Pollard Misses Father’s Funeral, Thanks to Obama

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jonathan-pollardJonathan Pollard was not allowed to attend his father’s funeral in Indiana today, despite requests from numerous Israeli officials. The White House also had spurned Israeli appeals to let  Pollard visit his father before he died on Shabbos at the age of 95.

About 100 people attended the levaya for Morris Pollard, who was a prominent researcher on viral diseases and a retired biology professor at the University of Notre Dame. He was buried at the Hebrew Orthodox Cemetery in South Bend.

The only mention of Jonathan Pollard during the ceremony came when his sister, Carol Pollard-Levy of Hamden, Conn., said one of her father’s few regrets was “not being able to help his son achieve freedom.”

Jonathan was a civilian intelligence analyst for the Navy when he copied and gave to his Israeli handlers classified documents.

Arrested in 1985 after unsuccessfully seeking refuge at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Pollard was convicted and sentenced to life in prison two years later. He is scheduled for release in 2015, according to a U.S. Justice Department website.

Nearly two-thirds of the members of Israel’s parliament signed the call asking that Pollard be allowed to attend his father’s funeral, and dozens rallied for Pollard in front of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday.

U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said today that an inmate’s request to attend a funeral would typically be considered by the prison warden, and that information on that decision wouldn’t be released until after the event.

Before he died, Morris Pollard said he couldn’t sleep at night because of his son’s incarceration. He called it “an overwhelming miscarriage of justice.”

{Breitbart/Matzav.com Newscenter}


24 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t like President Obama as a President, but I don’t think you should blame him for not allowing Jonathan Pollard to attend his fathers funeral. No other President gave him a pardon either. He wasn’t allowed out for his Mothers funeral and that was while George H.W. was President.

  2. MR BUSH HAD THE CONSENSUS OF THE ENTIRE DEFENSE ESTABLISHMENT NOT TO RELEASE HIM. TODAY THE CONCENSUS IS IN FAVOR OF RELEASING HIM.

  3. #2,

    How many years ago did his mother pass away? Back then, his preposterous sentence was still fresh and new. Now he’s spent so much time languishing in prison. there is a huge difference. And leave for a day, with no chance or significance of an escape, cannot be compared to a full pardon

  4. May he and his family be comforted among the mourners of Tzion & Yerushalaim.

    Jonathan Pollard has truly suffered and had his gehenom in this world, and we pray for his release where he can still have some peace and joy in his life.

  5. Well, you all know who to vote for in the next election, right? I think Jonathan has paid his dues many times over! Enough is enough! Digraceful

  6. Most people dont know the truth, that Bush released Pollard, and then Obama ordered him arrested again. Luckily we frum people know better, its all “thanks to Obama”!

  7. May G-D comfort Yonatan ben Malkah among all who mourn for Zion and Jerusalem.

    This administration moreso than any since FDR seems to make a habit of preaching compassion while remaining heartless.

    Remember the administration’d views on all things Jewish is like the White House Seder introduced by the President in 2009
    Visually impressive and totally trief

  8. #13 – Original Yankel was pulling your leg. That kind of sarcasm requires some sechel to understand. Wake up and get the joke!

  9. There is an old, old question of supposed Jewish “double loyalty” – thinking that Jews will be more loyal to other Jews than to the country they live in. To the US defense establishment, Pollard is the living example of this fear, so they are making an example out of him for all time. It’s also quite possible he knows something or was involved in something that would be very inconvenient or dangerous to expose, so they’re afraid to let him go.

    At any rate, the article states he will be released in 2015, so he only has four more years to serve. He’s actually lucky he lives in the US. In many other countries he would have been hanged. Some would have just shot him without a trial. Perhaps we should have some gratitude that we live in a country with real laws, even if we don’t like some of them. And don’t forget – Obama is only the latest in a series of presidents who didn’t release him.

  10. “To original yankel where’s the source for that”

    I lie all the time. especially when i make money for it.

  11. All this back-and-forth banter will make you feel like you’re doing something but you’re not — please send notes of condolence to the avel. Here is Jonathan Pollard’s address:

    Jonathan Pollard #09185-016
    c/o FCI Butner
    P.O. Box 1000
    Butner, NC
    U.S.A 27509-1000

  12. Of course it’s true that all previous presidents did not release Pollard. But there is an enormously growing bipartisan concensus, during Obama’s presidency and not before then, that Pollard suffered a gross miscarriage of justice – this in addition to an unprecedented official plea from Israel’s prime minister and president! Even Bill Clinton showed leanings towards clemency but then backtracked. Obama shows NO reaction at all. He does not bat an eyelash; he exhibits total disinterest, ignoring all passionate pleas. This is what is so infuriating and what we have not seen by anyone else. Even hearing “No” is easier to stomach than being totally ignored. “Yesh din v’yesh dayan” but it still does not keep me from wanting to give Obama a hard whack on each cheek to wake him up.

  13. #22 – Let’s see, what trivial things does the President do to pass the time? Worry about: the economy and unemployment, the worst situation in 70 years; military action in Afghanistan and Iraq; preventing terrorism here and abroad (and, until recently, chasing Bin Laden); balancing the budget; keeping foreign policy straight, with Arab srprngs and faltering Central Asian republics at the top of the list, and so forth.

    The President is a pretty busy guy. Pollard is one of our own, so we care a lot and put out a lot of effort. But face it, for the country as a whole it’s a pretty small issue. After all, we’re less than 5% of the US population, and outside of the Northeast we’re even smaller. Blocking the White House switchboard in the middle of a busy day isn’t going to get us any points either.

    It’s very sad that he wasn’t able to see his father, but a lot of other convicted criminals don’t get out to see their families either. He’s due to be released in four years. Let’s make sure that we give him all the help we can in making the transition back to normal life.

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