The Rezko Scandal and Chicago's Southwest Side Roots

Ray Hanania reports:

Tony Rezko may have lived up in wealthy Wilmette, but many of the key players around him are from the Southwest Side and suburbs of Chicago.

Some have been named and others are only identified as Individuals “A through E” in a guilty plea agreement signed by Ali Ata, a Palestinian American from Lemont who was active in Southwest Side Arab American circles.

Ata confessed to raising $25,000 for Gov. Rod Blagojevich and handing a check to Blagojevich at a meeting with Rezko in which the governor promised Ata a state job in return.

Eventually, Ata was named executive director of the Illinois Finance Authority which allegedly helped Rezko not only raise funds for Blagojevich in exchange for state jobs but also approved fraudulent loan and business deals worth millions.

Many others from the Southwest also got political jobs, and some are tied to politicians in Chicago’s 13th Ward, Palos Township, Burbank, Oak Lawn, Bridgeview and Mayor Daley. Others are activists who have long raised funds for past governors including Jim Edgar and George Ryan, who is now serving time in a federal prison for his own corrupt practices. They also raised funds for the late County Board President John H. Stroger and Mayor Daley.

Ata and others would often gather at a “hookah” café on Harlem Avenue, where, presumably, they discussed these and other topics, and they helped organize political dinners attended by Arab Americans from the Southwest suburbs at which politicians where “honored.”

Ironically, Ata represents a deeper corruption in the Arab American community, an aspect of the story that has not received much attention.

These Arab community “leaders” would tell the community that if they bought tickets to their “candidate’s nights,” their organization fundraisers or donated through them to local politicians, these politicians would respond by giving the Arab American community empowerment.

They said the politicians would give the Arab Americans a voice in their governments.

In truth, these political leaders lied. They did get jobs, contracts and clout but the people who benefited were not members of the community but rather the relatives, children, friends and business associates of these leaders.

In one case, Ata was involved with other Southwest Side activists, purchasing a property from the State of Illinois that the State of Illinois later leased. That dramatically increased the value of the property and it was then sold to another investor for a $3.2 million profit in a short period of only a few weeks.

Ata was also accused of hiding profits to reduce his tax liability. Personally, I don’t believe Rezko is guilty of directing all this.

Many in the Arab community are calling Ata a “rat.” But he’s not alone. The real rats are those who used their positions as “leaders” to rape and pillage their own community. The real rats are the so-called “leaders” who worked to benefit themselves pretending they were doing it for the benefit of the community.

But the Arab American community will continue to be exploited by these false leaders until they stand up and demand that their leaders be accountable.

Why is this important to everyone else? These are the same people who pal around with some of the most extreme Arab activists and religious fanatics who give the terrorists in this country and the Middle East the will to act.