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New book: Miscarriage
of Justice: The Jonathan Pollard Story
Shaw, Mark Publication
date: March 2003. Surely
the most comprehensive study A
procedural atrocity Hero
or Traitor? Sentence
was unfair “The
severity of the sentence that Jonathan received was out of proportion to
his...offense.”—Dr. Lawrence Korb, Director of the Brookings Institution,
Assistant Secretary of Defense (1981-85) “Mr.
Pollard has already served more time of anybody convicted of a similar offence
and twice the median sentence.”—Fr. Robert Drinan, Professor of Law,
Georgetown University Pardoning
Rich but not Pollard was an absolute disgrace Thorough
analysis--new facts presented •
Fresh background material about the committed Zionist from his father clearly
indicating Pollard’s motive for spying for Israel. •
Details of the love story that bound Anne and Jonathan Pollard together in
their efforts to aid Israel. •
Factual data regarding Israel high government official’s active participation
in the spy scheme. •
Motives as to why leaders of the Jewish community abandoned Pollard in his
time of need. •
Pollard supporter’s accusations that Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger lied
about his •
Scathing rebuttal by Pollard prosecutor Joseph di Genova regarding
allegations that the spy’s constitutional rights were violated. •
Behind-the-scenes facts concerning why Pollard was sentenced to life in
prison by Federal Court Judge Aubrey Robinson. •
Pollard supporters allegations that President Bill Clinton reneged on
promises to free the spy. •
Comparisons of Pollard’s sentence with other noted spies and with cases
involving the infamous Alfred Dreyfus and atomic bomb spy, Theodore Hall. •
Assessment of Pollard’s chances to be freed from prison. Table
of Contents Author’s
Note MARK
SHAW
is a lawyer turned author with nine books to his credit. They include Testament
to Courage, the memoir of Holocaust survivor Cecelia Rexin, Larry
Legend, a biography of NBA superstar Larry Bird, and Forever Flying,
the biography of aviator R.A. “Bob” Hoover. www.paragonhouse.com/ cat.php?ses=new&cat=True_Crime ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miscarriage of Justice' pleads for Pollard, decries U.S. tacticsJEAN SERED Bulletin Correspondent "Based on all aspects of Pollard's punishment, when is enough enough?" author Mark Shaw demands toward the end of "Miscarriage of Justice." Shaw subject is Jonathan Pollard, whom he calls "America's most controversial spy." During 1984-85, while he was an intelligence research specialist in the Naval Investigative Service, Pollard smuggled classified information to Israel. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1987. Despite numerous pleas for clemency, Pollard remains at the Federal Correctional Institute in North Carolina, where his mental and physical health are reportedly deteriorating. "Miscarriage of Justice" follows other books on Pollard by Wolf Blitzer and Elliot Goldenberg. Shaw decided that the case needed an independent analysis by a writer like himself who was outside the Jewish community. He found Pollard, often labeled a traitor, to be much misunderstood by the public. The traitor label is entirely unjustified: Israel is an ally, not an enemy. Why, Shaw wondered, had most Jewish community leaders turned their backs on Pollard since his arrest? He answers by quoting from Paul Johnson's "The History of the Jews": Long experience, Johnson writes, had taught the Jews that resistance was dangerous; it had "trained them to negotiate, to pay, to plead, to protest, not to fight." The Jewish community leaders, Shaw suggests, didn't speak up for Pollard because they were afraid to fight back. Israel's ability to fight back was one of the reasons why Pollard, a lifelong Zionist, developed an empathy with the Jewish state. Moreover, he had a feeling for the underdog. As a child Pollard endured vicious persecution, which he attributed entirely to anti-Semitism. Shaw thinks it involved that and more: Pollard's classmates' "dislike for what they perceived as a short, nerdy kid who was arrogant and, worst of all, Jewish." Later, people would call him arrogant and bizarre, a fabricator, even a kook. Shaw never mentions, however, another possible motive for persecution of Pollard: envy of his intellectual brilliance. In counterpoint to Pollard's story, Shaw points to a series of world events to explain the strange case. He also points to Caspar Weinberger, secretary of defense in the Reagan administration. Shaw describes Weinberger as a "a proponent of Arab interests" who wanted Israel destabilized for the sake of a "balance of power" in the Mideast. Pollard, hired by the Naval Investigative Service in 1979, soon realized that vital information was being withheld from Israel about the military buildup of its enemies. This blackout continued even after President Reagan signed the United States-Israel Exchange of Information Agreement in 1983 -- an agreement the United States clearly violated. In detailing Pollard's history as a spy, Shaw's tone is sometimes sardonic. He believes Pollard, in his zeal to provide Israel with signal help, blundered when he accepted money for that service. Rafael Eitan, head of Israel's LAKAM (an intelligence branch of the Defense Ministry), is portrayed as a cynical corrupter. LAKAM's code name for Pollard was "Hunting Horse," meaning someone who brings in good information that his superiors use to their own advantage. Pollard was tragically naive in believing that his Israeli handlers would rescue him if he were caught by U.S. authorities. "In the world of spying," the author writes, "all spies realized that once exposure occurred, they were on their own." This was not quite true; several Israelis tried to save Pollard, but it was too late. Pollard and his first wife, Anne, were thrown out of the Israeli Consulate and into the clutches of the police and the FBI. For years the Israeli government (after fierce internal debates) repudiated Pollard. Shaw writes that he'd become a "cigarette," to be used and discarded. In his other books, Shaw takes on the stories of underdogs or those he believes have been unjustly accused of a crime. His 1998 "Testament to Courage" is based on the diary of Cecilia Rexin, a German Christian who devoted herself to helping Jewish prisoners in concentration camps. He also wrote "Down for the Count," in which he maintains boxer Mike Tyson received an unfair trial for rape. In "Miscarriage of Justice," he chronicles the many irregularities of the legal procedures used against Pollard and Anne. When Pollard dubbed the campaign against him by government and media "a combination of [Alfred] Dreyfus and [Sen. Joseph] McCarthy," he did not exaggerate. He has had no trial -- only a closed hearing in which the government broke its plea-bargain agreement. Weinberger, according to Shaw and others, had his own dark secrets, and feared Pollard's revealing them in open court. He called Pollard "the worst spy in American history," and gave the sentencing judge a secret memo accusing Pollard of treason. Its contents have never been fully revealed. In 1998 Israel accepted responsibility for Pollard's spying. Meanwhile, Pollard has gained many supporters in the United States. However, every American president since 1987 has backed away from pardoning him, and Israel seems reluctant to press the issue. Esther Pollard, Jonathan's second wife, expresses the opinion (on the Pollards' Web site) that his case has been used by America to squeeze dangerous concessions from Israel. She also predicted that her husband may soon die if not released. Shaw's highly dramatic book ends up with an impassioned plea to bring justice to Pollard before it's too late. And he's right. For both the United States and Israel, Jonathan Pollard is no longer a "hunting horse" or a "cigarette." He has become an albatross. |
