A little-reported piece of the Abramoff story: the Israel connection

juan cole shares some background and a perspective...

Newsweek's Mike Issikoff reported last May that Abramoff diverted $140,000 from a charity ostensibly to benefit inner-city youths to militant Israeli colonists who had usurped land in the Palestinian West Bank. Isikoff wrote:

"Among the expenditures: purchases of camouflage suits, sniper scopes, night-vision binoculars, a thermal imager and other material described in foundation records as "security" equipment. The FBI, sources tell NEWSWEEK, is now examining these payments as part of a larger investigation to determine if Abramoff defrauded his Indian tribe clients . . .

Abramoff, a legendary lobbyist particularly close to DeLay, is also a fierce supporter of Israel—"a super-Zionist," one associate says.

let's not forget what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot, so to speak...

Now here's the thing. If a Palestinian-American had diverted $140,000
from a Muslim charity to "security equipment" and "sniper lessons" for
Palestinians on the West Bank, that individual would be in Gitmo so
fast that the sonic boom would rattle your windows.

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