Posted on 11/10/2005 2:22:43 PM PST by zyaakov
Justice Rubinstein: U.S. should free convicted spy Pollard
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent
High Court Justice Eliyakim Rubinstein on Thursday made a rare politically tainted comment when saying that the United States should release Jonathan Pollard, who has been jailed for almost 20 years following his conviction for spying for Israel.
"It is time the U.S. Administration free Jonathan Pollard," Rubinstein said. "20 years is more than enough time to serve in prison and I believe that the U.S. should pardon him."
Rubinstein was speaking during the opening panel of the annual conference of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists in Eilat. During a debate on the global struggle against anti-Semitism, Rubinstein was asked if he considered Pollard?s imprisonment as an act of anti-Semitism.
In response, the justice urged the U.S. to free Pollard, saying that "he committed an error, Israel committed a grave error, but it's time for his release. I hope Israel continues appealing to the United States on the matter, but I don't think the High Court has anything to do in the matter. The bottom line is that he must be released."
Rubinstein's comment might prove to be problematic as the High Court is slated to hand rulings on two petitions by Pollard and his family over his imprisonment, including a request to recognize him as a Prisoner of Zion
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Agreed! The only reason that he's alive is that he spied for an "ally."
Now the Walkers and Ames... They should have been given the death sentance.
Mark
I sure would appreciate it.
I've heard the "false flag" arguments before, but I've never heard it presented as an established issue.
No, not at all. I have a problem with Pollard, however.
And this stupidity is why he needs to stay locked up until 1 day after his demise.
Yes, we should have executed Pollard.
Pollard will be freed the next time there is a Democrat president. Clinton would have freed Pollard, but backed off only when Tenet went to the mat against doing so.
Israel has long had an aggressive espionage operation against us. Obtaining Pollard's freedom, and being seen to have done so, is important for the Israelis so that they can say to spies they recruit here that they will do everything in their power to protect them.
Hang an extra tenner on him for good measure.
Well, supposedly Pollard was a "walk-in" to the Israeli intelligence apparatus because Bobby Ray Inman choked off intelligence as a bureaucratic reaction to the Osiraq bombing. We were suppose to share the stuff Pollard was analysing with the Israelis, by treaty. When Inman cut the flow, Pollard turned.
I do too. It would not occur to me to true martyrs for their faith to be equates to Pollard, a scummy lefist that betrayed his country.
What do they have in common except being Jewish? Absolutely nothing. You may want to ask yourself why, then, their Jewishness was important to you.
As the Chinese operations have shown -- no secret worth keeping can be kept, there is always some way to get it.
No pertinant to this Pollard case, but I am generally philosophically opposed to all but the rarest sercrets. Too many vain oaths, for one thing. Swear an oath and it best be for some non-trivial thing.
Right. I don't think there is anyone that has been given a sentence that long, including those that spied for Russia and in the case of the the most recent breech (I forgot his name). The question (of justice) is, what was exceptional in the case of Pollard?
Pollard's served his hard time. Clinton gets millions in pension and office support a year from us taxpayers. Plush.
That's too much of s discordance for me.
papertyger: Well, supposedly Pollard was a "walk-in" to the Israeli intelligence.
You only confirm my suspicions: Israel is not Zion. Italy, and even Vatican, is not the same thing as Christianity.
What does religion have to do with this? Unless one has a bias against that particular religion, absolutely noting.
Even more importantly, I asked why you smear all those people in KGB prisons that suffered for their faith by putting them in the same category with a scummy traitor Pollard.
How does your post answer that? Not at all. The nonexistent "Zion" aspect in this affair indicates only that you suspect all people of Jewish faith as being disloyal. You also showed no hesitation of smearing Jewish martyrs (did you ever suggest, even jokingly, to put some Christian spy and Christian martyrs into the same category?).
Don't try to spin this as an anti-semitic thing. Pollard did considerable damage to our country. Are you defending that?
While I understand your thrust, we really don't know what Pollard gave up.
It's my understanding the sheer volume of documents he gave the Israelis would fill a 10 ft. x 10 ft. cube.
You've got the wrong cat, fella.
Read my posts, and rethink yours.
the only answers I can come up with are either 'Politics' or the ideology of the sentencing judge. And I'll agree with you - both answers - if true - are unacceptable.
He took an oath to the United States. He broke that oath. He is now paying the price levied by our legal system.
I see no reason that should change.
If so, why did they trade some of OUR top secrets to the Soviet Union? Allies dont betray their friends like that. Can accept that they felt forced to sink one of our ships during the 6 Day War but trading our top secrets to our enemy stinks. With friends like that, who needs enemies.
And you apparently are Pollard's wife or maybe you were just his wife in prison. So how long have you been out? How about we transfer Pollard to the general prison population of Gitmo? Would that do?
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