November 23, 1993

Hon. Bill Clinton
President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of the Northeast Queens Jewish Community Council [NEQJCC], a coalition of 30 synagogues and other groups, I urge the commutation of Jonathan Pollard's sentence to time serve. In March, the NEQJCC joined a letter prepared by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York which requested that you commute Mr. Pollard's sentence.

The story of Jonathan Pollard and his punishment out of proportion to his crime is well known. No one condones his acts of passing classified information to our nation's closest and steadfast ally. The illegal act is covered by one of the lowest levels of Federal law. The length and conditions of Mr. Pollard's more than seven years solitary confinement in a maximum security prison is an ample penalty. Indeed, the penalty violated the terms of our government's promise to Mr. Pollard during negotiations preceding his agreement to enter a plea of guilty.

On September 13, you received Yasir Arafat as a statesmen on the White House Lawn. At your prompting, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin reached out and shook his hand. If America's leader can ask Israel to forgive a man with the blood of thousands of Jews and Arabs on his hands, it certainly seems reasonably to merely commute Mr. Pollard's already harsh sentence to time served. Indeed, we note the Prime Minister's request that you do this and renew our call for this very limited measure to commute Mr. Pollard's sentence.

Thank you for your interest and consideration.

Sincerely,

COREY B. BEARAK, President

c. Sharon Nadel, Executive Director

-30-

Home | Calendar | Media | Officers | Members | Resources