UP FRONT

Rejection Of Court Appeal
Disappoints Pollard Backers

LARRY YUDELSON

Special to The Jewish News

federal court ruling
rejecting Jonathan
Pollard's appeal of his
life sentence for espionage
has disappointed the family
and supporters of the former
Navy analyst who sold
secrets to Israel.
But they have found some
comfort in the dissent issued
last week by one member of
the three-judge appellate
panel in Washington, which
agreed with at least part of
Mr. Pollard's claim that his
1987 sentence was a miscar-
riage of justice.
"We're • disappointed that
one other judge didn't join
us, but clearly it demon-
strates that this is the sort of
close question that ought to
have the support of the Jew-
ish community," said Har-
vard Law School Professor
Alan Dershowitz, who is one
of Mr. Pollard's attorneys.
In fact, the Pollard case
has divided the American
Jewish community.
Many organizations and
individuals have urged
clemency or at least sup-
ported the appeal, which
claimed the sentence was

A

excessively harsh and that
the government had violated
a plea bargain agreement by
implying its desire for the
maximum sentence.
Among the organizations
who have lined up behind
the supporters are the World
Jewish Congress, the Simon
Wiesenthal Center, Reform
Judaism's Central Con-
ference of American Rabbis
and Agudath Israel of
America, an Orthodox
group.
But several major Jewish
communal relations agen-
cies have not signed on, most
notably the Anti-
Defamation League, Ameri-
can Jewish Committee and
American Jewish Congress,
as well the umbrella organ-
izations in which they par-
ticipate.
"After listening to both
sides, the predominant view
was this was not a case for us
to get into," said Samuel
Rabinove, director of legal
affairs for the AJCommittee.
Mr. Dershowitz said the
AJCommittee and other
organizations that have not
joined the Pollard cause may
bear some responsibility for
last week's court ruling.
"I honestly believe the
case might have come out

2-1 in our favor if the Ameri-
can Jewish organizations
had been more supportive,"
he said.
"Tragic" is how Seymour
Reich described the role
taken by some of those
organizations.
"There are several efforts
under way now where mem-
bers of the Christian com-
munity have been asked to
intercede on Jonathan's
behalf and have been told by
Jewish organizations not
to," said Reich, the immedi-
ate past chairman of the
Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations who has met

The Pollard famly
will continue to
build popular
pressure for
clemency.

with Mr. Pollard and ad-
vocated on his behalf.
The Pollard case has
struck the rawest nerve in
the Jewish community of
any trial since perhaps that
of Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg in 1951. Like the
Rosenbergs, who were con-
victed of passing the secrets

Jonathan Pollard is driven from court after pleading guilty to selling
classified documents.

of the atomic bomb to the
Soviets, Mr. Pollard was an
American Jew who placed
his American loyalty second.
But unlike the
Rosenbergs, who went to the
electric chair protesting
their innocence, Mr. Pollard
admitted giving American
secrets to Israel.
He maintained he did so
because the United States
was not living up to its
commitments to share sen-
sitive, information with the
Jewish state. By his account,
those secrets included loca-
tion of Iraqi chemical
weapons factories.
The government prosecu-
tion, however, emphasized
that Mr. Pollard received
tens of thousands of dollars
in payment for the informa-
tion, in what Israeli officials
denounced as a "rogue

operation" at the time of his
1985 arrest.
"I don't accept the dual
loyalty problem," said Mr.
Reich. "If that's the reason
Jewish organizations have
failed to act on his behalf, it
indicates a sorry state.
"He committed a crime, he
deserved to be punished, but
the punishment was ex-
cessive," said Mr. Reich,
who is an attorney.
Yet just as in the
Rosenberg trial, where a
Jewish judge imposed the
death sentence, it has not
escaped notice that the two
judges who turned down Mr.
Pollard's appeal, Laurence
Silberman and Ruth
Ginsburg are Jewish.
But Judge Stephen
Williams, a non-Jew,
dissented, writing that there
had been a "fundamental

For information, contact
Paula Gribetz Gottlieb, di-
rector, Jewish Music Coun-
cil, 15 E. 26 St., New York,
N.Y., 10010, or call (212)
532-4949.

base to document the efforts
of religious communities and
congregations nationwide.
The hotline number is 1-
800-435-9466.

ROUND UP

Cracow Synagogue
To Be Restored
The World Monuments
Fund's Jewish Heritage
Council and the Jewish
Community of Cracow are
coordinating plans to reno-
vate the historic Tempel
Synagogue in Cracow,
Poland.
The only intact 19th cen:
tury synagogue in Poland,
the Temple Synagogue was
completed in 1862 and was
renowned as the center of
Progressive Judaism in the
country. Before the Holo-
caust, members included
leading businessmen, in-
dustrialists, bankers,
writers and musicians. Oc-
cupying German forces
stripped the building of its
furnishings and used it as a
stable. The structure of the
facility and its interior dec-
orations survived.
The renovation is expected
to cost about $300,000, with
$20,000 already pledged
from the Getty Foundation's
Project Identification.

The Jewish Heritage
Council, chaired by Ronald
S. Lauder, is organizing a
Polish and American resto-
ration team to begin work on
the synagogue.

Bill Prohibits
Discrimination
The Florida legislature
last week passed a bill pro-
hibiting large private clubs
from discrimination.
The Private Club Measure
forbids clubs to discriminate
on the basis of race, color, re-
ligion, gender, national
origin, handicap, age (above
21) or marital status. It
passed as part of the Florida
Civil Rights Act of 1992,
which also deals with hous-
ing and employment dis-
crimination.

Kit Celebrates
Jewish Music Season
The JewishMusic Council,
sponsored by the Jewish
Community Centers Associ-

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Something to sing about.

ation of North America, is
offering music kits in honor
of Jewish music season,
observed Jan. 18-May 7.
This year's kit focuses on
"Sepharad '92," which
commemorates the 500th
anniversary of the expulsion
of Jews from Spain.
Included in the kit are
program ideas ranging from
concerts to musical competi-
tions and posters celebrating
Sepharad '92.

News For The
Jolly Green Rabbis
The Joint Appeal by Re-
ligion and Science for the
Environment has estab-
lished a toll-free number to
aid religious institutions in-
terested in environmental
issues.
The project grew from a
meeting last year attended
by 24 religious leaders in-
cluding Jews, Southern Bap-
tists, Methodists and Epis-
copalians. The leaders an-
nounced their "prophetic
responsibility to make
known the full dimensions of
the environmental challenge
and what is required to ad-
dress it."
In addition to the hotline,
the group is preparing a
resource directory and data

Israeli Woman
Is Nominated
Among candidates for the
Nobel Peace Prize is an
Israeli woman who has spent
her life fostering coexistence
between Jews and Arabs.
Shulamith Katznelson, a
former Knesset member,
pioneered new courses and
instructional techniques for
teaching Hebrew and
Arabic. Her Ulpan Akiva is
a residential study center
teaching the two languages
and cultures to Jews and
Arabs, new immigrants, pri-
vate citizens and tourists.
In 1986, Ulpan Akiva
received the Israel Prize for
Education, the nation's
highest civilian award.

Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11