Commentary
Confessions Of A Pollard Advocate Who Lost His Way
I
was the first person outside of his
family and his attorney to make
contact with Jonathan Pollard
after his Nov. 21,1985, arrest for dis-
closing classified information to Israel.
At the time of Pollard's appre-
hension, I was the rabbi of Sinai
Synagogue in South Bend, Ind., a
traditional Jewish con-
gregation. Pollard's
family was very active
at the synagogue for
decades. Jonathan, in
fact, celebrated his bar
mitzvah there. I was close
with both his parents,
although I did not meet
Jonathan until I visited
him in prison after his
Ely J
arrest.
Rosenzv
I spent more than
seven hours with him
outside his prison cell in Marion, Ill.
He was kept at the prison in a vir-
tual subterranean vault, in solitary
confinement, several floors below
ground in a cell near that of John
Anthony Walker Jr., guilty of trea-
son in what is considered the most
damaging Russian spy-ring in history.
Walker constantly bombarded Pollard
with anti-Semitic drivel, and Pollard
showed the scars of that incessant
abuse. He was brought to me in hand-
cuffs and leg shackles. I had never
seen anyone whose skin was so white
and pasty, as though he had never
seen the sun. It was a pitiful sight to
behold.
When I saw him in jail again in 1987,
he seemed to have aged then well
beyond his years. Imagine how
he must look now — in 2014.
I exchanged correspondence
with him as well, and visited
his then-wife, Anne Henderson
Pollard, in a prison in Danbury,
Conn. I wrote an amicus mem-
orandum to Pollard's sentenc-
ing judge, Aubrey Robinson,
pleading for leniency, and also
penned articles in the general
and Jewish press advocating
for him.
I wrote about my visit with
Pollard in the press. I stressed that
our democratic ideals and our unique
system of justice are tested most and
best by our fair and balanced treat-
ment of those who do the unsavory
deed and are universally condemned
and vilified for it. I also described
Pollard as an angry young man, not
the easiest to root for. I noted as well
that just because he indisputably
erred did not mean, therefore, that we
should lock him up
and throw away
the key.
This is a theme
to which I still
wholeheartedly
subscribe. Yet, my
words reflected
insensitivity to the
emotional toll that
Pollard's ordeal
must have taken
on him. I focused
indelicately on
his anger and was
oblivious to his
circumstances. My
words hurt his par-
ents deeply, and,
after that, they
is
refused all contact
SUPPOSED
with me.
r0 BE AN
In response, I
inexplicably buried
my support for
Pollard then and
there. I no longer
advocated for him
and stopped fol-
lowing closely the
unfolding story.
I cannot possibly
Dry Bones
Et4couRA61146
'THOUGHT?!
-
justify my silence. All
that I can do now is
what I ought to have
done all along — add
my own voice to the
growing international
groundswell of support
for Pollard's immediate
release from prison, if
nothing else, on human-
itarian grounds.
My complicity of silence ends here
and now.
Pollard is more than just a case or
a cause. He found love and faith while
in prison. He is married to Esther and
is now an observant Jew.
Pollard is not well. He has a variety
of serious ailments that have required
surgeries, among them, gallbladder
and kidney issues. His current health
condition is reported to be poor, as
he has suffered from the cumulative
effects of his long-term incarcera-
tion under harsh conditions, including
seven years in solitary confinement.
A growing chorus of American
political leaders and cultural icons
has appealed for Pollard's immedi-
ate release on humanitarian grounds
under the president's powers of
clemency and pardon, among them,
Elie Weisel, Alan Dershowitz, Rudy
Guliani, John McCain, Henry Kissinger
and George Schultz. Scores of U.S.
congressmen have also signed peti-
tions requesting the commutation of
Pollard's sentence to time served.
Most recently, David Durenberger,
the chairman of the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence when
Pollard was convicted, wrote to
President Obama, arguing that
the harshness of his sentence was
"uncalled for" and appealing for his
immediate release.
In addition, a number of petitions
for clemency for Pollard, each signed
by hundreds of U.S. religious leaders
across all faith lines, have urged the
president to act now, arguing that
failing to do so represents a "gross
miscarriage of justice."
The drumroll for Pollard's freedom
beats long and hard as well inter-
nationally, in academic and political
leadership circles and at the grass-
roots, most especially in Israel. A
petition urging Obama to commute
Pollard's sentence was signed by
200,000 Israelis.
Pollard is ailing and has spent the
better part of his life in jail. His life
has been ruined.
The U.S. Attorneys' Manual, which
Jonathan Pollard
provides guidelines for the consid-
eration of petitions for presidential
pardons and clemency, notes that the
president's consideration of a request
for pardon takes into account post-
conviction conduct and acceptance of
responsibility. Pollard has a spotless
prison record and cooperated fully
with the government following his
arrest. He has also accepted respon-
sibility for his actions and has repeat-
edly expressed great remorse for his
deeds.
The manual also points out that a
presidential sentence commutation
request is reviewed with a mind to
the undue severity of the sentence
and the critical nature of a pris-
oner's illness. Pollard's request for
commutation or clemency clearly
provides ample evidence in support
of these two factors as well. The
median sentence for the offense for
which Pollard was convicted is two to
four years. The maximum sentence
today for such an offense is 10 years.
Incredibly, Pollard is now in the 29th
year of his incarceration, having been
sentenced to life imprisonment.
The call of restorative justice sum-
mons us to find that place in our
hearts to help Pollard come back from
the brink.
A few months before Pollard's
father Morris died, it was reported in
the local South Bend press that he
could only hope and pray that justice
for his son would prevail. Let us honor
a dying father's last wish, answer the
call of equity and justice, and join the
fight for Jonathan's freedom.
Better late than never.
❑
Ely J. Rosenzveig lives with his family in Bet
Shemesh, Israel. He is a retired congrega-
tional rabbi, ordained by Yeshiva University
in New York City. He is an attorney and a
graduate of the University of Michigan Law
School in Ann Arbor. He is the son of the late
Rabbi Charles H. Rosenzveig, the founder
and executive director of the Holocaust
Memorial Center, Zekelman Family Campus in
Farmington Hills.
JN
March 20 • 2014
27