The personal wish of Jonathan Pollard

If the rumors are true that there is a possibility being considered in which Israel is to release the terrorist chief Marwan Barghouti for the release of Jonathan Pollard in return, a move which would for ever put a hole in the President of the U.S. announced policy that there will not be any deal with terrorist leaders, neither in Iraq nor any other part of the world, then I am proud for the forthright reto this ludicrous idea by Jonathan Pollard himself who. According to an article published in WorldNetDaily.com by Aaron Klein, Jonathan Pollard is „completely opposed” to being freed from prison in a deal that would also release Barghouti, whom he refers to as „a mass murderer of Jews.” He says: „I have always been opposed to gaining my freedom in exchange for the release of murderers and terrorists. My position has not changed. I deserve to be released because my sentence is unjust and because the U.S. has promised my release on more than one occasion, including a commitment by the president of the United States at the Wye Summit in 1998.” As the Jerusalem Post in its editorial (Nov. 24, 2004) writes: If there is anyone more responsible than Yasser Arafat for the needless terror war that has cost thousands of Israelis and Palestinians their lives, it is Barghouti, who proudly claims to be that war’s architect. As Barghouti explained in an interview with the London-based Al-Hayat exactly one year after the attacks began: „I knew that the end of the month of September [2000] would be the last opportunity before the explosion, but when [opposition leader Arial] Sharon arrived at Al-Aksa Mosque it was the most suitable moment for the breakout of the intifada … The meaning of this [was an opportunity for] setting fire to the entire region, since the issue of Al-Aksa inflames and ignites the sensibilities of the masses. … The „intifada”, in other words, did not just „break out.” It was broken out through considerable and premeditated effort, in large part by Barghouti. … Barghouti’s indictment before an Israeli civilian court accused him of direct involvement in 33 separate attacks, including suicide bombings, roadside shootings, and other attempted murders. The court found sufficient evidence to convict him of five murders in three separate attacks, for which he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms in prison. Indeed, Barghouti accepted responsibility in court for at least some of the attacks. … It is ironic that many of the people who say we should not choose Palestinian leaders are ready to anoint Barghouti as the only legitimate leader, especially when that „legitimacy” is based mainly on slaughtering Israelis. Should our highest aspiration for the post-Arafat era be someone who tried to out-Arafat Arafat? Will Israel’s government this time prove to be wiser and less destructive as when she released Arafat first from Beirut, then from Tunisia, building him up as a world respected leader and peace partner to her own fateful detriment and sorrow? Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director International Christian Zionist Center