Originally published 15 November 1999
in general release
www.stopmoskowitz.com
9553 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90035
P.O. Box 1471, Hawaiian Gardens CA 90716
310-910-9153
pager 310-797-0457
The Honorable Ehud Barak
Prime Minister of Israel
by fax:
to the Prime Ministers office in Israel: 972-2-651-2631
to the Israeli Embassy in Washington: 202-364-5423
Dear Mr. Barak,
Zion
will be redeemed through justice (Isaiah 1: 27.) Apparently the prophet Isaiah
didn't anticipate Dr. Irving Moskowitz and the cash-hungry settler movement.
Ask Israelis: "who is the American Jew most affecting the peace process?"
And they will name Moskowitz of Ras al Amud and the Temple Mount Tourist
tunnel. We found it significant that last-ditch opposition to the Wye agreement
facilitation funds came from Moskowitz.
Rather than building a legacy
of peace, Moskowitz is pouring money into disrupting the peace process. We
believe that the sources of that money are: Dr. Moskowitzs private fortune;
the tens of millions of tax-free dollars taken in by Moskowitz's "charitable"
bingo parlor in Hawaiian Gardens California. (In 1997 alone according to
its most recent available IRS filing--the Moskowitz Foundation sent $9.4
million of its total grants of $17 million from bingo operations to right-wing
Israeli extremists.) profits from his casino, also in Hawaiian Gardens, bolstered
by millions in public funds, which Moskowitz, by dint of his local political
control, secured to subsidize the casino's construction.
Central to
Moskowitz's activities are his control and manipulations of Hawaiian Gardens,
a 0.9 square-mile city near Long Beach in Los Angeles County. Most of Hawaiian
Gardens residents are recent Latino immigrants; many of them live in poverty
and social dislocation like gang and drug problems. Moskowitz's casino project
exacerbates and exploits the social despair by draining funds from the city.
Hawaiian Gardens is totally vulnerable to Moskowitz's political pressure.
Today,
because of Moskowitz's activities, the future of the Israeli and Palestinian
peoples are intertwined with the future of the people of Hawaiian Gardens.
Moskowitz
threatened your government and your efforts at peace making. After sitting
quietly for months during Natanyahu's tenure, Moskowitz made his move the
day after your election, moving the bulldozers to his housing project at
Ras Al Amud. On July 5 th , when your government was birthing, Moskowitz
increased the pace of work in this politically sensitive area with his jackhammers
(as Ha'aretz reported.) We believe that Dr. Moskowitz's coup d'tat should
be recognized for what it is. At inception, your new government's life was
threatened!
All this should not be a small matter to you. Are these
the tactics and methods to achieve a Zion Renewed that you and so many others
sacrificed and fought for?
We--a coalition of Jewish and Latino activists--urge
you to act. Moskowitz is currently operating his casino under a provisional
state license, in a settler-like trailer a five table Card Casino. At the
same time, he is "creating facts on the ground" by building a larger 250-table
casino before he has a permanent state gambling license. If Moskowitz is
allowed to open the 250 table casino, a projected $100 to $150 million cash
flow will be infused into the political life of Israel, dooming all chances
for peace.
We urge you return Governor Gray Davis' recent visit to
Israel. Come to California as soon as possible! Visit the state's Attorney
General Bill Lockyer. Bring all your political and legal capital to bear.
Ask Davis and Lockyer to close Moskowitz's bingo operations and deny him
a permanent casino license. Ask your US Ambassador to meet with State Department
officials over this matter. Ask that the Internal Revenue Service be informed
of your government's anger at Moskowitz's use of tax-free bingo dollars
to undermine the Israeli peoples desire for peace with the Palestinians.
Speak
to all the American Jews associated with the Democratic Party. Ask them why
a Democratic President of the United States, who is seeking to broker peace
between Israel and the Palestinians, must suffer the apparent lack of cooperation
of a Democratic Administration in the State of California?
Finally,
Mr. Barak we believe in your vision of peace between Israel and her neighbors.
Our hopes are with you. We seek to work together to build a strong peace.
Sincerely,
The Coalition For Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem
Haim Beliak, Rabbi and Project Coordinator
Mina Meyer, Co-Chair
Carlos Navejas, Co-Chair
P.S.
Read more about the activities of Dr. Moskowitz and The Moskowitz Foundation
as well as the Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem on
www.stopmoskowitz.org
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