[Peace-discuss] Abramoff's hat, etc.

[David Green]

It's interesting to note, in reference to the end of
this article, that the mainstream media referred to
Abramoff's hat as "flamboyant" and reminding them of
"the Sopranos." Clearly, there is some cultural
projection going on here. Unfortunately, both
interpretations have some relevance.

Folllwing the article is a letter submitted to the
local paper.

As Abramoff case plays out,
his Jewish ties come to fore 

By Matthew E. Berger 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (JTA) — Reading the indictment
against Jack Abramoff, one might not know that he was
prominent in Washington Jewish circles. But in coming
months, his ties with Jewish and Israeli organizations
may play a large role in the web of illegal activity
to which the lobbyist has pled guilty. 
While Abramoff has been portrayed as a man willing to
do nearly anything to further his political goals and
wallet, he also has been an idiosyncratic player in
the Jewish community of the nation’s capital, starting
several short-lived, money-losing ventures to fill
religious gaps he saw in the city’s Jewish world.

He also used his largess to further Israeli businesses
and charities that appealed to his conservative
worldview. 

Specifically, Abramoff is accused of using money from
a Washington charity he oversaw to fund military-type
programs in the West Bank. Indian tribes donated money
to tax-exempt charities, believing they were
supporting anti-gambling foundations, but the money
was redirected to help a “sniper school” in the West
Bank, operated by a friend of Abramoff. 

According to congressional documents, Abramoff sought
night-vision goggles and a vehicle for the
sniper-training facility. 

Abramoff also allegedly worked on behalf of an Israeli
firm that sought to wire the Capitol for cellular
phone use. While leading cell phone manufacturers in
the United States settled on JGC Wireless to install
antennas in repeaters in House buildings, an Israeli
company with ties to Abramoff, Foxcom Wireless,
ultimately won the bid. 

The switch is allegedly linked to Rep. Bob Ney
(R-Ohio), chairman of the House Administration
Committee, who accepted numerous favors from Abramoff
over the years, and placed comments in the
Congressional Record favorable to Abramoff’s ventures.


Foxcom didn’t pay Abramoff to lobby for the House job,
but it did donate $50,000 to the Capitol Athletic
Foundation, an Abramoff charity, the Washington Post
reported. 

Foxcom has changed its name to MobileAccess and moved
its headquarters to Virginia. A spokesman did not
respond to requests for comment. 

Abramoff also has been tied to two rabbis, the Lapin
brothers from South Africa, who aided his political
and personal ventures. David Lapin was hired to run a
Jewish school Abramoff created in suburban Maryland to
teach his children and others. 

Lapin also received close to $1.2 million to promote
“ethics in government” to the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, one of Abramoff’s clients.
Officials on the island said Lapin did little for the
money. 

His brother, Daniel Lapin, is president of Toward
Tradition, an interfaith group. Abramoff allegedly
asked him to create an award to bestow upon Abramoff
to help his acceptance into Washington’s Cosmos Club.
Abramoff suggested he could be a “scholar of Talmudic
studies” or a “distinguished biblical scholar.” 

Lapin said yes, according to e-mails obtained by
congressional investigators, and asked whether
Abramoff needed a letter or a plaque. Lapin told the
Washington Post he meant the exchange to be
tongue-in-cheek and never produced an award for
Abramoff. 

Two other Abramoff aides moved to Israel last year as
investigators continued their probe. Sam Hook and his
wife, Shana Tesler, both worked at Abramoff’s law firm
and had been cooperating with investigators before
moving to Israel in July, according to The Hill, a
Washington newspaper. The Orthodox Jews had long
planned to move to Israel, their attorney said last
year. 

Abramoff also made contributions to several Jewish
lawmakers, among numerous congressmen Abramoff and his
associates help finance. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.)
donated $7,000 – the amount he received from Abramoff
– to charity last week. 

A spokesman for Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) did not
respond to questions about the $1,000 he received from
Abramoff, according to Federal Election Commission
filings. 

In Washington, Abramoff was best known for his
idiosyncratic use of his money. He shunned other
religious schools in the area, choosing to open Eshkol
Academy specifically for his children’s education. 

The school closed within two years, and several
teachers say they are owed back pay. David Lapin, the
school’s dean, was not an active administrator, former
teachers said. 

Abramoff also opened several kosher restaurants that
failed quickly. Stacks, a deli, was welcomed by the
city’s Jewish community, but never made money. A more
formal restaurant upstairs, Archives, never stayed
open for more than a few weeks at a time.

Some Jewish professionals found it noteworthy that the
Abramoff that appeared outside a Washington courthouse
Jan. 3 — with a long, double-breasted black coat and
black hat — resembled a devout Jew on his way to
Shabbat services. 

As Abramoff faces more political trouble, he may
continue to foster ties to the Jewish world. In a New
York Times interview last year, Abramoff compared
himself to the biblical character Jacob, saying his
involvement in lobbying was similar to Jacob’s taking
the identity of his brother, Esau. A spokesman for
Abramoff later told JTA his client was misquoted. 

________________________________________

Letter to Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette:

      The News-Gazette’s belated coverage of the Jack
Abramoff scandal (Commentary, 1/8) emphasizes money
and neglects ideology. Abramoff and his cronies—Tom
DeLay, Ralph Reed, and Grover Norquist—represent what
some call “Judeo-Christian civilization,” which in
this incarnation consists of Jews who support Israeli
depredations, fundamentalist Christians who support
American depredations, and the support each group
gives the other in various political/economic
activities.

	Donations funneled through Abramoff meant for inner
city children went to West Bank settlers to buy
equipment with which to violate Palestinian rights.
Abramoff, an orthodox Jew, worked with DeLay, a
fundamentalist Christian, and the “anti-government”
Norquist to protect American-operated sweatshops in
the Mariana Islands that are exempt from U.S. tariffs,
but not governed by labor regulations. Rep. George
Miller stated “Abramoff spent a lot of time, effort
and money to protect a system that was a growth
industry for sex shops, prostitution, abuse of women,
slavery, illegal immigration, worker exploitation and
narcotics, all in the name of freedom.” And presumably
Judeo-Christian civilization. Abramoff even hired a
rabbi to teach an 8-day ethics course in the Marianas
for $1.2 million. Meanwhile, Reed of the Christian
Coalition used gambling money procured by Abramoff
from Indians to fund anti-gambling activities in
Alabama.

	The late Native historian Vin DeLoria, Jr. wrote of
his people’s dispossession that “Exploitation of one’s
fellows by any means became a religious exercise.”
Those with an alternative vision of religion still
have their work cut out for them by those with God and
chutzpah on their side.

David Green

 


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