Jonathan Pollard's 49th Birthday Open Letter to PM Sharon (FREE POLLARD)

JonathanPollard.org ^ | 8/9/03 | Jonathan Pollard

[M 91 u2 K]

August 9, 2003 Butner, North Carolina

Dear Prime Minister Sharon,

Today is my 49th birthday. In honor of the occasion, I am writing to share my thanks, my blessings and a piece of hard-earned wisdom which the last 18 years in prison have taught me.

First of all, my thanks. This may surprise you, but I am grateful to you.

Allow me to explain by citing several of your recent initiatives as examples:

We have learned that when you met with President Bush just prior to my 49th birthday in prison, you never mentioned a word about me - an Israeli agent in peril, whose release was promised to Israel by the former US president at Wye - a commitment which you personally witnessed!

Before your trip to Washington, you signed a petition to President Bush along with 111 of your Knesset colleagues calling for my immediate release. But you went to Washington and you left the petition at home in Jerusalem. When you refused to deliver the petition to President Bush the message to the Administration was perfectly clear: your signature on the petition was for domestic public consumption only - not because of any interest in seeing me released.

You did not forget to take to your meeting with Bush the list of 440 Arab murderers and terrorists whom you have subsequently freed in a gesture to the US. You had no difficulty making the case to release these terrorists, but had "no time" and "no place" on your agenda to plead the case for me, a Jew who warned Israel about the weapons of mass destruction prepared by neighboring Arab states for use against her.

We have learned that you continue to block the path to the White House for my rabbi, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu, to prevent him personally from seeking my release from President George W. Bush.

We have learned that you refuse to give permission for Israeli officials visiting the U.S. to raise the Pollard issue with their counterparts in Washington.

We have learned that you have made it clear to senior Cabinet Ministers - ones who previously visited me, and used to advocate for my release - that you will not tolerate their advocacy on my behalf. Sadly, they have had no moral qualms about dumping the issue of my release and instead retaining their seniority in your Cabinet.

We have learned that you met with Pollard Knesset Lobby Head Mickey Eitan and Member Uri Ariel about me last week. You were very clear with them that you will do nothing to seek my release or to assist me.

On December 3, 2002 you promised to meet with my wife, my attorney and HaRav Mordecai Eliyahu at your earliest possible convenience. After numerous phone calls to your office to set up the meeting we were told that you would call us when you have time. Eight months later, we still have not heard back from you.

You have steadfastly maintained Israel's shameful failure to honor its commitments to me as an Israeli agent in captivity. In spite of damaging lies you leaked to the media through one of your cabinet ministers, neither my wife nor I have ever received a cent from the Government of Israel. You continue deny me the medical, moral, legal and financial support that Israel committed to in Supreme Court. Not only have you failed to seek my release, you personally have sabotaged it and undermined it at every opportunity.

You feared neither G-d nor man when you told Rechavam Ze'evi, z"l that the only way you are prepared to bring me home is (G-d forbid) in a coffin. You never flinched when this was widely reported in the Israeli media. No shame, no embarrassment and not even a spurious denial. Arik, Arik, what is it that you have on your conscience that makes you fear and hate me so? In light of all of the above and much more, Mr. Prime Minister, allow me to express my gratitude. I am grateful that you have never feigned interest in my plight nor any concern for my survival. I am grateful that unlike previous Prime Ministers of Israel you do not bother to go through the motions, claiming to care so deeply about me while undermining my release behind-the-scenes. I appreciate that you have been utterly shameless about your indifference to my fate, even though you risk public disapproval, since I am a bona fide Israeli agent who certainly deserves better than this.

My wife, my attorney and my rabbi met with you two years ago and told you that if you did not act expeditiously to save me, they feared I would die in prison. You did not flinch and you did not react. In fact, you did not respond at all to their distress. You have been perfectly consistent since then, dismissing every opportunity that arises that might provide some measure of relief for me.

Thank you, Prime Minister Sharon, for your consistency. Thank you for being so blatantly obvious about your intention to have me die in prison before you do anything to assist me. To borrow an oft-cited phrase about you from the media, I wonder if your involvement in my operation "inconveniences your relationship with the U.S." and causes you to behave so shabbily towards me, an Israeli agent. All the same, I am grateful that I no longer have to do anything at all to convince the Israeli people that you are not acting in good faith.

I am sincere in my thanks. Your callousness gives me added strength and determination to survive - even as ill as I am, as worn out as I am, and as disgusted as I am. If it takes every ounce of strength in every fiber of my being, I will survive! With the help of G-d, I will live to see you reap the reward that you deserve for what you have bequeathed to me and to the people of Israel.

That is why, Mr. Prime Minister, today on my 49th birthday in prison, I bless you. May you live a long life! May you live to see me returned home in spite of all odds. G-d willing, I promise to bless you again upon my homecoming. I will look in your eyes; I will shake your hand. You will see your whole life reflected in my eyes. It is a moment I look forward to.

Until then, Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to share with you the most important thing that I have learned after 18 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement and in some of the harshest conditions imaginable. Mr. Sharon, mark my words: if you only feared G-d half as much as you fear the enemies of Israel, you would find the courage and the determination to do that which is right and that which is needed without hesitation. Only one who has no fear of G-d, and no sense of Jewish history or Jewish destiny could so thoroughly ignore the moral imperatives that are the foundation of our faith and the bedrock of our nation.

Recent events in Israel demonstrate that you have an uncanny ability to tolerate the agony of our people at this excruciating time in our history. Be aware that this ability to block out their cries and ignore their suffering is no more than an extension of your ability to tolerate the agony of one Israeli agent. After all, 5 million is just 5 million multiplied by one.

Until you master your fear and learn to trust in the Creator of Heaven and Earth, your fear of man and your lack of resolve not only hurts me, but also threatens to bring the Nation of Israel to the brink of disaster.

I close with my birthday blessings to you and to the people of Israel. Am Yisrael Chai!

(Signed) Jonathan Pollard

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Justice4JP Note On August 7, 2003, Jonathan marked his 49th birthday in prison, with no end in sight. To commemorate the event, Jonathan updated the open letter which he wrote to Prime Minister Sharon on his birthday 2 years ago. All he changed was the number of years he has been in prison and he updated the Prime Ministers' "current initiatives". Otherwise, the letter remains as compelling and as relevant today as when he first wrote it.

[mountaineer]

This government has too many people being bought out by by oil rich arabs.

Oh great, yet another trend has passed me by.

[StolarStorm]

"Anti-Semitism is a disease - a cancer of their soul - that afflicts the gentile and there's not a damned thing the Jew can do about it. "

Racism also afflicts Jews and there isn't a damn thing the non-Jew can do about it.

[StolarStorm]

"And the fact Pollard has been given a far worse sentence than non-Jews in his position just shows how anti-Semitic America still is. No, the nation that fought World War II in spite of the Jews and not because of them, that did not lift a finger to help the Jews murdered in the Holocaust really hasn't changed much at all. "

Resulted from the 'a friend betrayed'. Nothing stings worse then when a friend cra*ps on you.

[Roughneck]

****You have to respect Pollard's argument..."Clinton wanted to let me out but now Bush is stonewalling*****

Thats good enough for me. If Klintoon wanted to let him out, pollard is absolutely the worst kind of slime.

[Lurker]

A spy is a spy.

He should be shot.

L

[rogue yam]

Welcome to Free Republic, dude.

My guess is that you won't be here long.

There are not a lot of people who openly express hatred of Christianity and gentiles here.

It's kinda frowned on, from what I gather.

[Dave S]

In reality, Jonathan Pollard testified that he began relaying information to Israel in 1983 - his own website corroborates this. The Osirak reactor was destroyed by Israel on June 7, 1981. So stop making stuff up

Good catch and I just confirmed on the web.

[StolarStorm]

Mr. Pollard, is that you?

[wideawake]

So, M 91 u2 K, are you willing to admit that your story about Jonathan Pollard traveling backwards through time to destroy Iraq's nuclear reactor was a bit farfetched?

[11B3]

"And the fact Pollard has been given a far worse sentence than non-Jews in his position just shows how anti-Semitic America still is. No, the nation that fought World War II in spite of the Jews and not because of them, that did not lift a finger to help the Jews murdered in the Holocaust really hasn't changed much at all."

Wait a minute here, bub. Name ANY other nation on earth that has done so much for Israel. Let's hear it. Who has pulled your a$$ out of the fire in at least two wars? Who has kept the Arabs on a leash, thereby keeping Israel intact? Who freed the survivors of the Holocaust? I know that personally, I guarded Rudolph Hess in Spandau before that Russian strangled him with the phone cord.

For you to look down your nose at the USA and trying to say that we're anti-semites is the most ludicrous bull I've ever heard.

Get a clue. And while your at it, STFU. (As an American Indian, your religion means nothing to me - I'm not bigoted by religion as you are. I can only judge a man by his actions, or in your case words. I highly doubt that your opinion holds much sway anywhere outside the mental ward from which you evidently escaped. Try resuming your meds.)

The friendship between two nations means that trust must be earned, not demanded (especially by the nation who is the recipient of billions in aid annually). Pollard violated that trust. You don't bite the hand that feeds you - it often leads to extremely detrimental results. Just be glad that Pollard is the only one doing time for the crime.

[NYC Republican]

Thats good enough for me. If Klintoon wanted to let him out, pollard is absolutely the worst kind of slime.

Exactly. Let's face it, if he wasn't Jewish, would ANYONE be asking to set him free? Of course not! Why should we give him preferential treatment???

[NYC Republican]

Spew as much drivel and lies as you want, facts are facts. He was a traitor and put Americans at risk. He should hang by his ball$!

[NYC Republican]

Wait a minute here, bub. Name ANY other nation on earth that has done so much for Israel. Let's hear it. Who has pulled your a$$ out of the fire in at least two wars? Who has kept the Arabs on a leash, thereby keeping Israel intact? Who freed the survivors of the Holocaust? I know that personally, I guarded Rudolph Hess in Spandau before that Russian strangled him with the phone cord. For you to look down your nose at the USA and trying to say that we're anti-semites is the most ludicrous bull I've ever heard. Get a clue. And while your at it, STFU. (As an American Indian, your religion means nothing to me - I'm not bigoted by religion as you are. I can only judge a man by his actions, or in your case words. I highly doubt that your opinion holds much sway anywhere outside the mental ward from which you evidently escaped. Try resuming your meds.) The friendship between two nations means that trust must be earned, not demanded (especially by the nation who is the recipient of billions in aid annually). Pollard violated that trust. You don't bite the hand that feeds you - it often leads to extremely detrimental results. Just be glad that Pollard is the only one doing time for the crime.

Excellent post.