Free the Pollards

Time for President Trump to right an injustice and pardon Israeli hero Jonathan Pollard, freeing him and his wife Esther to finally leave bondage in the U.S. and to move to the Jewish State. * * *
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the President and the Pardon

The conditions listed in today's cartoon are, in fact, the cruel conditions under which Jonathan Pollard is now forced to live.
Editorial in the New York Daily News:
Having spent 30 years in federal prison for spying for Israel, Jonathan Pollard served every last mandated day behind bars, punishment enough. Successive Presidents rejected calls by Israeli leaders to reduce the term meted out to the only American ever to receive a life sentence for passing information to an American ally. The point was made — that those who breach national security will be dealt with severely . Now, Pollard has been released on parole , to live under supervision for five years even though the Department of Justice acknowledges he is no longer a threat to anyone. Granted Israeli citizenship while incarcerated, Pollard has asked permission to move to Israel to reunite with his family there. Israel has made the same request. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented it personally to President Obama. The unreasonable answer — smacking of personal petulance — has been no. While paroled inmates ordinarily are barred from leaving the country, Pollard is no ordinary offender. In Israel he’s viewed as a friend who enhanced the security of the Jewish state and paid dearly for it. Obama is well aware of how keenly the Israelis have pursued Pollard’s freedom. So much so that the White House once contemplated using freedom for Pollard as a chip to push Netanyahu into following the U.S. lead in peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Regardless, Obama has responded to Netanyahu’s plea with insulting bureaucratic diffidence . Heightening the insult, Obama is breaking the standard that Pollard would be treated no better or worse than any spy. The example of René González says that Pollard should be winging his way to Israel. Convicted of spying for Cuba, González spent 13 years behind bars before being released on three years probation. He then got permission to fly to Cuba for his father’s funeral and stayed. The Justice Department blessed González’ residency in Cuba as bettering relations with the Castro government. He happily renounced his U.S. citizenship as a condition of closing his case. It’s a measure of spitefulness that Obama would sooner warm up to the Castros than to the leader of America’s staunchest Mideast ally.

Jonathan . . . At Last.

At last!.
I've waited decades to be able to draw this cartoon. The ability of antisemites to sell Americans (and American Jews) the idea that Pollard was anything but an American/Jewish hero has been and remains hard for me to swallow.
* * *
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Free Jonathan Pollard

The ugly truth.
It is time to stop this shameful affair and to demand freedom for Jonathan Pollard.
Not for humanitarian reasons, not for considerations of his health, but simply in the name of justice!
. . . and our own self respect! * * *
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Antisemitism in America

Jonathan Pollard agreed to wave his right to a jury trial in return for a lighter sentence.
And they screwed him.
End of story.

ANOTHER Year?!!?

The Pollard Affair is the Shame of America.

Obama, Pollard, the Jews, and Joe Biden

The Story, breaking as I write this:

Biden: Pollard pardon over my dead body
"The NYT reported Saturday that in a recent meeting between Biden and 15 rabbis in Florida – meant to bolster the Jewish community's support of the presidential campaign – the vice president was asked about the Obama administration's reluctance to release Pollard, who was imprisoned in 1986, after he was convicted of spying for Israel.

“President Obama was considering clemency, but I told him, 'Over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time,'" Biden reportedly told the group. “If it were up to me, he would stay in jail for life.” (Ynet)

And more details here:

Biden prevented Pollard clemency, NYT reports
October 2, 2011
(JTA) -- "President Obama was considering clemency for convicted spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard until Vice President Joseph Biden prevented it, the New York Times reported.

“President Obama was considering clemency, but I told him, ‘Over my dead body are we going to let him out before his time,’ ” Biden said during a meeting with rabbis in Boca Raton, Fla., according to the newspaper. “If it were up to me, he would stay in jail for life,” he reportedly added.

Pollard was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for spying for Israel. He is scheduled for mandatory parole in November 2015. In recent months, Obama has received a flood of appeals from Congress members and former government officials to grant Pollard clemency.

Pollard recently successfully underwent kidney-related surgery.

Obama is relying on Biden for help in his reelection campaign with American-Jewish voters, the New York Times article said." -more

Puzzle Solution

The latest news

From YNet Israel:

Tens of thousands pray for Pollard's release
Ynet Jan 20 2010
"Encouraged by Netanyahu's official request to free convicted spy, Bnei Akiva organizes special prayer session at more than 80 branches in Israel. 'It's our national duty,' rabbi says" -more

and this from the Washington Post:

George Shultz calls for Jonathan Pollard's release
By Jennifer Rubin
"In a remarkable development in the Jonathan Pollard case, the former secretary of state and highly respected national security figure George P. Shultz has written to the president asking for Pollard to be released:

January 11, 2011
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to join with many others in urging you to consider that Jonathan Pollard has now paid a huge price for his espionage on behalf of Israel and should be released from prison.
I am impressed that the people who are best informed about the classified material he passed to Israel, former CIA Director James Woolsey and former Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dennis DeConcini, favor his release.
I find the letter you received from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey of the Bush administration particularly compelling.

With my respect,
Sincerely yours,
George P. Shultz

"This is an extraordinary letter, because Shultz is not only a respected Republican and a strong defender of America's national security, but he served in the Reagan administration with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who wrote the letter that the court used to issue Pollard's sentence." -more

Your thoughts?