Jonathan Pollak - Biography

Jonathan Pollak (1982) is an Israeli anarchist and graphic designer who grew up in Tel Aviv and lives in Jaffa. Pollak was amongst the founders of the radical Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall, which is one of the most active groups of the Israeli radical left.

Previous to the formation of "Anarchists Against the Wall" Pollak lived for some time in a squatter community at Amsterdam and participated in sometimes wild demonstrations against globalization and against the Dutch Royal Family - which eventually resulted in his being arrested and deported from The Netherlands. Upon his return to Israel he became deeply involved in solidarity actions with Palestinian villages, hard-pressed due to the clashes infusing from the Second Intifada.

Pollak was injured numerous times, including a head injury on April 3, 2005. An Israeli soldier shot Pollak in the head with a teargas canister from an M-16, from a distance of approximately thirty meters at a protest against the Wall in the West Bank village of Bil'in. This left him with two internal brain hemorrhages and a wound requiring 23 stitches. Jonathan was arrested dozens of times and convicted together with 10 others for blocking a road in front of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on the day the International Court of Justice in The Hague began its proceeding on the legality of the wall (which it eventually found to be illegal). He was also acquitted of a rioting charge together with another AAW activist, Kobi Snitz. They were both arrested at a demonstration against the wall in the village of Budrus.

Pollak is son to acclaimed Israeli actor Yossi Pollak, and brother to TV actor Avshalom Pollak and film director Shai Carmely Pollak. Shai recently won the Wolgin Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival for his Movie Bil'in Habibti. The film depicts the story of the struggle against the wall in the village of Bil'in and briefly features Jonathan. Pollak was part of the Israeli hardcore punk scene as a teenager and remains straight edge.

In 2005 Pollak toured the United States with Ayed Morrar, a Palestinian organizer from the West Bank village of Budrus, as part of a fundraising tour for the ISM.

In July 2009, Pollak gave evidence to the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict headed by Justice Richard Goldstone. Pollak, together with Mohamed Srour, a Palestinian from the village of Ni'lin in the West Bank, spoke to the Mission about the killing that they witnessed of Arafat and Mohamed Khawaja, during a demonstration against the Israeli assault on Gaza by Palestinians and Israeli and international solidarity activists in Ni'lin on 28 December 2008.

On December 28, 2010, Pollak was sentenced to three months imprisonment and a fine of 1,500 shekels for taking part in a Critical Mass bicycle demonstration against the blockade of Gaza in Tel Aviv in January, 2008. He was only person convicted, although he was arrested with 30 other protesters at the same demonstration.

As a result of transliteration issues from Hebrew, Pollak's name may also appear as Polak, Pollack, Polack, Yonathan, or Yonatan.

External links

• Anarchists Against the Wall - Official website
• The disengagement as smoke screen - An article in Ha'aretz Daily
• Flee, freedom fighter, flee - An article about Azmi Bishara in Znet
• UN Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict - Public Hearings First & Second session