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The Americans' Vanunu
By Avraham Burg
Tags: Israel

Like a particularly dirty cloud of smog, the Pollard case has been following us for decades, polluting everyone who comes in contact with it. Many of the young men and women who worked on behalf of Jonathan Pollard in the various political frameworks were not even born in his finest days, while the malicious people who handled him with terrible cynicism have retired, died, or become an important minister in Israel's cabinet. In between, one simple, bitter and precise fact has been forgotten: Jonathan Pollard is the Americans' Mordechai Vanunu. In principle, there is no difference between them, except perhaps for the fact that Vanunu did what he did out of deep, if controversial, conviction, while Pollard received money, some say a great deal of money, for his "values system."

The Americans do not want to release Pollard, as we do not want to release Vanunu. Even though the latter has served out his sentence, we are still harassing him. That's how it is when you get involved with the systems of darkness in your country. States do not compromise on national security, they deal with it obsessively, wrathfully avenging anyone who gets in their way. They have an elephant's memory, especially when it comes to traitors who are friends of the family and even regarding Judases who owe a great favor to the state's greatest friend. And the insult is as great as the friendship.

Meanwhile, on his way to a freedom that tarries, Pollard has become a much greater icon than his dubious attributes would account for. To understand what he symbolizes for the Israeli political right, you have to crack the basic formula of the Pollard problem. He and his handlers lived and plotted in the twilight zone of the complex loyalty of the Jews of the United States.
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Their basic premise was and still is that all Jews everywhere have dual loyalty - the loyalty of an American citizen to his homeland, and a much deeper, national-spiritual loyalty to the Jewish people and the State of Israel. For years,Israel officially fostered this snarled loyalty. It entangled and became entangled, plotted and spied. AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) - the Jewish lobby in Washington - is the bluntest conceptualization of institutionalizing near treason and turning it into an enormous octopus of a political mechanism with enormous dimensions and numerous victims.

Pollard and his agents stretched the boundaries of this double-edged lobby beyond all proportion, and then all its fundamentalist supporters came along and transformed the treason into ideology. According to the narrow, nationalist understanding of its leaders, and the wider messianic understanding of its continually growing supporters, a Jew does not, and must not, have dual loyalty. Only loyalty to the Jewish interest; only we, for ourselves, and we will not take non-Jews into consideration. Pollardism is therefore the narrowing of national identity to a one-dimensional, chauvinistic crack which the nationalists of the right promote by means of Pollard's prison. From their point of view, let him stay there forever, if only every day they can appear in the media, preach and reiterate a Jewish agenda that sees nothing but itself.

This agenda has numerous local implications. If a Jew is loyal only to Jews, then Arabs are loyal only to Arabs. This formula can be used to persuade the Jews of the West to come to live in Israel, and to an even greater extent, to bring about the migration, free-will or forced, of the Arabs of Israel, to wherever the wind blows them.

According to this worldview, dual loyalties must be abolished and Pollard must be transformed into one of the founders of Zionism and one of its contemporary symbols. Otherwise, people might think, heaven forfend, that if Pollard is kosher, MK Ahmad Tibi is also kosher, perhaps even very kosher. If so, why may the Jews of America hold two loyalties, to their homeland and their nation, and an Israeli Palestinian may not?

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. Deep down, this is the main reason for nationalizing Pollard and turning him into a complete Israeli. Because from the moment Pollard is only Israeli, then Ahmad Tibi must obviously become only Arab and he does not belong with us. Thus two problems have been solved in one extremist ideological fell swoop.

Therefore, from my perspective, there is no reason for Pollard not to serve his time to the last minute, and afterward, no reason that he not be treated like their Vanunu, and never allowed to leave the United States. I have had enough of previous maniacs - Meir Kahane, Baruch Goldstein and their friends - who came to Israel from North America and polluted the environment of our lives with their terrible teachings.
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  1.   Pollard vs Vanunu or Tibi 10:52  |  Gabe 27/04/08
  2.   Burg 11:09  |  j10 27/04/08
  3.   Avraham Burg is a dangerous man 11:39  |  Josh 27/04/08
  4.   To Mr Burg: What Confusion 11:46  |  Altalena 27/04/08
  5.   burg remains a burke ! loony left defeatism 11:49  |  victor hardman1 27/04/08
  6.   J10 11:49  |  The Northern Wind 27/04/08
  7.   Whatever Burg`s reasoning 11:54  |  sh 27/04/08
  8.   well said mr Burg 12:13  |  rm 27/04/08
  9.   Pollard deserves much worse than he got 12:17  |  Natallie Durson 27/04/08
  10.   bibi had asked Pollard to be freed, see the courage ??? 13:05  |  mehmet 27/04/08
  11.   avrum burg is a turncoat 13:05  |  zimri 27/04/08
  12.   Actually there`s no symmetry 13:24  |  Rowan 27/04/08
  13.   Jewish agenda 13:33  |  Altalena 27/04/08
  14.   MR BURG Speak for the spies acting against your country.France! 13:38  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  15.   DURSON please give details of evidence used against Pollard 13:40  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  16.   mehmet 13:41  |  Purple Canary 27/04/08
  17.   DURSON Vanunu was paid by the Times for his treason 13:42  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  18.   #9 and more nutullie hypocrisy! the usa has no spies 13:46  |  v hardman 27/04/08
  19.   Burg - irrelevant and silly man 13:54  |  Purple Canary 27/04/08
  20.   Vaanunu vs Pollard 14:00  |  PK 27/04/08
  21.   More like Burg is our Vanunu 14:07  |  Ilan 27/04/08
  22.   Northern Wind 14:12  |  j10 27/04/08
  23.   Pollard`s ONLY defense... 14:13  |  W 27/04/08
  24.   OK Avraham, let`s see 14:16  |  Buzaglow 27/04/08
  25.   # 15 Peter sm - Since you asked 14:17  |  Natallie Durson 27/04/08
  26.   Avraham Burg lights the blue touchpaper .... 14:21  |  Clickfool 27/04/08
  27.   Dual loyalty 14:28  |  North American 27/04/08
  28.   NDURSON.the evidence against Pollard was given in camera 14:46  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  29.   NTH AMERICAN drawing on a case of 25 yrs ago 14:55  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  30.   Pollard=Vannunu 14:57  |  lee rosenthal 27/04/08
  31.   Difference: Vanunu is a brave hero; Pollard is a piece of dirt 15:05  |  Chanalau, Tova 27/04/08
  32.   One is in prison, one is not. End of symmetry. 15:12  |  I 27/04/08
  33.   Pollution the environment 15:23  |  Altalena 27/04/08
  34.   Reply to W (Post No. 23) 15:29  |  Johnny Weintraub 27/04/08
  35.   BURG uses innuendo to smear everybody,man woman child 15:44  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  36.   why is vanunu no longer in jail while pollard... 15:52  |  Michael 27/04/08
  37.   W. Not quite true.While.Pollard had NO right to spy 15:56  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  38.   Cheers Natallie.#25 16:00  |  Roo 27/04/08
  39.   Elaborate treatise of the obvious - 16:08  |  Arnold 27/04/08
  40.   But he IS, Michael # 31 16:25  |  Clickfool 27/04/08
  41.   Avraham Burg is Israel`s Benedict Arnold- Quisling etc 16:32  |  Shalom Freedman 27/04/08
  42.   Burg Was Once A Powerful Man In Israel 16:38  |  Ben Israel 27/04/08
  43.   Burg avoids the main point - 16:50  |  Shlomo 27/04/08
  44.   40 Clickfool So you spend most of your time in jail by your logic 16:51  |  I 27/04/08
  45.   Desperate bids for attention... 17:22  |  Esther 27/04/08
  46.   # 28 Peter sm 17:27  |  Natallie Durson 27/04/08
  47.   ROO NONE of the evidence was made public. 17:28  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  48.   "Treason" Not Alleged in Pollard Case 17:36  |  Jason Weitz 27/04/08
  49.   NDURSON evidence was presented that neither you nor anybody 17:51  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  50.   Pollard = A Mercenary vs. Vanunu = A Believer! 18:13  |  Sharif Hafez 27/04/08
  51.   Pollard was a traitor who undermined his country`s national secur 19:00  |  Nathaniel 27/04/08
  52.   He`s come out too early from the closet,he`d be Israel`s PM 19:26  |  Absolute Sweden 27/04/08
  53.   Free them all! This need of revenge only fits 20:19  |  Andreas 27/04/08
  54.   Peter sm: Evidence? 20:45  |  Natallie Durson 27/04/08
  55.   vanunu is much more innocent 20:54  |  mehmet 27/04/08
  56.   I Agree With This Article However... 21:48  |  Yosemite 27/04/08
  57.   Thanks Mr Burg 22:21  |  Lol 27/04/08
  58.   Vanunu is a Catholic- Jew ; I am Jewish Catholic- big difference! 23:06  |  Yaakov Sullivan 27/04/08
  59.   Sharifa as a born again Catholic Jew I am honored to 23:10  |  Yaakov Sullivan 27/04/08
  60.   what did Pollard do? 23:11  |  JEHIEL CHALEFF 27/04/08
  61.   PETER SM 23:13  |  PETER SM 27/04/08
  62.   Burg is a victim of hallucinations at best 00:05  |  Norb 28/04/08
  63.   Burg, you are a despicable creature 00:09  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 28/04/08
  64.   Burg, are you implying that Tibi is a traitor? 00:13  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 28/04/08
  65.   NDURSON.Wrong.C.Weinberger presented evidence before the court 00:35  |  PETER SM 28/04/08
  66.   Come off it you guys 00:37  |  Norm 28/04/08
  67.   A shelloh mazall & a shelloh mi El 00:52  |  Shmuelshachor 28/04/08
  68.   Vanunu is a patriot; Pollard is a traitor 01:24  |  Mark Marshall 28/04/08
  69.   2 for 1 02:13  |  jo 28/04/08
  70.   Burg = Carter 02:45  |  Gilad 28/04/08
  71.   Peter Sm you know the details 02:57  |  Truth 28/04/08
&nb