Fifty days before 9/11, Larry Silverstein's Silverstein Properties and Frank Lowy's Westfield America obtained 99-year leases on World Trade Center Buildings One, Two, Four and Five. Silverstein already owned Building Seven. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey handed over control of the World Trade Center to Silverstein and Lowy on July 24, 2001. Lowy leased the shopping concourse area called the Mall at the World TradeCenter, made up of approximately 427,000 square feet of retail floor space. Silverstein insured the complex for $3.55 billion, but after the attacks of September 11 lodged a claim for $7.1 billion on the premise that each plane collision constituted a separate act of terrorism, doubling the payout. We all know about "Lucky" Larry Silverstein's part in 9/11 and his dubious connections to Benyamin Netanyahu et al, and I plan to do a write-up on him later, but not much has been reported on Lowy, so let's have a look. Frank Lowy is an Hungarian Jew who arrived in Palestine in 1945 to fight as a Golani commando in the Israeli "War of Independence", before moving to Sydney Australia, where he built shopping centers. He went on to work in investment banking in London and New York and eventually Los Angeles. He co-founded the Westfield Group, which he still chairs. According to wikipedia, "Westfield currently has interests in total assets worth A$41 billion, representing 121 shopping centres in four countries with over 10 million square meters of retail space. It is the world's largest retail property group by equity market capitalization". He has overseen Westfield's regional growth from 6 centers in California to at least 59. At $3.8 billion, he's ranked #2 in forbes.com's list of Australia and NZ's richest individuals, and by the same standard is the 174th richest man in the world.Apparently Lowy's fondness for banking is not limited to the US. He's a board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia's central bank, which is the Australian version of the US "Federal Reserve" system and issuer of Australian banknotes. Frank the Zionist is not at all disinterested in world politics; in 2001 he was the associate international chairman of the Israel Democracy Institute, and in 2003 he set up the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an international policy think tank devoted to foreign affairs, which led to him being awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005 (funnily enough, it was Wilson who passed the Federal Reserve Act).
That same year, the Institute moved into its permanent home in Sydney’s CBD which was formally opened by Australia’s Prime Minister and Lowy's good mate, John Howard. He even joined Howard and Bill Clinton on an "evening Sydney Harbour cruise" during a visit by the latter to Oz in '96 (source). Frank Lowy (far right) with Bill Clinton and Australia'sForeign Minister Alexander DownerOther good friends of his include Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who has his own connections to 9/11, and like Silverstein, maintains close relationships with former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and other high profile Zionists. Murdoch openly supports the extremist Likud Party of Israel and the post-9/11 “war on terror.” Israel has no better friend in the media than Murdoch and his empire. But Murdoch's not the only one with an affinity for the Zionist state; Frank Lowy is described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "a self-made man with a strong interest in the Holocaust and Israeli politics." He even funded and launched the Israeli Institute for National Strategy and Policy, which will "operate within the framework of Tel Aviv University" in Israel. Furthermore, according to ajn.com, he is a "founding member of the International Advisory Council of the prestigious Brookings Institution in Washington." According to wikipedia, "Brookings is generally considered one of the three most influential policy institutes in the U.S", and focuses on five main areas of research: Economic Studies, Foreign Policy, Governance, Global Economy and Development, and Metropolitan Policy. Here you can see what he's got goin' on at Tel Aviv University:
"Australian Entrepreneur Frank Lowy will be Chairman of the planned TAU Institute for National Strategy and Policy. Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk will act as Vice-Chairman."Here's Australian Jewish News reporting on it:
'Frank Lowy establishes Israeli institute'But Lowy's penchant for meddling in world affairs doesn't stop there. Lowy was vice president of a publication called the Australia/Israel Review (AIR), whose parent body is AIJAC (Australia Israel Jewish Affairs Council), the Australian counterpart of it's US equivalent, AIPAC. The AIR is a right-wing Zionist publication whose editor, Michael Kapel, was forced to quit in '98 after the magazine published stolen membership lists of the One Nation party, an Australian nationalist political group. When Palestinian political activist and politician Hanan Ashrawi was awarded the 2003 Sydney Peace Prize, Frank Lowy was one of the most vociferous among the chorus of Zionist protestors and Jewish lobbyists that decried the result and tried to dissuade NSW premier Bob Carr and members of the Sydney Peace Foundation from giving the award to Ashrawi. Lowy, among others, claimed Ashrawi supported suicide bombings and opposed the two-state solution set out in the 1993 Oslo Accords. Sydney-based Jewish-Australian journalist Antony Loewenstein shows how fraudulent these claims are in the opening chapter of his book "My Israel Question", arguing that the real reason behind Lowy and co's objection is her support for the Palestinian cause and anti-Zionist disposition. So, like Silverstein, Lowy is without question a filthy rich corporate Israel cheerleader.
But there's also evidence that he's probably a crook, too. For instance, it appears that Lowy nearly got involved in the British govt's "cash for peerages" scandal with Lord Levy, one of Tony Blair's closest aides, back in 2002. From this article:
LORD LEVY, one of Tony Blair's closest and most trusted aides, was paid at least £250,000 by an Australian property group headed by one of the world's richest men. The payments, which the company has attemptedto keep private, are far higher than previously thought and began in 1999, the year Levy was appointed Blair's envoy to the Middle East, reporting directly to the prime minister. They were authorised by Frank Lowy, the head of the Westfield Corporation, who has business and political interests in Israel and whose company is seeking planning permission to develop shopping centres across Britain. Lowy is a veteran campaigner on Jewish causes. He fought as a commando in Palestine during the 1948 Israeli war of independence and served with the Golani Brigade, which is currently serving in the occupied territories. The disclosure has raised questions of "cash for foreign policy". MPs expressed concern at Levy's potentially conflicting roles as a consultant for a powerful multinational company and supposedly impartial and unpaid envoy. Levy said he paid privately for trips he made on behalf of Blair. In a letter to Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, said:
"I am concerned the Foreign Office's diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East should apparently be so closely tied to the aims of one of the world's richest men."Baker said Levy appeared to be "simultaneously a quasi-minister, Labour fundraiser and consultant to a company seeking to influence government policy.Hmmm. Looks like Lowy thought he could swing things Israel's way with his shekels.And look what he's got himself into here!
Lowy implicated in Israel bank scandalPM - Wednesday, 25 October , 2006One of Australia's richest businessmen has been embroiled in a high-level corruption scandal involving the Prime Minister of Israel.Israeli press reports claim that the billionaire owner of the Westfield Group, Frank Lowy, was involved in the scandal with the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last year.They allege that Mr Olmert had a conflict of interest because he advanced Mr Lowy's interests in the privatisation of a major Israeli bank, Bank Leumi.The Justice Ministry is investigating suspicions that Mr Olmert interfered with the tender to benefit Mr Lowy and another bidder, Daniel Abraham.There are also allegations of a conflict of interest by the Prime Minister through a law firm that dealt with Mr Lowy's affairs in Israel.The head of that firm is Ehud Olmert's father-in-law Professor Yossi Gross.A spokesman for Frank Lowy is rejecting the claims tonight.Emma Alberici reportsEMMA ALBERICI: Overnight Israel Attorney General confirmed he was investigating claims that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accepted bribes from two international businessmen.
The bribes have allegedly been paid to help advance their interests during the 2005 privatisation of Israel's Bank Leumi, the country's second biggest bank.The two businessmen referred to in reports are said to be the Prime Minister's personal friends, one of which was named on the Hebrew language website, News First Class, as Frank Lowy, the Australian billionaire owner of the Westfield group.Various reports during the tender process last year said the Australian real estate tycoon was in partnership on the Bank Leumi bid with American media and property mogul Mortimer Zuckerman.The website News First Class, first published the claims two weeks ago, which also say Ehud Olmert never declared a conflict of interest he had during the tender process.His father-in-law, Yossi Gross heads the law firm, which allegedly deals with Frank Lowy's affairs in Israel.The tender for Bank Leumi was eventually sold to a company not connected to the Lowy family or to the other man named in the reports.A spokesman for Frank Lowy tonight rejected the suggestion he'd been involved in any improper activity.PM is not suggesting that he tried to influence the bid process or that he paid any bribes. A statement e-mailed to PM tonight states that the Lowy family was approached to join a consortium to tender for an interest to Bank Leumi.The statement says, "After considering the investment, and conducting some preliminary due diligence, it was decided not to proceed with the consortium or with the tender process."The statement says the Mr Lowy did take part in the tender process, but did not win are categorically wrong and should not be repeated.Frank Lowy is a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Israel to fight in the Jewish underground before joining the rest of his family in Australia in 1951.55 years on, he's the country's second richest businessman, worth $5.5 billion. His $74 million super yacht Ilona is often seen at the (inaudible) docks in Israel.
In March of this year, the Lowy family's LGF Holdings poached two investment bankers at UBS in Tel-Aviv to start a funds management business they called ION Asset Management.Media reports over the past few years variously link the Lowy family name to the sales of three banks in Israel.Israel's Attorney General has ordered the probe into claims that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accepted the bribes while he was Acting Finance Minister.The allegations come at a time when the Israel Prime Minister is suffering in opinion polls over his handling of the fighting in Lebanon.Ehud Olmert has been involved in several corruption investigations in recent months, although no formal charges have ever been filed against him.Among them, are several property deals and appointments made while Trade and Industry Minister in his predecessor Ariel Sharon's government.Israel's Ministry of Justice last night said, at this stage, no decisions have been taken.
No criminal proceedings of any kind are under way in the matter, and police are not involved.So at the very least, he's heavily involved in Jewish affairs and Zionist lobby groups, he's extremely cozy with the shady Zionist elite, and he's a rabid Zionist himself. So is his son, Peter Lowy, who sits on the board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and was chairman of the board of the University of Judaism, which has now been renamed the American Jewish University after it's merger with the Brandeis-Bardin Institute. His financial contributions to both sides of the Australian political pseudo-divide also deserve a mention. From this article:
Westfield shopping mall developer Frank Lowy topped the list of Jewish donations with $624,200 - $311,900 to the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and $312,300 to the Liberals.The right wing Liberal party got $400 more than their Labor counterparts; maybe Frank penalised the latter for being such stick-in-the-muds over Iraq.We know the attacks of September 11 were carried out to further the political agenda of the Zionist elite. Is it just a coincidence that two of them took out the lease of the World Trade Center complex just weeks beforehand?
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