Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 7, 1999 Page: 3 of 24
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IN OUR 53RD YEAR! - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1999 - TEXAS JEWISH POST
Features
Jonathan Tobin’s
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T ■ 1 Ilf 10 <I.IV prilod between Ro'll
I II.i'll.hi.ih and Yom Ki|>|>i»i is ii.i-
JL dllimi.illv ihr lime wlini |ew\ ask
i.ulintlici lot Inigivvncxs hin Jews look-
ing lo 'lari *>7b() uiili a lie'll slate aien’l
(lie onh one' asking loi a fire p.i" lor p.i'i
li .insgi cv'ioii' lln 'e d.ivs P.udons have
been min li in llie news l.inlv, with loi-
givrnrvs Ixmg extended lo vime vei y uii'.i-
vor y chaiiM iris.
In the Middle Easi. negoiiauons on the
so-called V\’vr II peace accord cxeninalh
signed al Sliurm F.l-Shrik bv repiesrnta-
uves of Israel and the Palestinian Author-
ity hinged on Israel's release of 350 Palev
Lilian Aral*., most of whom have been held
on seem ity charges.
A good week for terrorists
Though the P.A had wanted Israel to
release more prisoners, they settled for the
promise of 350; 199 of them were released
last week, just before Rosh Hashanah.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak
announced that none of those let go had
directly participated in the murder of
Israelis, although many had killed Arabs
who had collaborated with the Israeli gov-
ernment.
The expression used was that none had
“blood on his hands," _
although the prisoner
release did not
exclude those terror-
ists who had merely
wounded their Jewish
vie urns — as opposed
to killing them. Nor
did it leave out those
who had played a sup-
porung role in the ter-
rorist infrastructure,
as opposed to pulling -
the trigger or explod-
ing the bomb themselves.
All those released allegedly promised
to support the peace process. Let's hope
they keep their word. After being sprung
from Israeli prisons, the ex-pnsoners were
reportedly each handed weapons as part
of the gala ceremonies celebrating their
freedom upon their arrival in Gaza
As painful as the prisoner releases were
in Israel — where protests by families of
terrorism victims created a difficult situa-
tion for Barak — the controversy was
matched in the United States by the
clemency extended by President Clinton
to 14 members of a Puerto Rican terrorist
group
The Puerto Rican terrorists were mem-
bers of a group called the Armed Forces
•** tons in lor this group i' KAI.N), which
had «oinmiiird terrorist a< t' in die United
States hi the 197(K and 19N(K In particu-
lar. six Amencans were killed and 130 were
wounded in FA1.N Immhmgs ol civilian tar-
gets. sue h as the aiu< k on the historic tav-
ern m New Yoi k (atv where George Wash-
ington '.lid larewcll to the- Continental
Ai my.
As with the Palestinians, none ol those
released had Ireen convicted of direc t par-
ticipation in murder.
Despite their formal agreement to the
strict conditions of their release, the FAI.N
members who were let out of jail were as
defiant and unrepentant as the released
Palesunian terrorists who were greeted with
jubilant gunfire in Gaza. Lake the standard
Palestinian replies when similarly con-
fronted, the FALN members refused to
even apologize to the families of their vic-
ums when asked to do so on the NBC news
show “Meet the Press." Instead, they
replied that it was the United States that
was the real criminal.
When you consider that
opponents of clemency
for Pollard have made an
issue of his supposed lack
of remorse, the brazen
statements by the
released FALN members
are a little hard to take.
What about Pollanf?
Meanwhile, lurking at the margins of
these controversies remains the issue of
one prisoner who sail has not been offered
clemency, let alone a
complimentary assault
weapon or an appear-
ance on “Meet the
Press": Jonathan Pol-
lard.
It was only a matter
of time before the Pol-
lard issue would creep
into these discussions,
so it was no surprise
when supporters of
- clemency for the U S.
Navy Department ana-
lyst who spied for Israel said that they were
going to ask Hillary Rodham Clinton
(whose own flip-flops on the FALN issue
caused her so much gneD to intervene on
his behalf with the president.
Pollard's plight is the American Jewish
nightmare that won't go away.
Many are wondering why Pollard’s
release is still considered out of the ques-
uon. while terrorists are getting out of jail
And when you consider that opponents
of clemency for Pollard have made an issue
out of whether or not he has expressed
remorse for his enme (in fact, he has), the
brazen statements of the released FALN
members are a little hard to take
Despite all the rumors floating about
the alleged cost of Pollard s treachery to
7
Jonathan Pollard, pictured shortly after his arrest 14 years ago, is still being denied
clemency even as Puerto Rican terrorists were released last week.
on the record that he damaged American
security. Pollard violated his oath and com-
mitted an egregious crime in a misguided
effort to aid Israel. But he did not murder
or maim anyone.
Pollard was viciously manipulated by
his Israeli handlers, and then abandoned
by them to a life sentence.
It was no accident that the first Israeli
government to make a genuine effort to
tree Pollard was that of Benjamin
Netanyahu. Up until his election, Israel
had been led by the three men who were
in power at the time of Pollard’s espionage:
Yitzhak Shamir, Shimon Peres and the late
Yitzhak Rabin. All three were in a position
to know what he was doing, and their lack
of enthusiasm for taking responsibility for
him can be traced to the fact that they were
the ones who stood to be embarrassed by
any further disclosures from the spy.
of National Liberation (in Spanish, the the United States, there sail is no evidence
The man who cannot be forgiven
Netanyahu’s efforts to release Pollard
at the time of the original Wye agreement
last fall were shot down by an absolute
refusal of the American security services.
Their all-out campaign against Pollard
reportedly forced President Clinton to go
back on promises to Netanyahu that he
could obtain Pollard's release in exchange
for further Israeli concessions lo the Pales-
tinians (on territory as well as prisoners).
That public setback has probably made
it even harder for Clinton to let Pollard
go. even were he willing to do so.
Why is forgiveness refused Pollard when
those who committed political crimes
against the United States are so easily for-
given? The CIA supposedly thinks that
there is still a pro-Israel mole in the U S.
government who aided Pollard Others the-
orize that the reason is a basic prejudice
against Israel by the security apparatus or
a desire to make an example of Pollard so
as to deter future treachery by friends of
Israel.
Whatever the real reason, I think it is
clear that after 14 years in prison, Pollard
has suffered enough — especially when
you consider that his sentence was dispro-
portionate to the sentences of those who
committed similar crimes. It is parucularly
distasteful that an American government
that is so quick to pressure Israel to release
terrorists and so willing lo free those who
committed terrorism on our own soil is so
hardhearted when it comes to Pollard.
During these Days of Awe, when teshu-
vah is so much a part of our lives, it is par-
ticularly poignant to think that his sin
alone — and not those committed by ter-
rorists — is something that cannot ever be
pardoned.
In the same spirit of repentance, let me
also ask forgiveness from any of our read-
ers who may have been unintentionally
offended by anything I wrote in the past
year. As for those whom I offended on pur-
pose in the course of doing my duty as a
journalist, here's hoping that they are
ready to apologize for some of the things
they did. though I doubt whether Clinton,
Netanyahu or Arafat — to name three —
are reading this.
A g'mar chatimah Uwah to all IQ
Jonathan S. I ohm can be reached by e-mail
al jtobmOjewishexponrnt com.
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 53, No. 40, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 7, 1999, newspaper, October 7, 1999; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth755039/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .