{"article":{"id":115373,"heading":"Please Stop Moskowitz","author":"Arthur Shalom","created":"2004-08-11 16:50:29","modified":"2004-08-13 19:19:31","last_modified":"Sat, 14 Aug 2004 02:19:31","article":"\n
It could also significantly reduce the funding to
ultra-right-wing, intensely inflammatory Israeli settlements
in Palestinian areas.
Irving Moskowitz is a Miami resident who makes millions of
dollars off the poor in California by running \"non-profit\"
bingo parlors in low-income neighborhoods. His money is used
to support the most extremist right-wing elements in Israel -
settler homes in Silwan, the Old City, Ras al-Ammud, and other
Palestinian communities.
Gila Svirsky of Bat Shalom in Jerusalem writes, for example,
that she has been at many actions trying to prevent these
settlements from being constructed, and once was arrested
trying to prevent Moskowitz himself from driving up to survey
his new property.
Right now there is a singular opportunity to cut off
Moskowitz's corrupt gambling operations in California. A
flood of faxes can influence the regulatory agency not to
renew Moskowitz's gambling license, and thereby cut off this
major flow of money into the settlements.
Please print out and fax the sample letter below. It is
written to address the concerns of the Gambling Commission -
the rampant corruption accompanying these casinos and the
neglect of the local community, on which the license is premised.
This campaign is being organized by a group led by Rabbi Haim
Dov Beliak and Jan Hunter, so contact them if you have
questions (news@stopmoskowitz.org<\/a>).
As Gila writes, \"It's good to work together from Israel & the
U.S., each in our own way, on this.\"
I want to add - how often do we get a chance to \"pursue
justice, justice\" as Torah teaches by opposing a practice that
carries out \"injustice, injustice\" -- that does injustice in
America in order to wreak injustice in Israel, using unjust
means to create an unjust result?
Shalom, Arthur
**********************
PLEASE WRITE GAMBLING COMMISSION URGING DENIAL OF
SETTLER-FUNDER MOSKOWITZ'S GAMBLING LICENSE
Dear Friends,
On August 19th California's Gambling Control Commission will
vote on the casino license application of Irving Moskowitz,
the leading funder of militant Israeli settlers. This is a
critical moment in our Coalition's six-year campaign to stop
Moskowitz and we are appealing to you to take a moment to
write to the Commissioners.
We, along with other opponents of the license, have given the
Commission extensive written and oral testimony - a wealth of
reasons for denying the license. But the commission has never
denied a casino license application. So your letters, emails
and faxes encouraging the Commissioners to \"do the right
thing\" can make a huge difference.
We have included in this message a model letter that you can
email, fax or \"snail mail\" as is, or edit to express your own
comments. We've followed that with the Commissioners' contact
information in easy to click or paste formats. The Background
column on the right contains links to detailed information
about Moskowitz's support for violence-prone settler causes
and the damage he has done to Hawaiian Gardens, where he
operates both a bingo and the casino for which he seeks a
license.
Note: Because of the way the gambling code is written, the
Commissioners are likely to give more weight to Moskowitz's
behavior in Hawaiian Gardens than in the Middle East, so our
model letter begins with Hawaiian Gardens, then proceeds to
Moskowitz's use of gambling profits from Hawaiian Gardens to
fight Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Please copy the following text and paste it into your outgoing
email or your letterhead, modify it if you'd like, and sign
your name. Addressing information follows the model letter
text.
Model Text for Fax
Dear Commissioner,
I respectfully urge you to vote NO on Irving Moskowitz's
application for a permanent license to operate the Hawaiian
Gardens Casino. Moskowitz's actions both in Hawaiian Gardens
and the Middle East provide numerous justifications to deny
him the privilege of a gambling license.
Moskowitz employed street-gang \"muscle\" to win the referendum
authorizing casino gambling in Hawaiian Gardens. Then he
spent hundreds of thousands of dollars recalling City
Councilmembers who opposed his casino-and his use of millions
of dollars of Hawaiian Gardens' public funds to develop it.
Moskowitz controls the predominantly Latino city so
completely that no one filed to run against his hand-picked
City Council in the last election.
Moskowitz's political and economic control of Hawaiian
Gardens, which is supposed to regulate his gambling
businesses, is precisely the \"corruptive influence\" that the
gambling code rules out for a license applicant. Moreover, a
drive through Hawaiian Gardens shows that Moskowitz and the
government he controls have done nothing to alleviate the
blight and poverty of the City, one of Los Angeles County's
poorest.
In the Middle East, Moskowitz has gone far beyond exercising
his freedoms of speech and association. He has funded settler
activities that, predictably, resulted in violence. Even
though these deeds occur half a world away, I urge you to
take note of them because they show that Moskowitz does not
have the good character that the gambling code requires for
the privilege of a license.
In 1996 riots sparked by the opening of a Moskowitz-sponsored
tunnel near Jerusalem's Temple Mount took over 70 Israeli and
Palestinian lives. Moskowitz has given millions of dollars
from his Hawaiian Gardens bingo to the militant settler group
Ateret Cohanim which is preparing for the rebuilding of the
ancient Jewish temple on the Temple Mount in the place of two
revered mosques.
In a deliberate effort to thwart peace, Moskowitz has
purchased Palestinian properties in areas of Jerusalem
designated for Palestinian sovereignty. Violence has often
accompanied his colonizing of these properties with settlers.
He is a leading funder of the settlers in Hebron, who are
notorious for their vigilante-style attacks on that city's
Palestinian majority. Even as the vote on his license
application approaches, Moskowitz is generously funding the
settlers resisting Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, according
to an Israeli newspaper.
I hope that, after considering all of the above, you will
agree that Moskowitz should not be rewarded with the
privilege of a gambling license and that you will use the
power the legislature gave you in the Gambling Control Act to
vote against granting the license.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Sincerely yours,
Commissioners' Contact Information
Fax Numbers:
You can fax to each of the commissioners at the Gambling
Control Commission at
916-263-0499
Email Addresses:
Chairman Dean Shelton
Dshelton@cgcc.ca.gov<\/a>
Commissioner Michael Palmer
Mpalmer@cgcc.ca.gov<\/a>
Commissioner J.K. Sasaki
Jsasaki@cgcc.ca.gov<\/a>
Commissioner Arlo Smith
Asmith@cgcc.ca.gov<\/a>
Postal Addresses
Chairman Dean Shelton
Calif. Gambling Control Commission
P.O. Box 526013
Sacramento, CA 95852
Michael Palmer
Calif. Gambling Control Commission
P.O. Box 526013
Sacramento, CA 95852
J.K. Sasaki
Calif. Gambling Control Commission
P.O. Box 526013
Sacramento, CA 95852
Arlo Smith
Calif. Gambling Control Commission
P.O. Box 526013
Sacramento, CA 95852
Thank you very much for taking the time for this important
correspondence. We hope you will take another moment to
forward this email to friends who will want to take this quick
action on behalf of Israel-Palestinian peace and the people
of Hawaiian Gardens, who deserve to get back control of their
government.
Lastly, we invite you to visit our website,
www.stopmoskowitz.org <http:\/\/www.stopmoskowitz.org<\/a>> , and,
while there, please make a tax-deductible donation to support
our work. There's a secure online donation form in the left
margin. Or, if you prefer, please send a tax-deductible check
to the Coalition for Justice at the address below.
We appreciate your support and continuing interest.
Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
and
Jane Hunter
Co-directors
Coalition for Justice
in Hawaiian Gardens and Jerusalem
P.O. Box 67903
Los Angeles CA 90067
310-553-1146
www.stopmoskowitz.org <http:\/\/www.stopmoskowitz.org<\/a>>
email: news@stopmoskowitz.org<\/a>
_________________________________
-----------------------------
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<\/mailto>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.newprofile.org\/","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Dear Friends,\r\n\r\nYour fax could not only kill two birds of injustice with one\r\nstone, it could birth two birds of justice in one nest:\r\n\r\nIt could assist and empower exploited low-income neighborhoods\r\nin California. ","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/08\/115373.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}