Opportunity for Pollard
Op-ed: Will President Peres do everything in his power to secure Jonathan
Pollard’s release?
Sima Kadmon Published YNET : 06.10.12, 10:18 / Israel Opinion
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4240236,00.html

Next Wednesday, the 13th of June, in a grand and virtually unprecedented
ceremony, President Obama will bestow the US Presidential Medal of Freedom
upon President Peres.

While convicted spy is hospitalized in North Carolina, his wife urges
president to work towards securing his immediate release 'before it is too
late'
Full story

Political analysts here and in the US regard this as an extravagant way to
court the Jewish vote, but there are also lots of other officials for whom
the awarding of this medal – which is the most prestigious civilian honor
that can be given in the US - raises for them the question of freedom for
Jonathan Pollard who has been languishing in an American prison for 27
years – and they interpret this award as an instrument to secure his
freedom.

Among those invited to the gala award ceremony are former Secretaries of
State Henry Kissinger and George Shultz, who themselves have recently
appealed to President Obama and expressed their unequivocal support for
Pollard’s release as a matter of justice and compassion.

Time for results

This past Tuesday, a delegation representing a coalition of bereaved
families - who recently watched the murderers of their lost loved ones
released as part of the Shalit deal – met with President Peres at the King
David Hotel in support of Pollard’s release. Among them were Esther
Wachsman, mother of Nachshon; Zahava Rozen, mother of Anat Rozen who was
killed in the bombing of the Apropos Café in Tel Aviv; and Ruchama Raz whose
brother was killed in a terror attack on Bus 405.

The families appealed to President Peres not to content himself with merely
raising the issue of Pollard in his meeting with President Obama, just to be
able to say he tried. Rather, they urged him to act with the same kind of
heartfelt urgency and devotion that they, the bereaved families, were asked
to show when their loved ones’ murderers were set free to save the life of
Gilad Shalit.

“The fact that we are not talking about an enemy state here, but about a
close friend, only heightens the obligation of President Peres to act with
the same intensity as if it were his own son in a life-threatening
situation,” said Ron Carmon, whose daughter Tali was murdered in a terror
attack on a bus in Haifa. “We cannot tolerate a repeat of our president
coming out of a meeting with President Obama and saying, ‘he heard’. There
have to be results before the man dies in prison!”

In the opinion of the bereaved families, the latest reports of the close
cooperation between US and Israeli intelligence agencies in the development
of the Flame computer virus causes sheer consternation with regard to
Pollard’s situation. “How is it that the intelligence agencies of the two
countries can work in full cooperation, which requires trust and such a high
level of transparency, while Pollard is simply kicked to the curb,” says
Carmon.

Pakistani support

A month ago, President Peres promised that he would raise the issue at the
top of his agenda with President Obama. It appears that in order to get
results he is going to have to be firm and to deviate from the usual
conventions. Nevertheless, in light of the broad support from senior
American officials, and in light of Pollard’s failing health, the
expectation is that he will do so because it is required.

But the most surprising new support for the campaign for Pollard’s release
has come from a totally unexpected source. In recent days, the American
media is in an uproar about the heavy sentence of 33 years meted out to
Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who provided information to help the CIA
locate and terminate Osama bin Laden. In response to the American outrage
over the heavy sentence, Pakistani officials say that the Americans are
being hypocritical.

In an interview with CBC News, the former Pakistani Ambassador to the US,
Dr. Maleeha Lodhi, commented on US hypocrisy. “How can the country that is
holding Jonathan Pollard in prison for close to 30 years claim that we do
not have the right to judge a spy in our own country, as we see fit,” she
said. “The country that put Jonathan Pollard away for spying for its close
ally, Israel, should understand that other countries too punish those who
spy for an erstwhile ally," Lodhi, told CBS.