Why I implore you to risk a minor arrest for Pollard this Thursday
It has been quite a few years since I have participated in civil disobedience on behalf of Jews or Israel, however, I have found myself swept up in the planning and organizing of a "sit-down-in-the-streets" protest scheduled for Thursday Feb. 8, at 6:00 PM, on behalf of Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy languishing in an American prison for more than two decades. Jews worldwide will be holding such sit-down protests, see
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=121029 Initially I asked myself the following questions, which many others might be asking themselves:
What do I need this headache? How will this effect my present employment if I end up getting arrested and missing a few days of work? What if the police use unwarranted force to arrest us peaceful protestors, something that is not uncommon in Israel? What if it is raining and we get soaked and sick? I am already preoccupied with so many other trials due to my involvement with various important Jewish causes, who needs another trial, legal fees and all of the other inconveniences?
However, we all need to ask ourselves some different questions before we turn our back on Jonathan Pollard and before we make up our minds not to join the civil disobedience protests for Jonathan Pollard this Thursday:
If we were in prison, suffering for the past 21 years for our loyalty to Israel's survival, how would it make us feel if we heard that Jews worldwide cared enough to take to the streets and spend a few days in jail to help us? We need to ask ourselves, where would we all be had Jonathan Pollard not passed over vital security information to Israel? We need to ask ourselves, what are a few hours or days in jail in comparison to Jonathan's suffering all of these years? We need to ask ourselves, have we done enough until now, and how effective have all of the quiet diplomacy and protests been? We need to ask ourselves, are we capable of feeling his pain and ready to suffer a bit to free him and to releave him of his immense suffering? We need to ask ourselves, would we feel better and more freedom if we were dry in a warm home Shabbat or if we were in a jail cell, after having done something, albeit small, but something to identify and call attention to the injustice endured by Jonathan Pollard?
If 100 people are arrested in Jerusalem and hundreds more around the world on the same day it will send a clear message to the world, to Jonathan, to our Israeli and Jewish leaders and to President Bush, that we Jews love our fellow Jews and that we will not be silent and will not stand idly by our brother's blood.. Yes, we are all brothers and we are prepared to sacrifice for one another. The Jewish people are a special and chosen nation; Chosen by God, and given a chosen land with a unique and different destiny. Jonathan is our brother and we will take to the streets and shake the heavens and earths until he is set free.
We will call attention to the betrayal of Jonathan by our own government in Israel and we will call attention to the double standard and disproportionate sentence he received because he was a Jew and because he aided Israel. He is being persecuted because he is Jewish and because he risked himself for Israel. Jonathan's continued suffering is America's way of telling American Jews to be more loyal to perceived American interests than to God's Torah and Jewish interests. Israel's continued betrayal of Jonathan is Israel's way of saying that Israel will continue to show more faith and fear in Bush than faith in God. The silence of the American Jewish Establishment is their way of showing that they are indeed more loyal to Bush than to Israel, Jewish interests or God. Our participation in a loud, vocal civil disobedience style protest this Thursday is our way of saying that we place our faith in God, disregard the nations and will do that which needs to be done to save a fellow Jew. In the end, what right do we have to implore our leaders to implement a policy based on faith in God and disregard of the nations if we ourselves are too scared to spend one Shabbat in jail to articulate that faith into action, in some small measure?
I implore us all to be there Thursday, not only for Jonathan but for ourselves. We speak of Ahavat Yisrael and faith? How much faith do we really have? When the going gets a bit rough where are we? Are we prepared to put our money where our mouth is? Ahavat Yisrael? Talk is cheap. Are we willing to give one Shabbat to identify with Jonathan's plight? Could there be a place better than jail to spend Shabbat if we truly wish to feel that we are free Jews? (It is possible that nobody will get arrested or that if there are arrests that we will be out before Shabbat, however it is advisable to pack for Shabbat.)
God willing I will be there at 6:00 PM this Thursday in Jerusalem's KIkar Tziyon and laying in the street. If the police close the area or detain me first, God willing others will be there to lead the event independently. If not there, then two blocks down at the King George Intersection, if not there then two blocks down by the Machane Yehuda market; if not there then at the entrance to the Central Bus Station; if not there then on the Jerusalem Tel Aviv highway. It is easy for the police to arrest me alone, in advance, or for them to seal off some of the alternative spots. If you don't see myself or others then jump in the street alone with a simple pre-prepared, hand-made sign that says "Free Pollard Now!" Where there is no man, be a man or be doomed to a slavery and mental bondage far more painful than a few hours or days in Jail could ever be!
If I forget thee Jonathan than I have forgotten Jerusalem, and if I forget thee Jerusalem then I have forgotten my right arm. We will never forget you!
Email me at
[email protected]or call 0544876709
With Love of Israel,
Yekutiel ben Yaakov
Director of Mishalot Yisrael
POBox 6592 Jerusalem, Israel
Donations to help sponsor this event and other important activities are welcome.
Topic: Freedom for Pollard (Read 2596 times)