Friday, August 19, 2011
Butner, North Carolina Federal prison
This question:
From the op-ed by Gonen Ginat:
What's your supposition of an answer?
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How is it that the fate of Jonathan Pollard, who sits rotting in an American prison, has become an issue that interests only the Right?
From the op-ed by Gonen Ginat:
Here’s a topic that is certainly worthy of greater inquiry. How is it that the fate of Jonathan Pollard, who sits rotting in an American prison, has become an issue that interests only the Right? For 26 years...his fate does not pose the slightest bit of concern for those Israelis who love to speak loftily about human rights.
The thin presence of right-wingers in the protest tents on Rothschild Boulevard has been discussed extensively...Pollard had a birthday recently. How is it that none of Israel's human rights organizations officially marked the occasion?
By Western – and Israeli – standards, Pollard’s prison conditions are tantamount to torture. These are conditions that Israel does not impose on terrorists who are known serial killers (like Marwan Barghouti). Yet somehow Pollard’s state has barely ruffled the feathers of the many rights groups that are active in Israel...
Why is it that only the Right cares? How do those same individuals who call for the release of the serial killer Barghouti show no interest in Pollard, who did not harm anyone? Could it be that the Israeli Left displays its humanity only when the murderers of Jews are concerned?
...While some Israelis continue to argue over whether it is permissible to deny a Hamas murderer the opportunity to finish a master’s degree which he had already started, the situation with Pollard revolves around the question of basic medical care. Such treatment would not pass muster in the High Court of Justice.
Apparently, there are two primary reasons for Pollard's abuse. The first is that the information which Pollard passed on to Israel proved that the U.S. had violated an agreement with Israel over the exchange of intelligence. The second is that Pollard’s sentence was made more severe by a letter sent by then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger to the judge just prior to his sentencing...Yet, a few years later, Aldrich Ames, a former CIA counterintelligence officer, admitted that he was the one who revealed the identity of the agents, betraying his friends. In other words, releasing Pollard would amount to an admission of error by the entire system.
What's your supposition of an answer?
^
