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Pollardiada
by Ya'acov Liberman
San Diego Jewish Press-Heritage, Jan. 17, 2003

The Dreyfus case in France dealt with a viciously concocted spy case against
an innocent Jewish officer of the French military establishment.
"Dreyfusiada" is a fabricated word that depicts a historical scenario of
anti-Semitism as it infringes upon the purity of justice and truth.

In our current case of a confessed spy for Israel, Jonathan Pollard, we are
less concerned with the degree of guilt as we are in the enormity of
injustice involved. Thus, we do not propose to delve into all details of the
case involving Pollard the spy, but rather into the wider aspect of
"Pollardiada," or the lack of balance applied to the case, as well as the
predominance of bias that resulted in a grave infringement on justice and
law.

Surprisingly, we do not hear a single human rights organization demanding
revelations, investigations and a thorough inquiry. Also, the obvious
possibility of a cover-up is ignored by most lawyers of repute and most of
the media.

There is a man rotting away in jail. He has been sentenced without a jury by
a judge who may have been prejudiced by allegations that Israel was
supporting the development of missiles in South Africa. In fact, attempts
were made to influence Judge Aubrey Robinson, an African American, by
picturing Israel as a supporter of apartheid and connecting Pollard to the
obvious anti-African conspiracy. These facts were revealed to the press by
the only Jewish lawyer who stoically defended Pollard, Alan Dershowitz,
claiming that he heard them directly from the late Supreme Court Justice
Arthur Goldberg.

How these innuendoes, contained in a memo to the judge from former U.S.
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, affected Judge Robinson's decision can
only be imagined. Although his paternal lineage was Jewish, Weinberger
professed Christianity and seemed more anti-Israeli than most other members
of the Reagan administration.

Among the prime accusers of Pollard, in addition to Weinberger, were those
in the leadership of the CIA. On various occasions, top officers in
America's intelligence establishment were caught and convicted of spying for
the Soviet Union. In some cases, these spies were also involved in
promulgating the canard that Pollard¹s information to Israel resulted in the
capture of American operatives in the Soviet Union.

An open investigation into the Pollard matter might reveal that some of
these "double agents" had accused Pollard of their own crimes. Others,
within the CIA "family" no doubt, were eager to hide the fact that they had
been duped by becoming willing participants in the anti-Pollard conspiracy.

To the above, we must add some pertinent facts about the Pollard case
itself. Officially, Jonathan Pollard was accused of passing on "secrets" to
Israel, secrets pertaining to the arsenals of weapons in the hands of
Israel's enemies, such as Iran, Iraq, Syria and others. According to
documented agreements between the two countries, these "secrets" were
supposed to be shared between the two allies. Given Weinberger's
anti-Semitic attitude, it is little wonder that this agreement was ignored
by the secretary of Defense.

With time, Israel made several approaches regarding Pollard's fate. It was
not incidental, however, that whenever an American President was approached
requesting release of Pollard based on time served, the CIA fabricated
"confidential" horrors of Pollard's crimes. These, according to leaked
rumors, included his alleged responsibility for causing death to some CIA
agents.

The last such effort took place during President Bill Clinton's
administration. According to the former premier of Israel, Benjamin
Netanyahu, Clinton gave a solid promise to have Pollard released into
Israel's custody. Clinton, on the other hand, was "overpowered" by CIA
threats of resignations and protests.

In spite of the above, no one must come to the conclusion that Pollard
should be summarily released and the case abruptly closed. This would be
unfair to all concerned, including Pollard. On the contrary, the Pollard
case must be placed on the front burner, all facts and details exposed and
all witnesses publicly interrogated. An independent inquiry must be
established and all aspects of the case impartially reviewed.

President George W. Bush, a fair and honorable man and a true friend of
Israel, is the right party to reopen the Pollard files and appoint a
committee of inquiry into every aspect of the case. However, the President
should be approached by prominent American citizens who are competent in
matters of law and order, fair play and justice, and not by diplomats from
abroad.

The people to approach the President could well be a group of prominent
lawyers anxious to defend justice and truth against prejudice and
discrimination. Are there any?

In the Pollard episode, we find many elements that were prominently present
in the Dreyfus case of yesteryear: Conspiracy, spying, wild accusations,
biased witnesses and a judge who may have been improperly influenced.
Only one significant element is sadly missing: A vigorous defender of
justice like Emile Zola!