Well, Wouldn't you know it? Not to mention, Who'd have thunk it?
After all those years of being hailed by our mainstream media and their parliamentary clones as Australia's greatest refugee success story, pillar of Australian multiculturalism, Australia's leading philanthropist, Companion of the Order of Australia and so on, Frank Lowy now feels 'at home' in... Israel:
"Westfield co-founder Frank Lowy says he feels 'at home' after moving to Israel late last year. 'I feel that I'm home. That's all. Very simple,' Sir Frank said in an interview with Israel television... Separately The Times of Israel reported Sir Frank as having 'made Aliyah', which is the migration of Jews to Israel." (Lowy feels 'at home' in Israel, Samantha Bailey, The Australian, 31/5/19)
Just to remind you of how Lowy was spun in Australia, see my 25/9/12 post The Airbrushing of Frank Lowy.
Showing posts with label Frank Lowy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frank Lowy. Show all posts
Saturday, June 1, 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019
Bob Carr's 'Run for Your Life' 2
Apart from the issue of Israeli settlements, which "slowly wormed its way into my consciousness, but not enough to undermine my instinctual support for the Jewish state," it was "the storm of criticism" unleashed by the Israel lobby, following his presentation, as premier of NSW, of the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize to the Palestinian politician Hanan Ashrawi which gave Bob Carr pause for thought on the subject of Israel - even though he reveals that his motive was merely to "reward a Palestinian leader who has signed up for a peaceful path to Palestinian statehood," and that that had to be "good for Israel." Carr describes the hue and cry as follows:
"Soon after my participation was announced, Jewish leaders launched an 'international petition' to force me to withdraw from the award. Sam Lipski, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Melbourne, denounced Hanan Ashrawi as a Holocaust denier. There was not a shred of evidence, and he was forced to withdraw and apologise. There were threats of funding being withdrawn from Sydney University. Its chancellor, Justice Kim Santow, barred Ashrawi from even appearing in the Great Hall. So much for academic freedom. Letters of protest were dispatched about the award going to a Palestinian, switchboards set aflame with indignation. This campaign had two objectives: to see that no Australian politician attended the presentation of the peace prize and that the peace prize be withdrawn. Lucy Turnbull, then the lord mayor of Sydney, withdrew her attendance. Her husband was running for Liberal Party preselection in the seat of Wentworth, home to a large and influential Jewish community. Kathryn Greiner was a member of the board which had made the decision to award the prize, but she phoned Stuart Rees, the director of the Sydney Peace Prize Foundation, and told him: 'I'll tell you how serious this is. Bob Carr won't come to the dinner. He'll flick the responsibility to [his deputy, Andrew] Refshauge at the last minute. And you won't get the Town Hall. It is more than Lucy's life is worth.' An article in The Australian suggested that by accepting this invitation I had damaged the federal Labor leadership of Simon Crean and quoted an anonymous member of his staff to that effect. Just as federal Labor is lifting its game, the NSW premier does this unconscionable thing that sets us back - this was the tone of the story planted by a member of Crean's staff but not, I am convinced, by Crean himself." (pp 176-7)
The proverbial penny had finally begun to drop:
"The day it appeared I received a call from a former colleague, Laurie Brereton, now serving in the federal parliament, who told me in strong language that I should not back down. He said, 'This group [he meant the Israel lobby, especially in Melbourne] is used to bullying to get its way. They do it all the time. You get nothing by backing off. Stand firm.'... I had already reached the same view as Brereton. If I had backed down it would have sent a melancholic message to all Australians of Arabic or Palestinian background: namely that, through its political clout, the other side - 'the lobby', 'the community' - will always crush you. I had given my word I would present this prize (ironically, because in one tiny way it would make a contribution to Israel being more secure). I would not back down. I have never received more support on any single issue in my time in public life. I was stopped in the street by strangers who said, 'Congratulations on not backing down... ' and seeing me look puzzled would add by way of explanation, '... in meeting...' and, not being able to recall the Arabic name would add, '... that woman.' It was the only controversy I can recall where this continued a month after publicity ceased. The award dinner was a sellout full of people from boardroom Sydney, who, I realised, had an instinctive understanding of what had gone on here: a plain bullying attempt to silence a side in the debate as legitimate as its opposite." (ibid)
The Israel lobby had overreached itself - and, critically, its bullying ways had come, via the media spotlight, to the attention of the man/woman on the street, as evinced by Carr above. He continues:
"The bullying Jewish leadership began to realise they had gone too far. I received a phone call from Frank Lowy, not to threaten or cajole but to ask out of curiosity, 'I just wondered why you did this?' Looking back I'm struck by the assumption there must be something perverse in treating a Palestinian with courtesy, as someone who might have an equal right to attention. I told him I did it because I believed encouraging peaceful Palestinians would be something one might do for a more secure Israel. But it dawned on me - with his phone call and the other reaction - what had been behind this campaign. I came to recognise it as a phenomenon that I later saw discussed on Mondoweiss, an American Jewish website, as 'Jewish Narcissism'. Maybe it's more fairly seen as an acute defensiveness and anxiety about losing friends. Whatever, there was a strong tone of 'How dare you'. That is, how dare you break ranks with us. How dare you criticise Israel. I later encountered this mentality when I was foreign minister." (ibid)
"The assumption that there must be something perverse in treating a Palestinian with courtesy"? The mind boggles. One cannot help but think at this point that if only Carr had spent a little more time reading about Israel's brutal treatment of occupied Palestinians on the ground at the time, instead of stroking Israel lobby egos, then he would have seen the idea of Ashrawi's receiving courteous treatment from Australia's Israel firsters as plainly risible. Still, it must be admitted that the transition from brainwashed Zionist dupe to pro-Palestinian activist is hardly ever a 'road to Damascus' thing.
To be continued...
"Soon after my participation was announced, Jewish leaders launched an 'international petition' to force me to withdraw from the award. Sam Lipski, a prominent member of the Jewish community in Melbourne, denounced Hanan Ashrawi as a Holocaust denier. There was not a shred of evidence, and he was forced to withdraw and apologise. There were threats of funding being withdrawn from Sydney University. Its chancellor, Justice Kim Santow, barred Ashrawi from even appearing in the Great Hall. So much for academic freedom. Letters of protest were dispatched about the award going to a Palestinian, switchboards set aflame with indignation. This campaign had two objectives: to see that no Australian politician attended the presentation of the peace prize and that the peace prize be withdrawn. Lucy Turnbull, then the lord mayor of Sydney, withdrew her attendance. Her husband was running for Liberal Party preselection in the seat of Wentworth, home to a large and influential Jewish community. Kathryn Greiner was a member of the board which had made the decision to award the prize, but she phoned Stuart Rees, the director of the Sydney Peace Prize Foundation, and told him: 'I'll tell you how serious this is. Bob Carr won't come to the dinner. He'll flick the responsibility to [his deputy, Andrew] Refshauge at the last minute. And you won't get the Town Hall. It is more than Lucy's life is worth.' An article in The Australian suggested that by accepting this invitation I had damaged the federal Labor leadership of Simon Crean and quoted an anonymous member of his staff to that effect. Just as federal Labor is lifting its game, the NSW premier does this unconscionable thing that sets us back - this was the tone of the story planted by a member of Crean's staff but not, I am convinced, by Crean himself." (pp 176-7)
The proverbial penny had finally begun to drop:
"The day it appeared I received a call from a former colleague, Laurie Brereton, now serving in the federal parliament, who told me in strong language that I should not back down. He said, 'This group [he meant the Israel lobby, especially in Melbourne] is used to bullying to get its way. They do it all the time. You get nothing by backing off. Stand firm.'... I had already reached the same view as Brereton. If I had backed down it would have sent a melancholic message to all Australians of Arabic or Palestinian background: namely that, through its political clout, the other side - 'the lobby', 'the community' - will always crush you. I had given my word I would present this prize (ironically, because in one tiny way it would make a contribution to Israel being more secure). I would not back down. I have never received more support on any single issue in my time in public life. I was stopped in the street by strangers who said, 'Congratulations on not backing down... ' and seeing me look puzzled would add by way of explanation, '... in meeting...' and, not being able to recall the Arabic name would add, '... that woman.' It was the only controversy I can recall where this continued a month after publicity ceased. The award dinner was a sellout full of people from boardroom Sydney, who, I realised, had an instinctive understanding of what had gone on here: a plain bullying attempt to silence a side in the debate as legitimate as its opposite." (ibid)
The Israel lobby had overreached itself - and, critically, its bullying ways had come, via the media spotlight, to the attention of the man/woman on the street, as evinced by Carr above. He continues:
"The bullying Jewish leadership began to realise they had gone too far. I received a phone call from Frank Lowy, not to threaten or cajole but to ask out of curiosity, 'I just wondered why you did this?' Looking back I'm struck by the assumption there must be something perverse in treating a Palestinian with courtesy, as someone who might have an equal right to attention. I told him I did it because I believed encouraging peaceful Palestinians would be something one might do for a more secure Israel. But it dawned on me - with his phone call and the other reaction - what had been behind this campaign. I came to recognise it as a phenomenon that I later saw discussed on Mondoweiss, an American Jewish website, as 'Jewish Narcissism'. Maybe it's more fairly seen as an acute defensiveness and anxiety about losing friends. Whatever, there was a strong tone of 'How dare you'. That is, how dare you break ranks with us. How dare you criticise Israel. I later encountered this mentality when I was foreign minister." (ibid)
"The assumption that there must be something perverse in treating a Palestinian with courtesy"? The mind boggles. One cannot help but think at this point that if only Carr had spent a little more time reading about Israel's brutal treatment of occupied Palestinians on the ground at the time, instead of stroking Israel lobby egos, then he would have seen the idea of Ashrawi's receiving courteous treatment from Australia's Israel firsters as plainly risible. Still, it must be admitted that the transition from brainwashed Zionist dupe to pro-Palestinian activist is hardly ever a 'road to Damascus' thing.
To be continued...
Saturday, July 1, 2017
Riding High in June, Shot Down in June
"Mr Lowy's knighthood citation highlights his 'contribution to the UK economy' through British investments, particularly Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City. He has been active in philanthropy in both Australia and Britain, including founding the Lowy Medical Research Institute and the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy. In Britain he has supported the Cabinet Office War rooms, the Imperial War Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. His community profile here was raised with his role as chairman of Football Federation Australia for more than a decade until 2015, and he personally spearheaded Australia's bid to host the World Cup in 2022. That ended in a rare devastating defeat for the businessman. Mr Lowy said he was 'humbled' and grateful for the knighthood, and the credit 'should be shared with the thousands of Westfield staff who helped contribute to the company's success in the United Kingdom'." ('Humbled' Lowy honoured by Queen for Britain's Westfields, Deborah Snow, Sydney Morning Herald, 17/6/17)*
"Swiss prosecutors have examined [$46 million worth of] Australian taxpayer-funded payments to controversial lobbyists hired at the behest of billionaire Frank Lowy to help Australia win the 2002 World Cup... While the Garcia report does not accuse Mr Lowy... of corruption, it does raise serious questions about [his] oversight of Australia's taxpayer-funded World Cup bid." (Swiss probe into cup bid, Nick McKenzie, Sydney Morning Herald, 29/6/17)
As another Frank (Sinatra) would say: That's Life!
[*"As Frank Lowy tells it, his journey to a British knighthood began with his love of the BBC, acquired as a young teen hiding from the Nazis after the invasion of Hungary. He and his fellow ghetto-dwellers would 'huddle around a radio in a bunker' in Budapest, waiting eagerly for the chimes of big Ben to introduce the World Service. 'It always gave us hope that help was on the way and that the war would end in our favour,' the 86-year old said on Saturday, after the overnight announcement in London that he had been made a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's Birthday Honours List." (ibid) Funny that. Sir Frank's biographer, Jill Margo, tells us that he was living in a "protected house," one of 25, while all the other Jews in Budapest "were forced into a ghetto." Moreover, she quotes him, in the final phase of the war, as waiting for the Russians to save him. Of the BBC there is no mention whatever. (Frank Lowy: Pushing the Limits, 2000, pp 28-29)]
"Swiss prosecutors have examined [$46 million worth of] Australian taxpayer-funded payments to controversial lobbyists hired at the behest of billionaire Frank Lowy to help Australia win the 2002 World Cup... While the Garcia report does not accuse Mr Lowy... of corruption, it does raise serious questions about [his] oversight of Australia's taxpayer-funded World Cup bid." (Swiss probe into cup bid, Nick McKenzie, Sydney Morning Herald, 29/6/17)
As another Frank (Sinatra) would say: That's Life!
[*"As Frank Lowy tells it, his journey to a British knighthood began with his love of the BBC, acquired as a young teen hiding from the Nazis after the invasion of Hungary. He and his fellow ghetto-dwellers would 'huddle around a radio in a bunker' in Budapest, waiting eagerly for the chimes of big Ben to introduce the World Service. 'It always gave us hope that help was on the way and that the war would end in our favour,' the 86-year old said on Saturday, after the overnight announcement in London that he had been made a Knight Bachelor in the Queen's Birthday Honours List." (ibid) Funny that. Sir Frank's biographer, Jill Margo, tells us that he was living in a "protected house," one of 25, while all the other Jews in Budapest "were forced into a ghetto." Moreover, she quotes him, in the final phase of the war, as waiting for the Russians to save him. Of the BBC there is no mention whatever. (Frank Lowy: Pushing the Limits, 2000, pp 28-29)]
Saturday, May 6, 2017
Trumble & Friends
What a stellar crowd they were at the Trumbull dinner out there on the ocean blue:
Greg Norman, golfing legend:
"World famous golfers designed the courses (my favorite was Riverside, developed by our own Greg Norman and carved out of natural rain forest)... " (Golf in Jakarta - holidaydestinationsaround the world.com)
Rupert Murdoch, NewsCorpse executive chairman:
"A powerful British parliamentary committee has labelled Rupert Murdoch unfit to run a major company..." (Murdoch 'not fit' to run News Corp, ABC News, 2/5/12)
Gina Rinehart, mining magnate:
"Rinehart was recently quoted by the Australian Resources & Investment magazine as saying, 'if you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain; do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing, and more time working'." (12 reasons why so many people hate Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, Megan Willett, businessinsider.com, 14/9/12)
Frank Lowy, Westfield boss:
Of course, our jolly former Golani brigade Palestinian Arab fighter and showerer of $$$ on assorted Israeli 'charities' and Australian political parties needs no introduction. (Just click on the Frank Lowy label below.)
Andrew Liveris, DOW Chemical CEO:
"Liveris also told top Dow executives that it was 'time for retirement' for one manager who had voiced concerns about the hotel cost overruns, according to emails included in Wood's OSHA complaint. According to the complaint, Dow's chief counsel, Charles Kalil, replied to Liveris the next day: 'Remind me never to piss you off'." (Dow Chemical's Australian CEO Andrew Liveris challenged on spending for years, documents show, Joshua Schneyer, smh.com.au, 7/5/15)
Jennifer Nason, JP Morgan & Chase's global chairman for technology, media and telecommunications investment banking:
"Can you share with us any plans for the future of AAA [American Australian Association]? 2017 is the 100 year Anniversary of Australia joining with the US in every conflict for 100 years. We are the only US ally that can say that." (Faces of AWNY [Australian Women in New York], australianwomeninnewyork.org, 26/11/16)
Michael Wirth, Chevron chairman:
"Energy giant Chevron donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Labor and Liberal parties before and after an enquiry into mining in the Great Australian Bight, sparking claims it is trying to buy political influence. Chevron hopes to begin drilling up to four wells in the environmentally sensitive Bight next year to search for oil and gas." (Chevron donates thousands to Labor, Liberal as it pushes oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight, Peter Jean, The Advertiser, 5/2/17)
Leigh Clifford, QANTAS chairman:
"On 23 March 2004, Rio Tinto announced it had sold its 11.9 % shareholding in [West Papua's] Freeport [mine]. Rio Tinto made a $518 million profit. Citing no environmental or social reasons, Rio Tinto's then chief executive Leigh Clifford reassured shareholders that 'the sale of [Freeport] does not affect the terms of the joint venture nor the management of the Grasberg mine' and that through 'our significant direct interest in Grasberg, we will continue to benefit from our relationship with Freeport'... In October 2005, the Norwegian government began 5 months of deliberations over [Freeport's] 'extensive, long-term and irreversible' environmental damage at the Grasberg complex... And so, in February 2006, Freeport became the first company that the Norwegians blacklisted for environmental reasons." (The silencing of West Papua, N.A.J. Taylor, crikey.com, 9/1/12)
John Travolta, actor:
"The film asserts that Travolta was a 'troubled young man looking for help' when he stumbled across Hubbard's book 'Dianetics'." (How Scientology controls John Travolta and Tom Cruise, according to 'Going Clear', Emily Yahr, The Washington Post, 30/3/15)
Wesley Bush, Northrop Grumman chief executive:
"US-based global cyber security company, Northrop Grumman, has chosen Australia as a partner in its new Advanced Cyber Technology Centre (ACTC), which is to be a focal point for cyber innovation across the corporation." (Investor Update: Australia a global centre for cyber innovation for Northrop Grumman, austrade.gov.au, 8/1/15)
Anthony Pratt, Visy Industries:
"'Tonight I'd like to pledge another $US2 billion over the next 10 years doubling our rate of investment to create an additional 5000 high paying manufacturing jobs mainly in the midwest,' Mr Pratt, who was seated beside First Lady Melania Trump at the dinner, said. Mr Trump stood up and clapped while the rest of the room mainly sat." (Donald Trump gives standing ovation to Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, Peter Mitchell, smh.com.au, 5/5/17)
And what did they eat? I hear you cry:
"Guests dined on an entree... of asparagus, quail eggs, frico, mango treviso and basil and truffle vinaigrette. For the main course, it was dry-rubbed New York strip steak with watercress, tokyo turnips, garlic scape barley and pinot noir sauce. Desert, discarded by most guests as they mingled, was an option of Nutella Ring Ding with stracciatella gelato or vanilla roasted strawberries with moscato cream, rubber confit and lemon poppy buscuit and radish blossoms." (Stars & stripes: Celebrities flock to Trump-Turnbull dinner aboard battleship, Sharri Markson, Daily Telegraph, 6/5/17)
Greg Norman, golfing legend:
"World famous golfers designed the courses (my favorite was Riverside, developed by our own Greg Norman and carved out of natural rain forest)... " (Golf in Jakarta - holidaydestinationsaround the world.com)
Rupert Murdoch, NewsCorpse executive chairman:
"A powerful British parliamentary committee has labelled Rupert Murdoch unfit to run a major company..." (Murdoch 'not fit' to run News Corp, ABC News, 2/5/12)
Gina Rinehart, mining magnate:
"Rinehart was recently quoted by the Australian Resources & Investment magazine as saying, 'if you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain; do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing, and more time working'." (12 reasons why so many people hate Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, Megan Willett, businessinsider.com, 14/9/12)
Frank Lowy, Westfield boss:
Of course, our jolly former Golani brigade Palestinian Arab fighter and showerer of $$$ on assorted Israeli 'charities' and Australian political parties needs no introduction. (Just click on the Frank Lowy label below.)
Andrew Liveris, DOW Chemical CEO:
"Liveris also told top Dow executives that it was 'time for retirement' for one manager who had voiced concerns about the hotel cost overruns, according to emails included in Wood's OSHA complaint. According to the complaint, Dow's chief counsel, Charles Kalil, replied to Liveris the next day: 'Remind me never to piss you off'." (Dow Chemical's Australian CEO Andrew Liveris challenged on spending for years, documents show, Joshua Schneyer, smh.com.au, 7/5/15)
Jennifer Nason, JP Morgan & Chase's global chairman for technology, media and telecommunications investment banking:
"Can you share with us any plans for the future of AAA [American Australian Association]? 2017 is the 100 year Anniversary of Australia joining with the US in every conflict for 100 years. We are the only US ally that can say that." (Faces of AWNY [Australian Women in New York], australianwomeninnewyork.org, 26/11/16)
Michael Wirth, Chevron chairman:
"Energy giant Chevron donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Labor and Liberal parties before and after an enquiry into mining in the Great Australian Bight, sparking claims it is trying to buy political influence. Chevron hopes to begin drilling up to four wells in the environmentally sensitive Bight next year to search for oil and gas." (Chevron donates thousands to Labor, Liberal as it pushes oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight, Peter Jean, The Advertiser, 5/2/17)
Leigh Clifford, QANTAS chairman:
"On 23 March 2004, Rio Tinto announced it had sold its 11.9 % shareholding in [West Papua's] Freeport [mine]. Rio Tinto made a $518 million profit. Citing no environmental or social reasons, Rio Tinto's then chief executive Leigh Clifford reassured shareholders that 'the sale of [Freeport] does not affect the terms of the joint venture nor the management of the Grasberg mine' and that through 'our significant direct interest in Grasberg, we will continue to benefit from our relationship with Freeport'... In October 2005, the Norwegian government began 5 months of deliberations over [Freeport's] 'extensive, long-term and irreversible' environmental damage at the Grasberg complex... And so, in February 2006, Freeport became the first company that the Norwegians blacklisted for environmental reasons." (The silencing of West Papua, N.A.J. Taylor, crikey.com, 9/1/12)
John Travolta, actor:
"The film asserts that Travolta was a 'troubled young man looking for help' when he stumbled across Hubbard's book 'Dianetics'." (How Scientology controls John Travolta and Tom Cruise, according to 'Going Clear', Emily Yahr, The Washington Post, 30/3/15)
Wesley Bush, Northrop Grumman chief executive:
"US-based global cyber security company, Northrop Grumman, has chosen Australia as a partner in its new Advanced Cyber Technology Centre (ACTC), which is to be a focal point for cyber innovation across the corporation." (Investor Update: Australia a global centre for cyber innovation for Northrop Grumman, austrade.gov.au, 8/1/15)
Anthony Pratt, Visy Industries:
"'Tonight I'd like to pledge another $US2 billion over the next 10 years doubling our rate of investment to create an additional 5000 high paying manufacturing jobs mainly in the midwest,' Mr Pratt, who was seated beside First Lady Melania Trump at the dinner, said. Mr Trump stood up and clapped while the rest of the room mainly sat." (Donald Trump gives standing ovation to Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt, Peter Mitchell, smh.com.au, 5/5/17)
And what did they eat? I hear you cry:
"Guests dined on an entree... of asparagus, quail eggs, frico, mango treviso and basil and truffle vinaigrette. For the main course, it was dry-rubbed New York strip steak with watercress, tokyo turnips, garlic scape barley and pinot noir sauce. Desert, discarded by most guests as they mingled, was an option of Nutella Ring Ding with stracciatella gelato or vanilla roasted strawberries with moscato cream, rubber confit and lemon poppy buscuit and radish blossoms." (Stars & stripes: Celebrities flock to Trump-Turnbull dinner aboard battleship, Sharri Markson, Daily Telegraph, 6/5/17)
Friday, June 24, 2016
The Price of Politics
Here's Wendy Carlisle's introduction to Background Briefing's latest (19/6/16) feature, The Price of Politics, on Radio National:
"If you want to know who's funding your politician's election campaign before voting on Saturday week, you'll be waiting a very long time. In fact, you'll have to wait a year after next. Australia's political donations laws are so lax the full list of donors and what they've spent won't be known until February 2018. But now there's a new report into political spending by the big end of town which shows just how little we really know about what our top companies are up to. For the first time the top ASX companies have been given a transparency score which is designed to measure just what those companies are up to and what they're telling their shareholders about their political spend. Di Martin has this report for Background Briefing.
"This federal election will be the first since explosive allegations about political donations were made in NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It heard how the Liberal Party got around the strictest donation laws in the country, laws that banned property developers' donations in NSW. Yet donations made by property developers to a federal Liberal fundraising body were then routed back into NSW party coffers."
Then came a familiar, gravelly voice:
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 annual general meeting of Westfield Corporation."
Di Martin continued:
"Frank Lowy's Westfield is one of the property developers whose donation of $150,000 ended up with the NSW Liberals."
Lowy again:
"The meeting is now open for questions and general discussion."
Then Martin:
"One of the first is from Stephen Mayne. He's standing in the federal election on a ticket of reforming political donations law. He's also a Westfield shareholder: 'When we made that donation in December 2010 were we aware that that money was going to be finishing up with the NSW Liberal Party when developer donations in NSW had been banned at that point?'"
To which Lowy predictably replied:
"We made the donations appropriately according to the law and the inquiries that were held after that have said we have not been advised of anything that we have done contrary to what is expected of us."
The underlying assumption here, of course, is that Westfield's 2010 donation was all about greasing the wheels for more shopping malls. But is there any real need to keep a naturally neoliberal, Liberal government sweet? Could there, perhaps, be another reason for the donation?
I have no idea. None whatever. But what I do know is that Lowy is an unabashed supporter of Israel and that the Liberal regimes of NSW premiers Barry O'Farrell (2011-15) and Mike Baird (2015-) have outdone all previous NSW and other state governments in demonstrating their love and affection for the apartheid state. (Simply click on the O'Farrell/Baird labels below and marvel at its manifestations and extent.)
Needless to say, this bizarre phenomenon is not touched on in Background Briefing's otherwise invaluable report.
"If you want to know who's funding your politician's election campaign before voting on Saturday week, you'll be waiting a very long time. In fact, you'll have to wait a year after next. Australia's political donations laws are so lax the full list of donors and what they've spent won't be known until February 2018. But now there's a new report into political spending by the big end of town which shows just how little we really know about what our top companies are up to. For the first time the top ASX companies have been given a transparency score which is designed to measure just what those companies are up to and what they're telling their shareholders about their political spend. Di Martin has this report for Background Briefing.
"This federal election will be the first since explosive allegations about political donations were made in NSW's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). It heard how the Liberal Party got around the strictest donation laws in the country, laws that banned property developers' donations in NSW. Yet donations made by property developers to a federal Liberal fundraising body were then routed back into NSW party coffers."
Then came a familiar, gravelly voice:
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2016 annual general meeting of Westfield Corporation."
Di Martin continued:
"Frank Lowy's Westfield is one of the property developers whose donation of $150,000 ended up with the NSW Liberals."
Lowy again:
"The meeting is now open for questions and general discussion."
Then Martin:
"One of the first is from Stephen Mayne. He's standing in the federal election on a ticket of reforming political donations law. He's also a Westfield shareholder: 'When we made that donation in December 2010 were we aware that that money was going to be finishing up with the NSW Liberal Party when developer donations in NSW had been banned at that point?'"
To which Lowy predictably replied:
"We made the donations appropriately according to the law and the inquiries that were held after that have said we have not been advised of anything that we have done contrary to what is expected of us."
The underlying assumption here, of course, is that Westfield's 2010 donation was all about greasing the wheels for more shopping malls. But is there any real need to keep a naturally neoliberal, Liberal government sweet? Could there, perhaps, be another reason for the donation?
I have no idea. None whatever. But what I do know is that Lowy is an unabashed supporter of Israel and that the Liberal regimes of NSW premiers Barry O'Farrell (2011-15) and Mike Baird (2015-) have outdone all previous NSW and other state governments in demonstrating their love and affection for the apartheid state. (Simply click on the O'Farrell/Baird labels below and marvel at its manifestations and extent.)
Needless to say, this bizarre phenomenon is not touched on in Background Briefing's otherwise invaluable report.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Some Questions for the Lowy Institute
The Lowy Institute was founded in 2003. It conducted the first of its annual LI Polls on 'Australia and the World' in 2005.
Each poll has featured a 'Feelings Thermometer' in which those polled are asked to "rate your feelings toward some countries, with 100 meaning a very warm, favourable feeling," and zero meaning the opposite.
For example, in the latest LIP, New Zealand scores a high of 83% while North Korea scores a low of 29%.
Four Middle Eastern countries are included, receiving the following percentages: Turkey 53%, Egypt 48%, Iraq 35%, and Syria 33%.
Exactly which ME countries are included each year varies from year to year.
Here, for example, are the ratings for ME countries since 2005:
2005 - Middle East 25%; Iran 24%; Iraq 23%
2006 - Israel 55%; Iraq 44%; Iran 43%
2007 - Israel 50%; Iraq 36%; Iran 34%
2008 - United Arab Emirates 55%; Iran 38%; Iraq 37%
2009 - Iran 38%
2010 - Israel 49%; Iraq 40%; Iran 38%
2011 - Egypt 52%; Iraq 35%; Iran 35%; Libya 35%
2012 - Egypt 56%; Libya 41%; Syria 39%; Iran 38%
2013 - Israel 53%; Iran 38%
2014 - Israel 51%; Iran 39%
Quite apart from the issue of polling people who may not even know the difference between Iraq and Iran, to give but one example, why is it that:
a) Iran, Israel's bete noire, appears in every single poll bar the latest?
b) the one Middle Eastern country that makes our political leaders (state & federal) go weak at the knees every time; whose cause is a veritable crusade for the Murdoch press; that gets the benefit of just about every doubt in the rest of the corporate media; and for which Frank Lowy actually carried a gun in 1948, appears in only 5 of the 11 polls?
Just curious...
Each poll has featured a 'Feelings Thermometer' in which those polled are asked to "rate your feelings toward some countries, with 100 meaning a very warm, favourable feeling," and zero meaning the opposite.
For example, in the latest LIP, New Zealand scores a high of 83% while North Korea scores a low of 29%.
Four Middle Eastern countries are included, receiving the following percentages: Turkey 53%, Egypt 48%, Iraq 35%, and Syria 33%.
Exactly which ME countries are included each year varies from year to year.
Here, for example, are the ratings for ME countries since 2005:
2005 - Middle East 25%; Iran 24%; Iraq 23%
2006 - Israel 55%; Iraq 44%; Iran 43%
2007 - Israel 50%; Iraq 36%; Iran 34%
2008 - United Arab Emirates 55%; Iran 38%; Iraq 37%
2009 - Iran 38%
2010 - Israel 49%; Iraq 40%; Iran 38%
2011 - Egypt 52%; Iraq 35%; Iran 35%; Libya 35%
2012 - Egypt 56%; Libya 41%; Syria 39%; Iran 38%
2013 - Israel 53%; Iran 38%
2014 - Israel 51%; Iran 39%
Quite apart from the issue of polling people who may not even know the difference between Iraq and Iran, to give but one example, why is it that:
a) Iran, Israel's bete noire, appears in every single poll bar the latest?
b) the one Middle Eastern country that makes our political leaders (state & federal) go weak at the knees every time; whose cause is a veritable crusade for the Murdoch press; that gets the benefit of just about every doubt in the rest of the corporate media; and for which Frank Lowy actually carried a gun in 1948, appears in only 5 of the 11 polls?
Just curious...
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Team Australia's Best & Brightest
"It is a real honour to thank Frank Lowy - Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia's leading philanthropist, former director of the Reserve Bank of Australia, chairman of the Australian Football Federation, sometime head of the BRW rich list and dinky-di Australian - for his lecture and for his life."* Tony Abbott, 20/9/12
"The Australian newspaper is Rupert Murdoch's 'gift to our nation' Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told a gala dinner in Sydney to celebrate the publication's 50th birthday." (Tony Abbott praises The Australian as Rupert Murdoch's 'gift to our nation', AAP/Sydney Morning Herald, 16/7/14)
"A senior member of the Coalition has warned that corporate tax avoidance and the repatriation of profits overseas is 'the greatest financial challenge' facing Australia. Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan, a confidant of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, said the government must secure the tax revenue base before spending on essential services is not impacted. 'If you're willing to turn a blind eye to billions of dollars going out the door and offshore, you're doomed in terms of providing what people expect from government: roads, schools and hospitals. This is the greatest financial challenge facing the Western world and if not addressed it could redefine sovereignty in the Western world'." (Government senator says corporate tax avoidance threatens services, Heath Aston & Georgia Wilkins, Sydney Morning Herald, 30/9/14)
"The usual culprits top the list again this year: Rupert Murdoch's Fox, Frank Lowy's Westfield and the host of real estate trusts listed on the Australian Securities Exchange." (Leaners avoid paying their fair share of the company tax rate, Michael West, Sydney Morning Herald, 29/9/14)
The usual culprits?
Now that's not a very nice thing to say about two of Team Australia's best and brightest (even if one calls Israel home and the other's now a Yank).
[*Transcript of the Hon Tony Abbott MHR Vote of thanks at the Inaugural Australian Multicultural Council Lecture, Parliament House, Canberra]
"The Australian newspaper is Rupert Murdoch's 'gift to our nation' Prime Minister Tony Abbott has told a gala dinner in Sydney to celebrate the publication's 50th birthday." (Tony Abbott praises The Australian as Rupert Murdoch's 'gift to our nation', AAP/Sydney Morning Herald, 16/7/14)
"A senior member of the Coalition has warned that corporate tax avoidance and the repatriation of profits overseas is 'the greatest financial challenge' facing Australia. Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan, a confidant of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, said the government must secure the tax revenue base before spending on essential services is not impacted. 'If you're willing to turn a blind eye to billions of dollars going out the door and offshore, you're doomed in terms of providing what people expect from government: roads, schools and hospitals. This is the greatest financial challenge facing the Western world and if not addressed it could redefine sovereignty in the Western world'." (Government senator says corporate tax avoidance threatens services, Heath Aston & Georgia Wilkins, Sydney Morning Herald, 30/9/14)
"The usual culprits top the list again this year: Rupert Murdoch's Fox, Frank Lowy's Westfield and the host of real estate trusts listed on the Australian Securities Exchange." (Leaners avoid paying their fair share of the company tax rate, Michael West, Sydney Morning Herald, 29/9/14)
The usual culprits?
Now that's not a very nice thing to say about two of Team Australia's best and brightest (even if one calls Israel home and the other's now a Yank).
[*Transcript of the Hon Tony Abbott MHR Vote of thanks at the Inaugural Australian Multicultural Council Lecture, Parliament House, Canberra]
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
ICAC: What About Lowy?
"Voters deserve to know what private donors to political parties expect, and get, for their money." (Editorial: Endless questions only a federal ICAC can answer, Sydney Morning Herald, 9/9/14)
I couldn't agree more.
OK, so we know what Lib donor Brickworks got:
"Two weeks before the 2011 election, then opposition leader Barry O'Farrell announced a tax policy that benefited developer Brickworks while the company was allegedly bankrolling a researcher in his office and had secretly donated $125,000 to the Liberal campaign. As premier, Mr O'Farrell made good on the policy - to repeal a controversial property transfer tax - six weeks after the election." (Libs party favours, Sean Nicholls, Sydney Morning Herald, 9/9/14)
But what - harking back to my 8/9/14 post ICAC: Questions Arising - about Frank Lowy?
I couldn't agree more.
OK, so we know what Lib donor Brickworks got:
"Two weeks before the 2011 election, then opposition leader Barry O'Farrell announced a tax policy that benefited developer Brickworks while the company was allegedly bankrolling a researcher in his office and had secretly donated $125,000 to the Liberal campaign. As premier, Mr O'Farrell made good on the policy - to repeal a controversial property transfer tax - six weeks after the election." (Libs party favours, Sean Nicholls, Sydney Morning Herald, 9/9/14)
But what - harking back to my 8/9/14 post ICAC: Questions Arising - about Frank Lowy?
Monday, September 8, 2014
ICAC: Questions Arising
What exactly is going on here?
"The Lowy family's Westfield Corporation made a $150,000 donation to the Liberal Party which ended up with the party's NSW branch, despite donations from property developers such as the shopping centre giant being banned. However, Westfield corporate affairs director Mark Ryan insisted to the Independent Commission Against Corruption yesterday that the donation, in December 2010, had not been made for the NSW election campaign 3 months later. The money went to the Free Enterprise Foundation, a Liberal-aligned trust. The commission has heard that the foundation was used to funnel illegal donations from property developers to the state election campaign. Mr Ryan said: 'To me it was a fairly straightforward exercise in making a donation to the federal Liberal Party. It was in accordance with what I would typically do in any given year, which is try to donate to both federal political parties in a fairly even-handed way'." (Westfield $150k 'for feds only', Mark Coultan, The Australian, 5/9/14)
My questions arising:
Why does Westfield, in the words of its corporate affairs director, "typically... in any given year... donate to both federal political parties"?
Does poor old Frank really need to throw money at LibLab to smooth the way for his shopping centres? I mean, would there be no more Westfield shopping centres - quelle horreur! - unless such donations were forthcoming?
Could there possibly be some other reason for such donations? Such as keeping LibLab sweet on Israel, for example?
Did the above donation, "which ended up with the [Liberal] party's NSW branch," have anything to do with the NSW Liberal government, under Barry O'Farrell (2011-14), making Israel core government business? (Concerning which, please read my 3/5/14 post NZW Inc.)
And - question of questions - why aren't mainstream journalists asking these questions?
"The Lowy family's Westfield Corporation made a $150,000 donation to the Liberal Party which ended up with the party's NSW branch, despite donations from property developers such as the shopping centre giant being banned. However, Westfield corporate affairs director Mark Ryan insisted to the Independent Commission Against Corruption yesterday that the donation, in December 2010, had not been made for the NSW election campaign 3 months later. The money went to the Free Enterprise Foundation, a Liberal-aligned trust. The commission has heard that the foundation was used to funnel illegal donations from property developers to the state election campaign. Mr Ryan said: 'To me it was a fairly straightforward exercise in making a donation to the federal Liberal Party. It was in accordance with what I would typically do in any given year, which is try to donate to both federal political parties in a fairly even-handed way'." (Westfield $150k 'for feds only', Mark Coultan, The Australian, 5/9/14)
My questions arising:
Why does Westfield, in the words of its corporate affairs director, "typically... in any given year... donate to both federal political parties"?
Does poor old Frank really need to throw money at LibLab to smooth the way for his shopping centres? I mean, would there be no more Westfield shopping centres - quelle horreur! - unless such donations were forthcoming?
Could there possibly be some other reason for such donations? Such as keeping LibLab sweet on Israel, for example?
Did the above donation, "which ended up with the [Liberal] party's NSW branch," have anything to do with the NSW Liberal government, under Barry O'Farrell (2011-14), making Israel core government business? (Concerning which, please read my 3/5/14 post NZW Inc.)
And - question of questions - why aren't mainstream journalists asking these questions?
Saturday, May 3, 2014
NZW Inc.
"Darkly [Rudd] commented on the state of affairs, rehearsing the history of his relations with the Israel lobby, once so happy now so gloomy. How much of this is about money, I asked him. He said that about one-fifth of the money he had raised in the 2007 election campaign had come from the Jewish community." (Diary of a Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, p 232)
That telling quote relates to Australian federal politics. But what about state politics?
On a recent Q&A, a former NSW Liberal Party leader, Kerry Chikarovski, had this to say on the subject of the Middle East conflict: "[A]s a state politician, let me say, it was never one of those issues that was much to front of mind in terms of, you know, debate within the State Parliament..."
Indeed. So how could anyone have predicted that Israel would become core business in NSW under the leadership of ex-premier Barry (Baruch) O'Farrell (2011-14). For sheer devotion to Israel, O'Farrell rivalled ex-PM Julia Gillard.
Consider just some of the evidence:
1) April 2011: O'Farrell threatens to sack Marrickville Council over its support for pro-Palestinian BDS movement.
2) August 2011: O'Farrell announces formation of NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel.
3) October 2011: Israel lobbyist Vic Alhadeff to lecture NSW Police on Zionism.
4) May 2012: O'Farrell attends Israel Independence Day function, announcing a review of Section 20D of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, and reaffirming his government's "unwavering commitment to Israel."
5) May 2012: NSW Police attempt to have Palestinian Nakba Day march banned in NSW Supreme Court.
6) November 2012: O'Farrell declares that 'Baruch' means Barry at pre-Chanukah function in NSW Parliament.
7) December 2012: O'Farrell is awarded the Jerusalem Prize by the Zionist Council of NSW.
8) January 2013: NSW Parliamentary 'Study Mission' to Israel.
9) March 2013: BDS-bashing 'debate' in NSW Parliament.
10) April 2013: O'Farrell announces Inquiry into Racial Vilification Law in NSW.
11) May 2013: O'Farrell presents effigy of himself bearing the name 'Baruch O'Farrell' to Israeli ambassador at Israel Independence Day function, announces appointment of Israel lobbyist Vic Alhadeff as judge of NSW Human Rights Award, says that study of Holocaust will be compulsory for students in years 9 and 10, and declares: "If one was restricted to a single word to describe the State of Israel, it would be 'extraordinary'."
12) May 2013: O'Farrell signs London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism.
13) December 2013: O'Farrell appoints Vic Alhadeff as NSW Community Relations Commissioner.
As the late Julius Sumner Miller used to say, Why is it so? Could the following data, perhaps, shed some light on the reason for this extraordinary display of devotion, bordering on the manic, by a mere state premier to an apartheid state on the other side of the world?
According to the Guardian's Datablog post How money flows to the NSW Liberals (Nick Evershed, theguardian.com, 29/4/14) $787,000 flowed into state party coffers from 2010 to 2011, most of it, I imagine, prior to the state election of March 2011. Of this, $200,000 - over 25% of the total - came from Frank Lowy's Westfield Ltd and Harry Triguboff's Meriton Apartments Pty Ltd.
That telling quote relates to Australian federal politics. But what about state politics?
On a recent Q&A, a former NSW Liberal Party leader, Kerry Chikarovski, had this to say on the subject of the Middle East conflict: "[A]s a state politician, let me say, it was never one of those issues that was much to front of mind in terms of, you know, debate within the State Parliament..."
Indeed. So how could anyone have predicted that Israel would become core business in NSW under the leadership of ex-premier Barry (Baruch) O'Farrell (2011-14). For sheer devotion to Israel, O'Farrell rivalled ex-PM Julia Gillard.
Consider just some of the evidence:
1) April 2011: O'Farrell threatens to sack Marrickville Council over its support for pro-Palestinian BDS movement.
2) August 2011: O'Farrell announces formation of NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel.
3) October 2011: Israel lobbyist Vic Alhadeff to lecture NSW Police on Zionism.
4) May 2012: O'Farrell attends Israel Independence Day function, announcing a review of Section 20D of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, and reaffirming his government's "unwavering commitment to Israel."
5) May 2012: NSW Police attempt to have Palestinian Nakba Day march banned in NSW Supreme Court.
6) November 2012: O'Farrell declares that 'Baruch' means Barry at pre-Chanukah function in NSW Parliament.
7) December 2012: O'Farrell is awarded the Jerusalem Prize by the Zionist Council of NSW.
8) January 2013: NSW Parliamentary 'Study Mission' to Israel.
9) March 2013: BDS-bashing 'debate' in NSW Parliament.
10) April 2013: O'Farrell announces Inquiry into Racial Vilification Law in NSW.
11) May 2013: O'Farrell presents effigy of himself bearing the name 'Baruch O'Farrell' to Israeli ambassador at Israel Independence Day function, announces appointment of Israel lobbyist Vic Alhadeff as judge of NSW Human Rights Award, says that study of Holocaust will be compulsory for students in years 9 and 10, and declares: "If one was restricted to a single word to describe the State of Israel, it would be 'extraordinary'."
12) May 2013: O'Farrell signs London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism.
13) December 2013: O'Farrell appoints Vic Alhadeff as NSW Community Relations Commissioner.
As the late Julius Sumner Miller used to say, Why is it so? Could the following data, perhaps, shed some light on the reason for this extraordinary display of devotion, bordering on the manic, by a mere state premier to an apartheid state on the other side of the world?
According to the Guardian's Datablog post How money flows to the NSW Liberals (Nick Evershed, theguardian.com, 29/4/14) $787,000 flowed into state party coffers from 2010 to 2011, most of it, I imagine, prior to the state election of March 2011. Of this, $200,000 - over 25% of the total - came from Frank Lowy's Westfield Ltd and Harry Triguboff's Meriton Apartments Pty Ltd.
Saturday, February 8, 2014
The Unasked Question
Donating money to political parties is a highly mysterious business. While our news media are happy to list say the top ten single donations to major parties, I've never known an Australian journalist to follow up by contacting the respective donors with a simple one-word question: why?
Until now, that is:
"A Chinese-based property company that hired former NSW treasurer Eric Roozendaal as its vice-chairman after he quit politics was among the largest donors to the NSW Labor and Liberal parties last financial year. According to election funding returns published by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday, YuHu Group (Australia) donated $200,000 to the NSW branch of the ALP during 2012-13, including $100,000 in June last year. It also donated $100,000 to the NSW Liberals during the period... [T]he general manager Holly Huang, said the donations were unrelated to the [company's] planned [$200m Eastwood Shopping Centre] development as approval had been given prior to the company's purchase of the shopping centre. Ms Huang said after the company entered Australia in May 2013 'a lot of people approached us. A lot of Chinese community friends introduced us to the parties to understand how the system runs in Australia,' she said. Ms Huang said she could not comment on Mr Huang's personal donations as she only spoke for the company. YuHu's website features pictures of Mr Huang and politicians including former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard and former treasurer Chris Bowen." (Ex-treasurer working for Chinese company that was major donor, Sean Nicholls, Sydney Morning Herald, 4/2/14)
Hardly a satisfactory answer I know, but at least Nicholls, for one, asked the bloody question.
I'm still waiting for a ms journalist to ask the following Israel-doting donors in particular why they lavished the following sums on the Labor and Liberal parties in the 2012-13 financial year:
Westfield Limited (Frank Lowy) $150,000 > Labor
Ubertas Group (Albert Dadon) $7,500 > Labor
Visy (Anthony Pratt) $1,500 > Labor
Pratt Holdings P/L (Anthony Pratt) $250,000 > Liberal
Westfield Limited (Frank Lowy) $150,000 > Liberal
Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath.
Until now, that is:
"A Chinese-based property company that hired former NSW treasurer Eric Roozendaal as its vice-chairman after he quit politics was among the largest donors to the NSW Labor and Liberal parties last financial year. According to election funding returns published by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday, YuHu Group (Australia) donated $200,000 to the NSW branch of the ALP during 2012-13, including $100,000 in June last year. It also donated $100,000 to the NSW Liberals during the period... [T]he general manager Holly Huang, said the donations were unrelated to the [company's] planned [$200m Eastwood Shopping Centre] development as approval had been given prior to the company's purchase of the shopping centre. Ms Huang said after the company entered Australia in May 2013 'a lot of people approached us. A lot of Chinese community friends introduced us to the parties to understand how the system runs in Australia,' she said. Ms Huang said she could not comment on Mr Huang's personal donations as she only spoke for the company. YuHu's website features pictures of Mr Huang and politicians including former prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard and former treasurer Chris Bowen." (Ex-treasurer working for Chinese company that was major donor, Sean Nicholls, Sydney Morning Herald, 4/2/14)
Hardly a satisfactory answer I know, but at least Nicholls, for one, asked the bloody question.
I'm still waiting for a ms journalist to ask the following Israel-doting donors in particular why they lavished the following sums on the Labor and Liberal parties in the 2012-13 financial year:
Westfield Limited (Frank Lowy) $150,000 > Labor
Ubertas Group (Albert Dadon) $7,500 > Labor
Visy (Anthony Pratt) $1,500 > Labor
Pratt Holdings P/L (Anthony Pratt) $250,000 > Liberal
Westfield Limited (Frank Lowy) $150,000 > Liberal
Needless to say, I won't be holding my breath.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Where's Frank?
"Although there has been no official sighting of its owner, Frank Lowy, his 73-metre superyacht Ilona has been moored a few hundred metres off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Eilat. The Ilona is named after Lowy's mother. A BRW rich-list regular, Lowy, is the co-founder of the Westfield group of shopping centres. Born in Czechoslovakia, Lowy made his way to France after World War II, where he managed to board a ship going to Palestine. After the establishment of Israel, he joined the Haganah and then the Golani Brigade. In 1952, aged 22, he left Israel and emigrated to Australia." (Lowy's Red Sea jaunt, The Australian Jewish News, 25/1/13)
Just a minute! The last time Frank came to my attention he was being spun as "one of Australia's greatest refugee success stories." (See my 25/9/12 post The Airbrushing of Frank Lowy.) Yet here he is, just your common and garden migrant.
I'm so glad that's been cleared up, and by no lesser authority than the AJN too.
Just a minute! The last time Frank came to my attention he was being spun as "one of Australia's greatest refugee success stories." (See my 25/9/12 post The Airbrushing of Frank Lowy.) Yet here he is, just your common and garden migrant.
I'm so glad that's been cleared up, and by no lesser authority than the AJN too.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Airbrushing of Frank Lowy
Take a look at the opening paragraph of this Sydney Morning Herald report on Frank Lowy, Australian billionaire and generous donor to such deserving 'charities' as Israel's Jewish National Fund (JNF) and Australia's LibLab:
"The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and one of Australia's greatest refugee success stories, Frank Lowy, joined forces last night to defend multiculturalism against criticisms prompted by the riots in Sydney on Saturday... Giving the inaugural Australian Multicultural Council, Mr Lowy said it was time to move the discussion about multiculturalism to a new phase, 'beyond the recognition that it makes for a more vibrant community, or that we now have a wider choice of restaurants'." (Gillard, Lowy defend multiculturalism, Phillip Coorey, 20/9/12)
What a man, we're expected to exclaim. From refugee rags to riches beyond the dreams of avarice and on to multicultural icon. Bring on the musical!
Reality, however, cannot so easily be (air)brushed aside.
I dedicate this post, therefore, to a critical examination of the two key propositions that underpin Coorey's report: 1) that Lowy was a refugee; and 2) that Lowy is such a paragon of multiculturalism that we, the public, should sit up and take notice of what he says on the subject.
Not that I haven't already animadverted on these matters before - namely in the two posts, Frank Lowy: Arab Fighter (14/11/10) and Refugees (19/7/10) - however, in this post I'll be drawing on a new (for me) source: Jill Margo's 2000 biography of Lowy: Frank Lowy: Pushing the Limits.
Firstly, was Lowy a refugee or an immigrant?
After the war, Lowy and other members of his family returned from Russian-occupied Budapest to their home town, Filakovo, in Czechoslovakia:
"The Holocaust was finally over," writes Margo. "Frank locked away the experience and did not revisit it for 40 years. Throughout 1945 his family began to pick up the pieces of their shattered life. Alex established his own business and opened a shop. John found a new interest: Zionism. Frank was sent to nearby Kosice and a Zionist-funded camp for youngsters, where he was taught primarily about Palestine and Zionism... the Zionist Youth Group [there] was encouraging young people to emigrate to Palestine. Frank understood that this was an opportunity for a new start: There was nothing for me in Czechoslovakia, memories were terrible and I felt enormous inner pressure to leave. I had missed so many years at school, was not motivated to catch up and had no desire to create roots there. Joining the group to go to Palestine was like going to a school camp. This offered a new beginning, a new country, a new identity, a chance to be part of the Jewish drive to create a homeland. The Jewish Agency sent emissaries, collecting strays and displaced persons, and moving them clandestinely to Palestine. I felt I was leaving a place to which I did not belong for a much brighter future." (pp 32-33)
So the reason why Lowy left Czechoslovakia was because he'd been bitten by the Zionist bug. And yet, in his address to the AMC, in which he portrays himself as a refugee, all mention of the siren call of Zion is missing, to be replaced by this:
"And they have returned to their small town [Filakovo] to find they are no longer welcome... The surviving members of this close family know they have become temporary residents in their town and must find somewhere else to be."
In spinning himself as a refugee, Lowy has sketched a postwar atmosphere of anti-Semitic menace, necessitating flight. Nowhere, however, in Margo's biography is there any suggestion that post-war Filakovo is some kind of anti-Semitic hotbed. In fact, his brother John, the first in the family to be bitten by the Zionist bug, is quoted as complaining only that "I felt I had no identity. I was born in Czechoslovakia and was a Czechoslovakian citizen but neither Czech nor Slovak... Palestine seemed to be the place for recreating an identity." (p 32)
It's clear from the above that Lowy did not flee Czechoslovakia for Palestine. Rather he'd been indoctrinated and lured there by Zionist agents (whose only mission was to boost the size of the Jewish community in Palestine vis-a-vis the Palestinian Arabs). And just as Lowy has departed from Margo in his sketch of postwar Filakovo, so too with his account of his journey by boat to Palestine. In Margo, his boat contains 400 passengers (p 33), while in his AMC speech, it's risen to 700. Likewise, in Margo there's no hint of brutality when his boat is intercepted by the British, but in his AMC speech, we get this far more colourful account: "There are scuffles and commotion as the British soldiers board the boat. At gunpoint the frightened refugees are herded into the grey, steel hull of the warship."
Lowy might play the refugee in his AMC speech but the reality was that he'd been recruited, along with thousands of others in the postwar years, by agents of David Ben-Gurion's Jewish Agency for a Mossad-organised attempt to breach Britain's blockade of Palestine, established not, it should be remembered, as an act of anti-Semitic cruelty, but simply to prevent the swamping of Palestine's majority Arab population by illegal Jewish immigration. As the British government stated at the time: "[this] illegal traffic is not, as has been maintained, a movement arising spontaneously among the European Jews who see in Palestine their only hope for the future. Nor are those who encourage and direct it inspired solely by the sympathy which is so widely felt for suffering [rather it is] a widely ramified and highly organized movement supported by very large financial contributions from Zionist sources, which has been built up and put into operation by unscrupulous persons in an attempt tp force the hand of His Majesty's government and anticipate their decision on future policy in Palestine."*
With regard to Palestine then, Lowy was not only not a refugee but an illegal immigrant, an unwitting pawn, if you will, in a Zionist people-smuggling operation, itself just one aspect of the postwar Zionist rebellion against British mandate rule in Palestine.
Fast forwarding then to his decision in 1952 to migrate to Australia from what was by then Israel, we read in Margo that:
"When Frank first went to Israel there was every expectation the rest of the family would follow. But while he was there, Ilona [Lowy's mother] and his brother Alex followed [sister] Edith and her husband to Australia. They could have gone to Israel but economic conditions in the early 1950s were harsh... The thought of leaving Israel was difficult... but, for Frank and his brother John, the urge to be reunited with their mother Ilona was stronger." (p 52)
With regard to Australia then, Lowy was simply an immigrant, not a refugee.
Secondly, is Lowy such a paragon of multiculturalism that he should be lecturing us on the subject?
With the events of September 15 in mind, Lowy opined in his AMC address that migrants "should agree to live by the standards and values of this society... and agree to pass on these values to your children, to ensure they receive a broad and balanced education, untainted by the ideology of hate."
But Lowy's a Zionist who has donated significant sums of money to one of the main arms of Zionist colonialism in Palestine, the Jewish National Fund. As a financial backer of the JNF, Lowy's therefore doing his bit to ensure the maintenance of Zionist settler-colonial rule in Palestine over its indigenous Palestinian Arab population, whether they be in perpetual exile, under military occupation or living in Israel as second-class citizens. To advocate multiculturalism in Australia while funding monoculturalism and apartheid in another is to risk being called a hypocrite.
But there's another reason why Lowy's little homily on multiculturalism rings hollow. It has to do with what he was doing in Palestine in the critical year of the Palestinian Nakba, 1948. All we get in his AMC speech is this:
"Ashore in Palestine, he feels a sense of freedom. No one is chasing him or pointing a gun at him because he is Jewish. But the following year he's in a makeshift uniform, back in the turmoil of war, fighting in the War of Independence for the new state of Israel."
Of course, this kind of patter is the usual stock-in-trade of the Zionist true believer, who cannot bring himself to acknowledge the reality of the massacres and expulsions of Palestine's indigenous Arab population that were perpetrated by Zionist forces in Palestine in 1948. The historical record, however, is what should guide the rest of us. Relying on Margo's sketchy, no doubt sanitised, account of this period in Lowy's life, and fleshing it out with data from scholars of the Nakba, we can get at least some idea of Lowy's involvement in the events of 1948:
Margo mentions an Israeli attack on the Palestinian village of Sejera [ash-Shajara] in February 1948, in which Lowy was wounded. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi has written of it: "In mid-February 1948, as a battle flared between Arab and Haganah forces in the Baysan Valley, the Haganah forces carried out a diversionary attack on ash-Shajara." (All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, 1992, p 541)
Margo reveals that Lowy was involved in the 'liberation' of Tiberias in April 1948: "We would occupy one house and then move to the next. First we would break down the door, check if anyone was inside, throw in a grenade and then occupy it." (p 43) Michael Palumbo adds the necessary context: "[W]hen it was learned that the British were about to evacuate Tiberias, a company of elite Palmach troops were sent in to reinforce the town's Jewish militia. On the night of 17-18 April, a co-ordinated drive was made to cut the Arab section of town in two. Barrel-bombs, loudspeakers and 'horror sounds' were used to frighten the civilian population. (The Palestinian Catastrophe: The 1948 Expulsion of a People from their Homeland, 1987, p 107)
After the fall of Tiberias, Israeli troops reportedly looted and desecrated Christian religious establishments there. (Palumbo, p 108)
In June 1948, according to Margo, Lowy joined the Barak battalion of the Golani Brigade. She quotes his commanding officer, Rafi Kocer thus: "They were a highly motivated unit. In some ways I think they were avenging the Holocaust and empowering themselves." (p 46) The question of exactly why Lowy and his troop should be avenging the Holocaust by attacking Palestinian Arabs obviously didn't occur to either Kocer or Margo. I wonder if it's ever occurred to Lowy?
Margo cites a second, final attack by the Golanis on Sejera in June 1948, though her timing appears to be out, however. Here's Khalidi again: "The village was captured on 6 May 1948 in the aftermath of the fall of Tiberias... The attack was part of a Haganah effort to consolidate its hold on lower Galilee before 15 May. Units of the Golani Brigade (mainly the 12th or Barak Battalion) struck at dawn and took the village after a 'powerful attack', according to the History of the Haganah. An unspecified number of villagers were killed during the attack; the Haganah's account states that the village's inhabitants 'fled leaving their dead behind'." (p 541)
Margo goes on to say that "[i]n the 6 months between July and December 1948, Kocer's commando unit had been involved in 73 combat missions, many behind enemy lines," and that from October 1948 Lowy was involved in fighting against the Egyptians in the Western Negev. (p 50)
While only Lowy himself is privy to the precise details of his involvement in what Israeli historian Ilan Pappe describes as the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which led to the Palestinian refugee problem that is still with us today (5.5 million souls and growing), the data presented above is surely sufficient to cast doubt on whether he's really the right person to be lecturing Australians on the meaning of multiculturalism.
[*Quoted in From Catastrophe to Power: Holocaust Survivors & the Emergence of Israel, Idith Zertal, 1998, p 237]
"The Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and one of Australia's greatest refugee success stories, Frank Lowy, joined forces last night to defend multiculturalism against criticisms prompted by the riots in Sydney on Saturday... Giving the inaugural Australian Multicultural Council, Mr Lowy said it was time to move the discussion about multiculturalism to a new phase, 'beyond the recognition that it makes for a more vibrant community, or that we now have a wider choice of restaurants'." (Gillard, Lowy defend multiculturalism, Phillip Coorey, 20/9/12)
What a man, we're expected to exclaim. From refugee rags to riches beyond the dreams of avarice and on to multicultural icon. Bring on the musical!
Reality, however, cannot so easily be (air)brushed aside.
I dedicate this post, therefore, to a critical examination of the two key propositions that underpin Coorey's report: 1) that Lowy was a refugee; and 2) that Lowy is such a paragon of multiculturalism that we, the public, should sit up and take notice of what he says on the subject.
Not that I haven't already animadverted on these matters before - namely in the two posts, Frank Lowy: Arab Fighter (14/11/10) and Refugees (19/7/10) - however, in this post I'll be drawing on a new (for me) source: Jill Margo's 2000 biography of Lowy: Frank Lowy: Pushing the Limits.
Firstly, was Lowy a refugee or an immigrant?
After the war, Lowy and other members of his family returned from Russian-occupied Budapest to their home town, Filakovo, in Czechoslovakia:
"The Holocaust was finally over," writes Margo. "Frank locked away the experience and did not revisit it for 40 years. Throughout 1945 his family began to pick up the pieces of their shattered life. Alex established his own business and opened a shop. John found a new interest: Zionism. Frank was sent to nearby Kosice and a Zionist-funded camp for youngsters, where he was taught primarily about Palestine and Zionism... the Zionist Youth Group [there] was encouraging young people to emigrate to Palestine. Frank understood that this was an opportunity for a new start: There was nothing for me in Czechoslovakia, memories were terrible and I felt enormous inner pressure to leave. I had missed so many years at school, was not motivated to catch up and had no desire to create roots there. Joining the group to go to Palestine was like going to a school camp. This offered a new beginning, a new country, a new identity, a chance to be part of the Jewish drive to create a homeland. The Jewish Agency sent emissaries, collecting strays and displaced persons, and moving them clandestinely to Palestine. I felt I was leaving a place to which I did not belong for a much brighter future." (pp 32-33)
So the reason why Lowy left Czechoslovakia was because he'd been bitten by the Zionist bug. And yet, in his address to the AMC, in which he portrays himself as a refugee, all mention of the siren call of Zion is missing, to be replaced by this:
"And they have returned to their small town [Filakovo] to find they are no longer welcome... The surviving members of this close family know they have become temporary residents in their town and must find somewhere else to be."
In spinning himself as a refugee, Lowy has sketched a postwar atmosphere of anti-Semitic menace, necessitating flight. Nowhere, however, in Margo's biography is there any suggestion that post-war Filakovo is some kind of anti-Semitic hotbed. In fact, his brother John, the first in the family to be bitten by the Zionist bug, is quoted as complaining only that "I felt I had no identity. I was born in Czechoslovakia and was a Czechoslovakian citizen but neither Czech nor Slovak... Palestine seemed to be the place for recreating an identity." (p 32)
It's clear from the above that Lowy did not flee Czechoslovakia for Palestine. Rather he'd been indoctrinated and lured there by Zionist agents (whose only mission was to boost the size of the Jewish community in Palestine vis-a-vis the Palestinian Arabs). And just as Lowy has departed from Margo in his sketch of postwar Filakovo, so too with his account of his journey by boat to Palestine. In Margo, his boat contains 400 passengers (p 33), while in his AMC speech, it's risen to 700. Likewise, in Margo there's no hint of brutality when his boat is intercepted by the British, but in his AMC speech, we get this far more colourful account: "There are scuffles and commotion as the British soldiers board the boat. At gunpoint the frightened refugees are herded into the grey, steel hull of the warship."
Lowy might play the refugee in his AMC speech but the reality was that he'd been recruited, along with thousands of others in the postwar years, by agents of David Ben-Gurion's Jewish Agency for a Mossad-organised attempt to breach Britain's blockade of Palestine, established not, it should be remembered, as an act of anti-Semitic cruelty, but simply to prevent the swamping of Palestine's majority Arab population by illegal Jewish immigration. As the British government stated at the time: "[this] illegal traffic is not, as has been maintained, a movement arising spontaneously among the European Jews who see in Palestine their only hope for the future. Nor are those who encourage and direct it inspired solely by the sympathy which is so widely felt for suffering [rather it is] a widely ramified and highly organized movement supported by very large financial contributions from Zionist sources, which has been built up and put into operation by unscrupulous persons in an attempt tp force the hand of His Majesty's government and anticipate their decision on future policy in Palestine."*
With regard to Palestine then, Lowy was not only not a refugee but an illegal immigrant, an unwitting pawn, if you will, in a Zionist people-smuggling operation, itself just one aspect of the postwar Zionist rebellion against British mandate rule in Palestine.
Fast forwarding then to his decision in 1952 to migrate to Australia from what was by then Israel, we read in Margo that:
"When Frank first went to Israel there was every expectation the rest of the family would follow. But while he was there, Ilona [Lowy's mother] and his brother Alex followed [sister] Edith and her husband to Australia. They could have gone to Israel but economic conditions in the early 1950s were harsh... The thought of leaving Israel was difficult... but, for Frank and his brother John, the urge to be reunited with their mother Ilona was stronger." (p 52)
With regard to Australia then, Lowy was simply an immigrant, not a refugee.
Secondly, is Lowy such a paragon of multiculturalism that he should be lecturing us on the subject?
With the events of September 15 in mind, Lowy opined in his AMC address that migrants "should agree to live by the standards and values of this society... and agree to pass on these values to your children, to ensure they receive a broad and balanced education, untainted by the ideology of hate."
But Lowy's a Zionist who has donated significant sums of money to one of the main arms of Zionist colonialism in Palestine, the Jewish National Fund. As a financial backer of the JNF, Lowy's therefore doing his bit to ensure the maintenance of Zionist settler-colonial rule in Palestine over its indigenous Palestinian Arab population, whether they be in perpetual exile, under military occupation or living in Israel as second-class citizens. To advocate multiculturalism in Australia while funding monoculturalism and apartheid in another is to risk being called a hypocrite.
But there's another reason why Lowy's little homily on multiculturalism rings hollow. It has to do with what he was doing in Palestine in the critical year of the Palestinian Nakba, 1948. All we get in his AMC speech is this:
"Ashore in Palestine, he feels a sense of freedom. No one is chasing him or pointing a gun at him because he is Jewish. But the following year he's in a makeshift uniform, back in the turmoil of war, fighting in the War of Independence for the new state of Israel."
Of course, this kind of patter is the usual stock-in-trade of the Zionist true believer, who cannot bring himself to acknowledge the reality of the massacres and expulsions of Palestine's indigenous Arab population that were perpetrated by Zionist forces in Palestine in 1948. The historical record, however, is what should guide the rest of us. Relying on Margo's sketchy, no doubt sanitised, account of this period in Lowy's life, and fleshing it out with data from scholars of the Nakba, we can get at least some idea of Lowy's involvement in the events of 1948:
Margo mentions an Israeli attack on the Palestinian village of Sejera [ash-Shajara] in February 1948, in which Lowy was wounded. Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi has written of it: "In mid-February 1948, as a battle flared between Arab and Haganah forces in the Baysan Valley, the Haganah forces carried out a diversionary attack on ash-Shajara." (All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948, 1992, p 541)
Margo reveals that Lowy was involved in the 'liberation' of Tiberias in April 1948: "We would occupy one house and then move to the next. First we would break down the door, check if anyone was inside, throw in a grenade and then occupy it." (p 43) Michael Palumbo adds the necessary context: "[W]hen it was learned that the British were about to evacuate Tiberias, a company of elite Palmach troops were sent in to reinforce the town's Jewish militia. On the night of 17-18 April, a co-ordinated drive was made to cut the Arab section of town in two. Barrel-bombs, loudspeakers and 'horror sounds' were used to frighten the civilian population. (The Palestinian Catastrophe: The 1948 Expulsion of a People from their Homeland, 1987, p 107)
After the fall of Tiberias, Israeli troops reportedly looted and desecrated Christian religious establishments there. (Palumbo, p 108)
In June 1948, according to Margo, Lowy joined the Barak battalion of the Golani Brigade. She quotes his commanding officer, Rafi Kocer thus: "They were a highly motivated unit. In some ways I think they were avenging the Holocaust and empowering themselves." (p 46) The question of exactly why Lowy and his troop should be avenging the Holocaust by attacking Palestinian Arabs obviously didn't occur to either Kocer or Margo. I wonder if it's ever occurred to Lowy?
Margo cites a second, final attack by the Golanis on Sejera in June 1948, though her timing appears to be out, however. Here's Khalidi again: "The village was captured on 6 May 1948 in the aftermath of the fall of Tiberias... The attack was part of a Haganah effort to consolidate its hold on lower Galilee before 15 May. Units of the Golani Brigade (mainly the 12th or Barak Battalion) struck at dawn and took the village after a 'powerful attack', according to the History of the Haganah. An unspecified number of villagers were killed during the attack; the Haganah's account states that the village's inhabitants 'fled leaving their dead behind'." (p 541)
Margo goes on to say that "[i]n the 6 months between July and December 1948, Kocer's commando unit had been involved in 73 combat missions, many behind enemy lines," and that from October 1948 Lowy was involved in fighting against the Egyptians in the Western Negev. (p 50)
While only Lowy himself is privy to the precise details of his involvement in what Israeli historian Ilan Pappe describes as the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which led to the Palestinian refugee problem that is still with us today (5.5 million souls and growing), the data presented above is surely sufficient to cast doubt on whether he's really the right person to be lecturing Australians on the meaning of multiculturalism.
[*Quoted in From Catastrophe to Power: Holocaust Survivors & the Emergence of Israel, Idith Zertal, 1998, p 237]
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Fort Lowy
There are those among us who cannot bear the idea of Australia missing out on a slice of the imperial action de jour in the Middle East. Apparently, Iraq was just an appetizer. But while there might be more than enough murder and mayhem in Afghanistan to satisfy them for the present, what are we going to do when - perish the thought! - it's time to cut and run? Just sit around and twiddle our thumbs down here in the south Pacific?
Not to worry, over at the Lowy Institute, they're working on it:
"As part of this approach [formulating a government strategy paper on Australia's relationship with the Middle East to articulate our strategic interests in the region and to allow for the development of a policy framework] the government should send a signal to the region regarding our long-term interest. This could be done by transforming Australia's present military commitment in the UAE in support of our troops in Afghanistan to a much smaller military presence following the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014. Such a commitment could be tailored to meet Gulf and Australian training or perhaps maritime surveillance needs. Its practical and symbolic benefits in advancing the national interest would outweigh the small resource commitment. It would reinforce the impression among Gulf rulers that Australia is a committed middle power, with potential flow-on benefits in other areas of our bilateral relationship. For Australia, it would provide a small regional base with access to civilian aviation and maritime hubs that could be used in a range of future military contingencies, from Pakistan to North Africa."* (Troops should be kept in the Middle East: A small regional base makes a lot of sense, Rodger Shanahan, The Australian, 18/8/11)
Bet you can't wait to put it up the Pakistanis or mix it with the Moroccans, eh?
But, despite the Lowy Institute's breezy assurance that it'd only cost peanuts for the pleasure, mowing down brown people these days always seems to have a nasty habit of running into the trillions. So wouldn't you think Frank and the lads would at least put their money where their mouth is (over at the Lowy Institute). But no, judging by Shanahan's piece, the understanding seems to be that the cost of Australia's future imperial adventures in the Middle East will be borne almost exclusively by those who manage to pay their taxes without the tax office looking over their shoulder and who probably don't automatically think of Israel when the word charity crops up. Speaking of which, here's the latest:
"The US tax office's long-running investigation into the Lowy family's financial affairs has extended to Bermuda in a bid to unmask who owned and controlled a Liechtenstein-based foundation that US authorities believe was used for tax evasion. The US Internal Revenue Service in April 2009 asked the Bermuda government for help in determining the ownership and control of two companies, Adelphi Ltd and Clareville Ltd, which the IRS suspects are controlled by the Lowy family. The IRS is investigating Westfield Group's Los Angeles-based managing director, Peter Lowy, and his wife Janine, over their tax returns for the year to December 2005. It is also scrutinising the 2004-05 tax return of Beverly Park Corporation, a Delaware-registered company ultimately owned by the Frank Lowy Family Trust, and certain aspects of Beverly Park's returns for the 10 years from 1997 to 2007...
"It is noted that the Liechtenstein-based Luperla Foundation was set up in 1997 'for the benefit of all the members of the Frank Lowy family...' and that it received a loan repayment from Adelphi. In its request, the IRS contended that Adelphi's ownership and control in the 10 years to 2007 was relevant to the ownership and control of Luperla, and that understanding Luperla's ownership would help resolve whether the Lowys should have filed information about the Liechtenstein foundation with US tax authorities... Details of the Bermuda inquiries have emerged in a California court where Peter Lowy is suing the IRS, under the Freedom of Information Act. Mr Lowy wants the US District Court to force the IRS to hand over thousands of pages of documents related to his US tax investigation. The IRS has repeatedly baulked at releasing at least 5402 pages, saying they had to remain confidential because they were the product of exchanges between US tax authorities and the Australian Taxation Office. But Mr Lowy's lawyers now claim that while some material from Bermuda about the Lowys was handed to US authorities, the IRS has 'not identified the existence of such records or identified any grounds for withholding such records'. According to memos stolen from LGT Bank, published by a US Senate committee in 2008, Luperla received $US53 million as founding monies from Adelphi in 1997 by way of a 'credit repayment'. In 2001, LGT Bank was instructed to disperse Luperla's proceeds of $US68 million. The Lowys have said publicly that they never benefited from the Luperla structure, that all its proceeds went to Israeli charities and they met all tax obligations in Australia and the US." (US tax authorities followed Lowy's trail to Bermuda, Leonie Wood, The Age, 18/8/11)
[*Presumably, if Shanahan's proposal - Fort Lowy? - were implemented by an Australian government, our existing base in Dubai (See my 12/11/09 post Billabong Flats) would become permanent.]
Not to worry, over at the Lowy Institute, they're working on it:
"As part of this approach [formulating a government strategy paper on Australia's relationship with the Middle East to articulate our strategic interests in the region and to allow for the development of a policy framework] the government should send a signal to the region regarding our long-term interest. This could be done by transforming Australia's present military commitment in the UAE in support of our troops in Afghanistan to a much smaller military presence following the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014. Such a commitment could be tailored to meet Gulf and Australian training or perhaps maritime surveillance needs. Its practical and symbolic benefits in advancing the national interest would outweigh the small resource commitment. It would reinforce the impression among Gulf rulers that Australia is a committed middle power, with potential flow-on benefits in other areas of our bilateral relationship. For Australia, it would provide a small regional base with access to civilian aviation and maritime hubs that could be used in a range of future military contingencies, from Pakistan to North Africa."* (Troops should be kept in the Middle East: A small regional base makes a lot of sense, Rodger Shanahan, The Australian, 18/8/11)
Bet you can't wait to put it up the Pakistanis or mix it with the Moroccans, eh?
But, despite the Lowy Institute's breezy assurance that it'd only cost peanuts for the pleasure, mowing down brown people these days always seems to have a nasty habit of running into the trillions. So wouldn't you think Frank and the lads would at least put their money where their mouth is (over at the Lowy Institute). But no, judging by Shanahan's piece, the understanding seems to be that the cost of Australia's future imperial adventures in the Middle East will be borne almost exclusively by those who manage to pay their taxes without the tax office looking over their shoulder and who probably don't automatically think of Israel when the word charity crops up. Speaking of which, here's the latest:
"The US tax office's long-running investigation into the Lowy family's financial affairs has extended to Bermuda in a bid to unmask who owned and controlled a Liechtenstein-based foundation that US authorities believe was used for tax evasion. The US Internal Revenue Service in April 2009 asked the Bermuda government for help in determining the ownership and control of two companies, Adelphi Ltd and Clareville Ltd, which the IRS suspects are controlled by the Lowy family. The IRS is investigating Westfield Group's Los Angeles-based managing director, Peter Lowy, and his wife Janine, over their tax returns for the year to December 2005. It is also scrutinising the 2004-05 tax return of Beverly Park Corporation, a Delaware-registered company ultimately owned by the Frank Lowy Family Trust, and certain aspects of Beverly Park's returns for the 10 years from 1997 to 2007...
"It is noted that the Liechtenstein-based Luperla Foundation was set up in 1997 'for the benefit of all the members of the Frank Lowy family...' and that it received a loan repayment from Adelphi. In its request, the IRS contended that Adelphi's ownership and control in the 10 years to 2007 was relevant to the ownership and control of Luperla, and that understanding Luperla's ownership would help resolve whether the Lowys should have filed information about the Liechtenstein foundation with US tax authorities... Details of the Bermuda inquiries have emerged in a California court where Peter Lowy is suing the IRS, under the Freedom of Information Act. Mr Lowy wants the US District Court to force the IRS to hand over thousands of pages of documents related to his US tax investigation. The IRS has repeatedly baulked at releasing at least 5402 pages, saying they had to remain confidential because they were the product of exchanges between US tax authorities and the Australian Taxation Office. But Mr Lowy's lawyers now claim that while some material from Bermuda about the Lowys was handed to US authorities, the IRS has 'not identified the existence of such records or identified any grounds for withholding such records'. According to memos stolen from LGT Bank, published by a US Senate committee in 2008, Luperla received $US53 million as founding monies from Adelphi in 1997 by way of a 'credit repayment'. In 2001, LGT Bank was instructed to disperse Luperla's proceeds of $US68 million. The Lowys have said publicly that they never benefited from the Luperla structure, that all its proceeds went to Israeli charities and they met all tax obligations in Australia and the US." (US tax authorities followed Lowy's trail to Bermuda, Leonie Wood, The Age, 18/8/11)
[*Presumably, if Shanahan's proposal - Fort Lowy? - were implemented by an Australian government, our existing base in Dubai (See my 12/11/09 post Billabong Flats) would become permanent.]
Friday, February 18, 2011
Hearts of Gold
"Between them, two large Jewish donors gave close to half-a-million dollars to the major political parties during 2010. Party donations from last year were released earlier this month by the Australian Electoral Commission. Among the most generous contributors were Westfield - established and still headed by Jewish businessman Frank Lowy. The shopping centre conglomerate donated more than $350,000, which was evenly split between the two parties. Westfield gave $182,670 to the Australian Labor Party, which went on to win Government, and $173,180 to the Liberal Party. Pratt Holdings, established by the late Richard Pratt and now run by his son Anthony, donated $125,000. The company showed its true colours, gifting $75,000 to the Liberal Party, but only $50,000 to the ALP." (Generous donors, The Australian Jewish News, 18/2/11)
Of course, such largesse stems solely from hearts of gold. Any suggestion that it translates into bipartisan support for Israel is strenuously rejected.
FYI, according to crikey.com.au, the ALP received $7.8 million in political donations for 09/10, while the Liberal Party received $6.3 million (Political donations give & take, Bernard Keane, 1/2/11).
Of course, such largesse stems solely from hearts of gold. Any suggestion that it translates into bipartisan support for Israel is strenuously rejected.
FYI, according to crikey.com.au, the ALP received $7.8 million in political donations for 09/10, while the Liberal Party received $6.3 million (Political donations give & take, Bernard Keane, 1/2/11).
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
LowyLeaks
Forget WikiLeaks. Too raw. Too unfiltered. Bad for your health, actually. If you really want to know what's going on, try LowyLeaks, aka The Lowy Institute, and allow their (always) senior policy analysts to tell you what only they think you need to know:
"Foreign policy expert Rory Medcalf has called for a considered debate on the impact of the ongoing publishing of classified diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. Mr Medcalf, a senior policy analyst at the Lowy Institute, argues the release of the cables would hurt western diplomacies more than authoritarian nations such as Russia or China. The website is bad for diplomacy and encourages voyeurism, Mr Medcalf said. 'My focus is very much on the consequences', Mr Medcalf told AAP on Tuesday... In an earlier blog posting, he attacked the media for focusing so heavily on the continued publishing of cables, suggesting newspapers were doing it for commercial reasons... If the public really needs to know, then there's... no reason we should not see the original documents." (Consequences of leaks will be bad: expert, Peter Veness, AAP, 14/12/10)
Sorry to be such a voyeur, Rory old chap, but I'm a member of the great unwashed who really, really needs to know - original documents only, of course - what Frank Lowy's "Israeli charities" are, OK?
As in, "The Lowys deny wrongdoing and avoiding tax. They say the funds in the Liechtenstein account were distributed to Israeli charities in 2001 and not to any Lowy family member." (Lowy blasts US tax authorities, Leonie Wood, Sydney Morning Herald, 29/11/10)
"Foreign policy expert Rory Medcalf has called for a considered debate on the impact of the ongoing publishing of classified diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. Mr Medcalf, a senior policy analyst at the Lowy Institute, argues the release of the cables would hurt western diplomacies more than authoritarian nations such as Russia or China. The website is bad for diplomacy and encourages voyeurism, Mr Medcalf said. 'My focus is very much on the consequences', Mr Medcalf told AAP on Tuesday... In an earlier blog posting, he attacked the media for focusing so heavily on the continued publishing of cables, suggesting newspapers were doing it for commercial reasons... If the public really needs to know, then there's... no reason we should not see the original documents." (Consequences of leaks will be bad: expert, Peter Veness, AAP, 14/12/10)
Sorry to be such a voyeur, Rory old chap, but I'm a member of the great unwashed who really, really needs to know - original documents only, of course - what Frank Lowy's "Israeli charities" are, OK?
As in, "The Lowys deny wrongdoing and avoiding tax. They say the funds in the Liechtenstein account were distributed to Israeli charities in 2001 and not to any Lowy family member." (Lowy blasts US tax authorities, Leonie Wood, Sydney Morning Herald, 29/11/10)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Frank Lowy: Arab Fighter
The saga of Frank Lowy, Australia's richest man, is coming to your TV screen tomorrow night - Family Confidential, ABC1 - and both the Murdoch and Fairfax presses are trumpeting the fact.
Judging by The Australian's coverage, this is what you'll get:
"The story Lowy had kept to himself for so long was the horrifying daily drama of his life as a 13-year-old Jewish boy learning to fight for survival in Hungary after the Nazi invasion. The family scattered, the yellow star, the ghetto, the bodies, the shootings, the narrow escapes, the misery, the humiliation, the scrounging, the desperate desire to live." (Holocaust truth set Lowy free, Jennifer Hewett, The Australian, 13/11/10)
"'People ought to know', Lowy shrugs. Just as he now knows that [his father] Hugo Lowy was beaten to death just after he got off the train at Auschwitz in April 1944... His father was killed immediately because he insisted on going back to pick up the bag containing his prayer shawl after guards took it away from him." (ibid)
Ditto for the Sydney Morning Herald:
"When Frank Lowy was 13 in wartime Hungary, his father left the family home one day and never came back... It would take 50 years... before he finally learnt what happened that day in March 1944, just after Nazi Germany invaded Hungary. All Lowy knew was his father had gone to buy train tickets to try to get his family to a safer place. Everything after that was blank: a mystery that had hung over him all his life. The stranger who Peter Lowy met in Los Angeles in 1991 knew the answer to the question his father had never asked aloud. Having been seized at the station and put on a train to Auschwitz, Lowy's father, Hugo Lowy, had refused an order from Nazi soldiers to surrender his prayer shawl and prayer books... so they could be burned. The soldiers beat him and left him to die by the side of the train wagon in Auschwitz. He never made it inside the camp. For most of his life Lowy could not talk about his childhood ordeal in Hungary, not even to family and friends. It took until this year... for Lowy to finally find some peace and hold a memorial service for him." (Sad secret of a famous son, Adele Ferguson, 13/11/10)
But there's another chapter of the Lowy story which the media show very little interest in - the period from 1946 to 1952 when he lived in Palestine/Israel. What exactly did he get up to then? I tried to shed some light on this in my 19/7/10 post Refugees, but let's see what Murdoch and Fairfax have to say this time around.
The Australian says only this:
"The Lowy association with Israel predates Australia. After the war, Lowy lefy Hungary for Palestine... He had been arrested by British soldiers on an old tub outside the port of Haifa, then part of British Palestine, and taken to a refugee camp in Cyprus for 6 months. After he arrived in Palestine as part of a quota, he fought for the underground and, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, for the Israeli army. 'The 6 years I spent there really freed me from the encumbrances of the Eastern European persecution', he says. 'You know - I was a free man, free-thinking, could do what I wanted, go where I wanted. It was a very productive time personally, particularly looking back... so by the time I got here, I was not a victim anymore'." (Hewett)
And this:
"A Holocaust survivor, he left Eastern Europe in 1946 to fight in the Jewish underground in what was then Palestine. Fighting Arabs during the day, he studied accounting at night." (Hearth & soul, Graeme Blundell, Weekend Australian Review, 13/11/10)
Fighting Arabs during the day, he studied accounting at night? Hm, as you would...
The Sydney Morning Herald says even less:
"Migrating to Australia from Palestine in 1952..."
From Palestine? Frank and friends are going to love that one.
We'll probably never hear the full story of Lowy's Arab-fighting days, although the memory retrievalists of that remarkable Israeli organisation Zochrot* recently managed to pull off a bit of a coup when they managed to coax Amnon Neumann, another old Arab fighter of the time, to talk about his memories of the very dirty war of 1948. Stay tuned for my next post.
[*"Zochrot 'Remembering' is a group of Israeli citizens working to raise awareness of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948." zochrot.org]
Judging by The Australian's coverage, this is what you'll get:
"The story Lowy had kept to himself for so long was the horrifying daily drama of his life as a 13-year-old Jewish boy learning to fight for survival in Hungary after the Nazi invasion. The family scattered, the yellow star, the ghetto, the bodies, the shootings, the narrow escapes, the misery, the humiliation, the scrounging, the desperate desire to live." (Holocaust truth set Lowy free, Jennifer Hewett, The Australian, 13/11/10)
"'People ought to know', Lowy shrugs. Just as he now knows that [his father] Hugo Lowy was beaten to death just after he got off the train at Auschwitz in April 1944... His father was killed immediately because he insisted on going back to pick up the bag containing his prayer shawl after guards took it away from him." (ibid)
Ditto for the Sydney Morning Herald:
"When Frank Lowy was 13 in wartime Hungary, his father left the family home one day and never came back... It would take 50 years... before he finally learnt what happened that day in March 1944, just after Nazi Germany invaded Hungary. All Lowy knew was his father had gone to buy train tickets to try to get his family to a safer place. Everything after that was blank: a mystery that had hung over him all his life. The stranger who Peter Lowy met in Los Angeles in 1991 knew the answer to the question his father had never asked aloud. Having been seized at the station and put on a train to Auschwitz, Lowy's father, Hugo Lowy, had refused an order from Nazi soldiers to surrender his prayer shawl and prayer books... so they could be burned. The soldiers beat him and left him to die by the side of the train wagon in Auschwitz. He never made it inside the camp. For most of his life Lowy could not talk about his childhood ordeal in Hungary, not even to family and friends. It took until this year... for Lowy to finally find some peace and hold a memorial service for him." (Sad secret of a famous son, Adele Ferguson, 13/11/10)
But there's another chapter of the Lowy story which the media show very little interest in - the period from 1946 to 1952 when he lived in Palestine/Israel. What exactly did he get up to then? I tried to shed some light on this in my 19/7/10 post Refugees, but let's see what Murdoch and Fairfax have to say this time around.
The Australian says only this:
"The Lowy association with Israel predates Australia. After the war, Lowy lefy Hungary for Palestine... He had been arrested by British soldiers on an old tub outside the port of Haifa, then part of British Palestine, and taken to a refugee camp in Cyprus for 6 months. After he arrived in Palestine as part of a quota, he fought for the underground and, after the establishment of Israel in 1948, for the Israeli army. 'The 6 years I spent there really freed me from the encumbrances of the Eastern European persecution', he says. 'You know - I was a free man, free-thinking, could do what I wanted, go where I wanted. It was a very productive time personally, particularly looking back... so by the time I got here, I was not a victim anymore'." (Hewett)
And this:
"A Holocaust survivor, he left Eastern Europe in 1946 to fight in the Jewish underground in what was then Palestine. Fighting Arabs during the day, he studied accounting at night." (Hearth & soul, Graeme Blundell, Weekend Australian Review, 13/11/10)
Fighting Arabs during the day, he studied accounting at night? Hm, as you would...
The Sydney Morning Herald says even less:
"Migrating to Australia from Palestine in 1952..."
From Palestine? Frank and friends are going to love that one.
We'll probably never hear the full story of Lowy's Arab-fighting days, although the memory retrievalists of that remarkable Israeli organisation Zochrot* recently managed to pull off a bit of a coup when they managed to coax Amnon Neumann, another old Arab fighter of the time, to talk about his memories of the very dirty war of 1948. Stay tuned for my next post.
[*"Zochrot 'Remembering' is a group of Israeli citizens working to raise awareness of the Nakba, the Palestinian catastrophe of 1948." zochrot.org]
Thursday, September 23, 2010
That's What Friends Are For
Keep smiling, keep shining
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
In good times, in bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
Oh, that's what friends are for
Dionne Warwick
"TRICOM boss Lance Rosenberg called on character evidence from the top ranks of the business world, including his 'close personal friend', Westfield managing director Steven Lowy, as he battled a 4-year ban from corporate life. 'I find Mr Rosenberg to be a gentleman of high integrity, intelligence and enthusiasm', Mr Lowy said in his character reference. Mr Rosenberg also received glowing testimonials to his honesty from Investec Bank executive Geoff Levy, Sydney QC Malcolm Holmes, former Mallesons partner David Fairlie and leading tax lawyer Mark Leibler... Mr Lowy, the son of Australia's richest man, Frank Lowy, was the most high-profile figure to provide a character reference. Mr Lowy told the Australian Securities & Investments Commission [ASIC] he had known Mr Rosenberg for 27 years... 'We have a close personal friendship, communicate frequently, and currently sit together on the board of a charitable organisation, United Israel Appeal' [UIA]... Geoff Levy, the former chief executive of South African investment bank Investec's Australian arm, said he had 'interacted in business with Mr Rosenberg for some 20 years'... Mr Leibler, senior partner at Melbourne law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler and one of Australia's best tax lawyers, said he had known Mr Rosenberg 'for approximately 5 years'. The Leibler family super fund had used Tricom as its sharebroker, while Mr Rosenberg was a client of Arnold Bloch Leibler, he said... " (Lowy's role in defence, Ben Butler, The Age, 21/9/10)
Did I hear United Israel Appeal? Yes, Lance isn't the only cause that has our friends rallying around:
Lance Rosenberg and Steven Lowy sit together on the board of the UIA. Frank Lowy is 'Life Governor' of the NSW UIA Executive. Mark Leibler (National Chair of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council) is a former chair of the UIA's World Board of Trustees. And, while Geoff Levy, deputy chair of Investec, may not be directly connected with the UIA, Investec's chairman, David Gonski, is a member of the UIA's 'extended executive' (as well as being on the board of Lowy's Westfield Group).
And what exactly is the UIA? Nothing less than the "central fundraising organisation for Israel throughout the world." (uiansw.org.au) And blow me down if it isn't a tax-exempt charity. Work that one out.
Knowing you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
In good times, in bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
Oh, that's what friends are for
Dionne Warwick
"TRICOM boss Lance Rosenberg called on character evidence from the top ranks of the business world, including his 'close personal friend', Westfield managing director Steven Lowy, as he battled a 4-year ban from corporate life. 'I find Mr Rosenberg to be a gentleman of high integrity, intelligence and enthusiasm', Mr Lowy said in his character reference. Mr Rosenberg also received glowing testimonials to his honesty from Investec Bank executive Geoff Levy, Sydney QC Malcolm Holmes, former Mallesons partner David Fairlie and leading tax lawyer Mark Leibler... Mr Lowy, the son of Australia's richest man, Frank Lowy, was the most high-profile figure to provide a character reference. Mr Lowy told the Australian Securities & Investments Commission [ASIC] he had known Mr Rosenberg for 27 years... 'We have a close personal friendship, communicate frequently, and currently sit together on the board of a charitable organisation, United Israel Appeal' [UIA]... Geoff Levy, the former chief executive of South African investment bank Investec's Australian arm, said he had 'interacted in business with Mr Rosenberg for some 20 years'... Mr Leibler, senior partner at Melbourne law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler and one of Australia's best tax lawyers, said he had known Mr Rosenberg 'for approximately 5 years'. The Leibler family super fund had used Tricom as its sharebroker, while Mr Rosenberg was a client of Arnold Bloch Leibler, he said... " (Lowy's role in defence, Ben Butler, The Age, 21/9/10)
Did I hear United Israel Appeal? Yes, Lance isn't the only cause that has our friends rallying around:
Lance Rosenberg and Steven Lowy sit together on the board of the UIA. Frank Lowy is 'Life Governor' of the NSW UIA Executive. Mark Leibler (National Chair of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council) is a former chair of the UIA's World Board of Trustees. And, while Geoff Levy, deputy chair of Investec, may not be directly connected with the UIA, Investec's chairman, David Gonski, is a member of the UIA's 'extended executive' (as well as being on the board of Lowy's Westfield Group).
And what exactly is the UIA? Nothing less than the "central fundraising organisation for Israel throughout the world." (uiansw.org.au) And blow me down if it isn't a tax-exempt charity. Work that one out.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Refugees
To rephrase Orwell: All refugees are equal, but some refugees are more equal than others:
Paul Howes, AWU national secretary, anti-Rudd conspirator, Murdoch columnist, and Israel luvvie, believes, correctly, that Australia's refugee policy should conform strictly to the requirements of international law, it being crystal clear on the subject:
"I have always been a strident (some would say overly strident) believer in our responsibility to welcome refugees, regardless of how they arrive in this country. I don't hold this belief because I'm some bleeding-heart lefty. I believe this because I feel it is our responsibility, as human beings, to demonstrate compassion to the most vulnerable people on the planet. But I'm in the minority on this. Most Australians, if we look at the polls, want to take a firm stance against those refugees arriving by boat. Most people, despite international law being crystal clear on the subject, still incorrectly believe that if you arrive by boat, you are an illegal immigrant. In my opinion, I think it's sad that we, as a nation of immigrants, are unable to feel more compassion and be more welcoming to those who arrive here after us." (Our sad boat policy, The Sunday Telegraph, 11/7/10)
International law, as our learned friend (we are talking law here) says, is crystal clear on the subject of refugees. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), for example, says unambiguously: "Article 14 (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."
Now I'm assuming that Article 13 (2) is equally crystal clear to our learned friend: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."
At the risk of giving my learned friend a bad dose of cognitive dissonance, can I therefore assume that he supports the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands in what is today known as Israel, but was then (1948) known as Palestine?
Orwell again: All refugees are equal, but some refugees aren't even refugees:
Interestingly, Julia Gillard made her first official statement on the issue of refugees on July 6 at Frank Lowy 's think tank, the Lowy Institute. Of Mr Lowy, Australia's second richest man, she had this to say:
"I am very thankful to the Lowy Institute for hosting me today. This Institute has established a reputation for independent, robust and forceful analysis of our nation's place in the world. It is exactly the right place to make today's address: Moving Australia Forward. I first would like to acknowledge the enormous contribution of the Institute's benefactor, Frank Lowy. Frank Lowy is a great Australian. He was a refugee who escaped to Israel after World War II in a crowded boat full of asylum seekers. After fighting for Israel, he arrived on our shores as a very determined 21 year old. He worked hard and went from factory worker to milk bar owner to Blacktown shopping centre developer and, in time, to the largest retail property group in the world - truly great achievements, and what a remarkable story... But moving forward means we must agree on the organising principles for developing policy, and believe we can agree on most principles. That we should be prepared to accept people in legitimate need just as a young Frank Lowy was accepted 60 years ago." (From the Prime Minister's speech Moving Australia Forward)
So, according to Gillard, Lowy was a refugee who escaped to Israel after World War II in a boat crowded with asylum seekers, and in legitimate need when he later reached Australia.
A refugee? Escaping to Israel? After the war was over? Really?
The 16-year old Frank Lowy left Hungary in 1946 and boarded the Mossad* vessel Yagur in France, part of a Mossad people smuggling racket (to use the term much beloved of our polly-waffles these days) to transfer as many displaced European Jews to Palestine as possible, despite the British Mandate blockade on illegal Jewish immigration. The Yagur was intercepted by the British and its passengers detained in Cyprus, before being moved to a detention camp in northern Palestine.
Lowy eventually ended up in the Haganah's Golani Brigade which played an integral role in the ethnic cleansing of the Galilee area in 1948.
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe affords us a taste of what the Golanis got up to: "The first targets of the Israeli forces in the 10 days between the two truces were the pockets within the Galilee around Acre, and Nazareth. 'Cleanse totally the enemy from the villages' was the order that 3 brigades received on July 6, two days before the Israeli troops - straining at their leashes to continue the cleansing operations - were ordered to violate the first truce. Jewish soldiers automatically understood that 'enemy' meant defenceless Palestinian villagers and their families. The brigades they belonged to were the Carmeli, the Golani and Brigade Seven, the 3 brigades of the north that would also be responsible for the final cleansing operations in the upper Galilee in October. The inventive people whose job it was to come up with the names for operations of this kind had now switched from 'cleansing' synonyms ('Broom', 'Scissors') to trees: 'Palm' (Dekel) for the Nazareth area and 'Cypress' (Brosh) for the Jordan Valley area." (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006, p 158)
After fighting for Israel, as Gillard spins it, Lowy migrated to Australia in 1952. How he could be described, as Gillard does, as being in legitimate need at this time is beyond me.
[*Yes, a Mossad vessel. See Idith Zertal's From Catastrophe to Power: Holocaust Survivors & the Emergence of Israel, 1998, p 237. See also my 17/6/10 post Cannon Fodder for Zion: Exodus 1947]
Paul Howes, AWU national secretary, anti-Rudd conspirator, Murdoch columnist, and Israel luvvie, believes, correctly, that Australia's refugee policy should conform strictly to the requirements of international law, it being crystal clear on the subject:
"I have always been a strident (some would say overly strident) believer in our responsibility to welcome refugees, regardless of how they arrive in this country. I don't hold this belief because I'm some bleeding-heart lefty. I believe this because I feel it is our responsibility, as human beings, to demonstrate compassion to the most vulnerable people on the planet. But I'm in the minority on this. Most Australians, if we look at the polls, want to take a firm stance against those refugees arriving by boat. Most people, despite international law being crystal clear on the subject, still incorrectly believe that if you arrive by boat, you are an illegal immigrant. In my opinion, I think it's sad that we, as a nation of immigrants, are unable to feel more compassion and be more welcoming to those who arrive here after us." (Our sad boat policy, The Sunday Telegraph, 11/7/10)
International law, as our learned friend (we are talking law here) says, is crystal clear on the subject of refugees. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), for example, says unambiguously: "Article 14 (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."
Now I'm assuming that Article 13 (2) is equally crystal clear to our learned friend: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."
At the risk of giving my learned friend a bad dose of cognitive dissonance, can I therefore assume that he supports the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands in what is today known as Israel, but was then (1948) known as Palestine?
Orwell again: All refugees are equal, but some refugees aren't even refugees:
Interestingly, Julia Gillard made her first official statement on the issue of refugees on July 6 at Frank Lowy 's think tank, the Lowy Institute. Of Mr Lowy, Australia's second richest man, she had this to say:
"I am very thankful to the Lowy Institute for hosting me today. This Institute has established a reputation for independent, robust and forceful analysis of our nation's place in the world. It is exactly the right place to make today's address: Moving Australia Forward. I first would like to acknowledge the enormous contribution of the Institute's benefactor, Frank Lowy. Frank Lowy is a great Australian. He was a refugee who escaped to Israel after World War II in a crowded boat full of asylum seekers. After fighting for Israel, he arrived on our shores as a very determined 21 year old. He worked hard and went from factory worker to milk bar owner to Blacktown shopping centre developer and, in time, to the largest retail property group in the world - truly great achievements, and what a remarkable story... But moving forward means we must agree on the organising principles for developing policy, and believe we can agree on most principles. That we should be prepared to accept people in legitimate need just as a young Frank Lowy was accepted 60 years ago." (From the Prime Minister's speech Moving Australia Forward)
So, according to Gillard, Lowy was a refugee who escaped to Israel after World War II in a boat crowded with asylum seekers, and in legitimate need when he later reached Australia.
A refugee? Escaping to Israel? After the war was over? Really?
The 16-year old Frank Lowy left Hungary in 1946 and boarded the Mossad* vessel Yagur in France, part of a Mossad people smuggling racket (to use the term much beloved of our polly-waffles these days) to transfer as many displaced European Jews to Palestine as possible, despite the British Mandate blockade on illegal Jewish immigration. The Yagur was intercepted by the British and its passengers detained in Cyprus, before being moved to a detention camp in northern Palestine.
Lowy eventually ended up in the Haganah's Golani Brigade which played an integral role in the ethnic cleansing of the Galilee area in 1948.
Israeli historian Ilan Pappe affords us a taste of what the Golanis got up to: "The first targets of the Israeli forces in the 10 days between the two truces were the pockets within the Galilee around Acre, and Nazareth. 'Cleanse totally the enemy from the villages' was the order that 3 brigades received on July 6, two days before the Israeli troops - straining at their leashes to continue the cleansing operations - were ordered to violate the first truce. Jewish soldiers automatically understood that 'enemy' meant defenceless Palestinian villagers and their families. The brigades they belonged to were the Carmeli, the Golani and Brigade Seven, the 3 brigades of the north that would also be responsible for the final cleansing operations in the upper Galilee in October. The inventive people whose job it was to come up with the names for operations of this kind had now switched from 'cleansing' synonyms ('Broom', 'Scissors') to trees: 'Palm' (Dekel) for the Nazareth area and 'Cypress' (Brosh) for the Jordan Valley area." (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, 2006, p 158)
After fighting for Israel, as Gillard spins it, Lowy migrated to Australia in 1952. How he could be described, as Gillard does, as being in legitimate need at this time is beyond me.
[*Yes, a Mossad vessel. See Idith Zertal's From Catastrophe to Power: Holocaust Survivors & the Emergence of Israel, 1998, p 237. See also my 17/6/10 post Cannon Fodder for Zion: Exodus 1947]
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Connections
"Ingeus [the job placement agency 97% owned by Kevin Rudd's wife Therese Rein] has operations in Britain, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Israel and South Korea. The group appointed the corporate blueblood David Gonski as chairman last October..." ($1m bounty Reins on PM's household, Scott Rochfort, Business Day/Sydney Morning Herald, 7/5/10)
"Mr Gonski, the chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange, Coca-Cola Amatil and Investec Bank, sits on dozens of other boards including Westfield Group, Singapore Airlines and Sunraysia... Mr Gonski is a high-profile philanthropist in Sydney's Jewish community, and a long time confidant of Westfield boss Frank Lowy." (David Gonski to chair Therese Rein's company, Natasha Bita, The Australian, 3/11/09)
Gonski is also a member of the "extended executive" of the United Israel Appeal (UIA) NSW. (uiansw.org.au)
"Mr Gonski, the chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange, Coca-Cola Amatil and Investec Bank, sits on dozens of other boards including Westfield Group, Singapore Airlines and Sunraysia... Mr Gonski is a high-profile philanthropist in Sydney's Jewish community, and a long time confidant of Westfield boss Frank Lowy." (David Gonski to chair Therese Rein's company, Natasha Bita, The Australian, 3/11/09)
Gonski is also a member of the "extended executive" of the United Israel Appeal (UIA) NSW. (uiansw.org.au)
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