuous
position in America.
These are not seasoned ac-
tivists. Most of their experi-
ence consists of helping
Allied Jewish Campaign
phonathons. But they are
learning quickly about the
courts, Jewish community
politics and the frustrations
of fighting a battle against
powers that reach into the
Oval Office.
Mr. Pollard has been serv-
ing a life sentence since 1987
in a Marion, Ill., maximum
security prison, having
pleaded guilty to sharing
classified military secrets
with Israel. On Sept. 10, a
District of Columbia federal
circuit court will hear an ap-
peal by Alan Dershowitz,
Mr. Pollard's lawyer, to
vacate his guilty plea. If the
appeal is successful, Mr.
Pollard's case may go to
trial. Mr. Dershowitz will
argue that federal pros-
ecutors reneged on a plea
bargain where Mr. Pollard
would have received a
lighter sentence for his coop-
eration.
Local activists in the Mich-
igan Committee for Freedom
for Jonathan Pollard are cir-
culating petitions, letters
and other literature to the
local Jewish community.
Their efforts target both
leaders and laymen, with an
aim towards creating a
groundswell of support.
One is an architect, an-
other is a real estate agent
— but what they see in the
Pollard case goes to the
heart of being Jewish in
America.
"Can you sit there and be
quiet and not say anything
and not do anything?" said
Margot Gardner, who works.
at her husband's dental of-
fice. "This has not worked in
the past. Jews have been
silent (in Germany), it didn't
work then. It is our obliga-
tion to act."
Local activists accuse
then-Defense Secretary
Caspar Weinberger of apply-
ing pressure on the federal
judge in the case to dole out
the harshest punishment

j

Margot Gardner

possible. They feel that Mr.
Pollard's religion may have
been the reason.
"One of the reasons I have
joined so enthusiastically is
that this is not a nameless
person, this is a specific in-
dividual who has suffered in-
justice as the result of being
a Jew," Mrs. Gardner said.
Tossing around terms like
"character assassination,"
"government conspiracy"
and "media brainwash,"
these Michiganians are
challenging some powerful
company. There's the ex-

Aaron Swirsky

ecutive branch, which mem-
ber Aaron Swirsky said had
engaged in behavior
reminiscent of fascism. Then
there's the organized Jewish
community.
"I had been following the
case, not closely, but when I
got caught up reading the
materials, realizing what
the injustices were, I
couldn't believe this man
was being passed over by the
Jewish community," said
Barbara Racey, a West
Bloomfield real estate agent.
Where local organizations
have remained silent, these
nine individuals have raised
powerful issues. And while

