"Justice, justice you shall pursue..."

It's days like today that make it clear to me how relevant the prayers that we say each day are.

Court rejects Jonathan Pollard's bid to become Prisoner of Zion

The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a petition by Jonathan Pollard, an American Jewish citizen convicted and jailed in the U.S. for spying for Israel, to be granted Prisoner of Zion status, which would have required the government to do all it could to secure his release. Israel had previously refused to grant him this status, originally created for Jewish activists imprisoned in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s.

The court rejected the petition on technical grounds, saying that Pollard did not qualify for Prisoner of Zion under Israeli law.

Let's take a closer look at the criteria that must be met in order to be recognized as a Prisoner of Zion, and we will discover that Jonathan Pollard meets every single criteria.

Background: Definition of "Prisoner of Zion" Compensation Law 1992

Chapter A Section 1 Definitions (A) In this Law -

"Prisoner of Zion" - each of the following:

(1) Someone who was imprisoned or who spent at least six months in detention or exile because of their Zionist activity in a country where such activity was illegal, and all this if he is an Israeli citizen by power of return and a resident of Israel;
...
(3) Someone imprisoned, detained or exiled because of any of the aforesaid reasons in passages (1) and (2) ...and all if the Law of Return 1950 would have applied to him.

IMRA: It should be noted that there is no reference in (1) to the country where the "Zionist activity" took place being an "enemy" country - only that the "Zionist activity" that the Prisoner of Zion carried out was illegal in that country. Jonathan Pollard's "Zionist activity" is illegal in the U.S.

Pollard is currently imprisoned because of his "Zionist activity" per (1) and Jewish, and thus the Law of Return of 1950 would apply to him - thus fulfilling (3).

The rejection by Israel's Supreme Court to grant Pollard Prisoner of Zion status (even though he has been officially recognized as a Prisoner of Zion by the Prisoners of Zion Organization, by former Prisoners of War and their respective organizations, and Israel's Knesset, which has issued a statement to that effect) basically condemns him - as far as the State of Israel is concerned - to rot in hell for the remainder of his life; his reward for years of service and self-sacrifice to the Jewish State and People being the continued abuse and torture (see end of the article) at the hands of our "closest ally", the United States.

Jonathan Pollard's Attorney in Israel, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, stated that...:

"The Government's refusal to grant Jonathan Pollard PoZ status, even though he legally qualifies for this status, can only be understood as politically motivated, and as an attempt on the part of the Government to continue to avoid discharging its legal obligations to Mr. Pollard.

Three times a day the Jewish People recite the following words in their daily prayers:

Restore our judges as at first,

And our counselors as in the beginning,

Removing from us sorrow and sighing;

Rule over us, You alone, Hashem,

With kindness and mercy,

And vindicate us in the judgment.

Blessed are You, Hashem, King who loves righteousness and judgment.

May we merit to see this blessing come to fruition speedily in our days (along with the release of Jonathan Pollard), and see the cruelty, tyranny and wickedness of the current judicial system come to an end, with those responsible for the current state of affiars being held accountable for their perversion of justice.

Israel
Zionism
Judaism