ARUTZ SHEVA
by Phyllis Chesler
July 29, 2015

And so, at long last, after thirty years, seven of which he spent in solitary confinement—the most barbaric of punishments—Jonathan Pollard will be pardoned and may live to breathe the air of freedom. I am overjoyed, apprehensive, enormously sad, relieved, and angry. Pollard’s cell door will not swing open until November and, unless President Obama decrees otherwise, he may not be allowed to make aliyah to Israel for five years, lest he be given a hero’s (or a martyr’s) welcome. Although I did not become an activist on his behalf, Pollard’s fate has haunted me for more than twenty years. Though he had teams of dedicated but incompetent lawyers, and dedicated and highly competent lawyers, and the support of compassionate rabbis, Pollard’s cause did not become fashionable for a very long time. READ MORE