Sydney race-violence spreads

[Rahima]

Yep, the tensions have finally erupted in Australia. Johnny boy is reaping the rewards of the seeds he has sown.

_______________________________________________

 

Sydney race-violence spreads

 

Neo-Nazis are believed to have been among those who took part in the race-fuelled violence at Cronulla in Sydney's south.

 

More than 20 people have been injured and 16 arrested as a series of apparent revenge attacks — including two stabbings — followed yesterday's unrest at Cronulla beach, where more than 5000 people gathered yesterday.

 

Drunken mobs within the crowd yelled racist chants and chased down and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance in an extended show of violence.

 

Police resorted to using capsicum spray and batons in their battle to subdue the rioters, who pelted officers with bottles and stomped on patrol cars.

 

An ambulance crew was also assaulted as racial tensions peaked.

 

At least 25 people, including two ambulance officers, were injured, about 40 cars were vandalised and an Australian flag was burned during the mob scenes.

 

Later, a 23-year-old man was injured and more than 40 cars smashed with baseball bats in an apparent revenge attack at Maroubra, in Sydney's east.

 

A group of about 60 men of Middle Eastern appearance and armed with baseball bats smashed the windows of parked cars about 9pm.

 

The group then clashed with rival mob outside the Maroubra Bay Hotel.

 

A 23-year-old Maroubra man was taken to Prince of Wales hospital after he was stabbed with a sharp implement, believed to be a stick or nail, in the hip.

 

Riot police were called to Brighton-le-Sands, in Sydney's south, to control a group of about 200 brawling youths who had reportedly thrown projectiles at police.

 

NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said police believed neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups were among yesterday's crowd at Cronulla.

 

"That in fact is something that we're following up," he told the Nine network.

 

"Yes, that's the advice we've received."

One woman was pictured at Cronulla beach holding a poster that read "Aussies fighting back".

 

Her photo appeared in a Sydney newspaper today. She was advertising a group called the Patriotic Youth League.

 

The group, founded by former Newcastle student and One Nation activist Stuart McBeth in 2002, described itself as a "radical nationalist" group, it was reported.

 

Said to be linked to the German-based skinhead group Volksfront, British Nationalist Party and the New Zealand National Front, it has campaigned for the deportation of immigrants and for keeping foreign students out of universities.

 

- AAP

 

http://theage.com.au/

[Rahima]

Violent beach mob 'hides behind flag'

 

Simon Kearney

 

December 12, 2005

 

MOB attacks on men and women of Middle Eastern appearance, police and ambulance officers at Cronulla Beach yesterday were disgusting and un-Australian, police, politicians and Lebanese community leaders said.

 

Lebanese youth leader Fadi Rahman last night said he feared further confrontation and violence after a day that saw flag-draped men target Middle Eastern men and women with racist taunts and violence.

 

"We're heading for a disaster. Can you imagine 5000 Lebanese people getting together and saying, 'Let's get Aussies'? The whole country would go haywire," Mr Rahman said. "As a community, we are disgusted. This is not the Australian way.

 

"We're working day and night to build bridges and what we always get is rejection. This shows you the Australian people are not ready to give us a fair go. That's in plain bloody English."

NSW Premier Morris Iemma last night described the Cronulla crowd's behaviour as disgraceful and cowardly.

 

"These hooligans have brought shame upon themselves," Mr Iemma said. "Some today tried to hide behind the Australian flag. The Australia that I know ... does not support the sort of behaviour we saw today.

 

"I reserve particular contempt for the cowards who turned on police and the NSW ambulance service. There is never any excuse to attack any emergency vehicle."

 

NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said the violence was un-Australian: "It's not Australian to adopt a mob mentality and assault women. I have never, in all my working days, seen anything as un-Australian."

 

He said responsibility for the day's events must rest with the individuals committing the violence and not with the police.

 

A young Lebanese woman, Julie, who works in a restaurant at Cronulla Beach, told how she had to endure racist taunts all day and then returned to her car to find the grille kicked in. "I work here and I don't even want to be here," she said. "The Lebanese community are not going to sit back and take these insults."

 

Mr Rahman said he believed new terrorism laws were partly to blame for the violence.

 

"The new laws are dividing and justifying the actions of people, such as in Cronulla," he said.

 

"This is early Nazi Germany."

 

Lebanese Muslim Association president Ahmad Kamaledine said he had been visiting the beach at Cronulla since he was a teenager. "Middle Eastern people have contributed a lot to the area," he said. "I don't believe this is the Australian spirit. This has been motivated by people on talkback radio."

 

Lawyer Stephen Hopper, who has represented members of the Lebanese community in the past, said he planned to talk with members of the community about taking action for indirect racism.

 

"A large proportion of responsibility for today's events should lay at the feet of The Daily Telegraph and some other media outlets," he said.

 

Islamic Friendship Association of Australia president Keysar Trad said the violence was "bound to happen" because of racist rhetoric on Sydney talkback radio throughout the week.

"Sections of the media took this issue far too far and one can only surmise that the way this issue was dealt with on talkback radio amounts to incitement," Mr Trad said.

 

He said the media turned a common youth issue into an issue of ethnicity.

 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17536213%255E601,00.html

[Rahima]

Revenge attacks in Sydney race war

 

David King and Dan Box

 

December 12, 2005

 

GANGS of youths embarked on a series of "hit and run" revenge attacks across Sydney's beachside suburbs last night after a day of racial violence that saw mobs rampage through Cronulla, in the city's south, bashing anyone of Middle Eastern appearance.

 

Scores of cars in the eastern suburb of Maroubra had their windscreens smashed and tyres slashed in what police fear is the first sign of retaliation by members of Sydney's Muslim community.

 

Local MP Michael Daley said the suburb was hit by youths wielding baseball bats and sticks after "a cavalcade of hotted-up vehicles" arrived at 8.30pm.

 

"They smashed cars and everything they could lay their hands on," he said. "I never thought I would see the day this sort of damage hits this city."

 

Police, who said it appeared the men were of Middle Eastern descent, said the convoy then moved to the Maroubra beachfront, where several people were injured in an "altercation".

 

Hundreds of police were last night patrolling the city's eastern and southern suburbs after a day of violence that started when as many as 5000 locals gathered in Cronulla to protest against increasing number of visitors, particularly Muslims, after an attack on a lifeguard last week.

 

The crowd at North Cronulla started by drinking beer and waving Australian flags. But, fuelled by alcohol and an SMS and email campaign to "bash" anyone of Lebanese appearance, the crowd started chanting racist slogans aimed at people of Middle Eastern origin.

 

Despite a heightened police presence and a well-publicised threat of prosecution against vigilante behaviour, at least four people were bashed when the crowd attacked anyone they thought was "a Leb".

 

One Muslim woman was targeted by the crowd and was forced to shelter in a kiosk while an angry mob outside chanted racist slogans, including "kill the Lebs", "kill the wogs" and "go home Lebby scum".

 

Two ambulance officers were injured when they came under attack from locals hurling beer bottles. Police used capsicum spray, batons, dogs and mounted patrols to control the crowds and to protect those who were being attacked.

At least eight people had been injured late yesterday, including two ambulance officers, one of whom was struck on the head with a bottle. Thirteen people had been arrested, with at least four charged with either affray or assault.

Speaking before the revenge attacks, NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney condemned the violence as un-Australian, saying he was "ashamed as a man and as the Commissioner of Police".

 

"By any test, by any measure, that which we have seen here today is clearly un-Australian," he said. "It's not Australian to adopt a mob mentality and assault women. I have never in all my working days seen anything as un-Australian."

He promised more arrests and defended the police response.

 

NSW Premier Morris Iemma said the hooligans would face the full force of the law. "The behaviour of the crowd at Cronulla today was disgraceful, cowardly and will not be allowed to continue," he said. "These hooligans have brought shame upon themselves."

 

Sutherland Shire Mayor Kevin Screiber also slammed the violent crowd and attacked the racist text messages circulating in the area, which called for "Aussies" to retake the beach by joining "Leb and wog bashing day".

Cronulla locals have been tense since last weekend, when a lifesaver was allegedly bashed by two men of Middle Eastern origin.

They claim increasing numbers of visitors from the western suburbs are abusing women and threatening people at the beach. A mass email and SMS campaign called for a rally yesterday to "reclaim the beach".

 

Throughout the day the crowd surged towards anyone of Middle Eastern appearance. Two young men were chased into a chicken shop, where they hid from a group that smashed a window. The young men were eventually taken away by police.

 

Far-Right groups, including Australia First, distributed inflammatory literature at the beach, as did skinhead groups.

 

Australia First NSW secretary Jim Saleam confirmed that his group had been distributing anti-multicultural and anti-immigrant literature at the beach.

 

Mr Saleam also confirmed the group had helped mobilise people for the demonstration.

Many youngsters said they were attracted to the event by a sense of nationalism, with people bringing flags and barbecues.

 

They parked their utes at the beach, with stereos blasting.

 

Tim Gosper, 19, of Menai in southern Sydney, said he and his friends had come to the beach to "support Australia, support our country, throw a barbie and have a good time".

 

But he was aware of the anti-Middle Eastern sentiment. "I'm not saying all the wogs and the Lebs are that bad, but there's a certain group who harass and cause trouble," he said.

 

Another man, who called himself Steely, said: "Our women have been told they're going to be raped because they're wearing bikinis. These people try to stop our way of life."

 

Locals in Maroubra last night reported gangs of Middle Eastern men walking toward the beach, taking sticks and baseball bats to the cars.

 

Others described a battle on the beachfront and around the Maroubra Bay Hotel.

 

Estimates of the numbers of men of Middle Eastern descent involved ranged from 50 to 200.

Resident Tom Taylor, 26, said "all of these wogs with baseball bats, probably 50 if not more, came flying around the corner".

 

"One warned me. He said, 'Mate, you better get out'. Then the others shouted, 'Kill him' and started chasing me down the street. Then the Aussies arrived. "They all came out of the pub and drove them back up the street. One of the Aussies got smashed. They jumped on him. I thought he was dead."

 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17536279%255E601,00.html

[Baluug]

These types of attacks on Muslims are becoming more common nowadays after Sept. 11. Muslims would be better off to stay in their own countries unless they have no choice, such as in Somalia's case, because there will always be id*iots like these punks in Australia who have no knowledge or regard for other nationalities. Besides, Lebanon has a working government. Are they only leaving for another country so they can have "freedom", as kafirs would say? They should expect this then, and be prepared, because obviously they weren't this time.

[-Nomadique-]

Those "ethnics" (I hate that word) that were attacked were born and raised in Australia. So were those who attacked those life guards in Cronulla. Furthermore there are more Christian Lebenese Australians than Muslim. Already the closet racists are using this as an excuse to declare Multiculturalism a failure while shouting that this is a problem of "ethnics" who belong to a violent Islamic culture. :rolleyes: .

 

We have watched our country spiral into a hell hole thanks to this Prime Minister. From sitting back and allowing Pauline Hanson set a racist agenda to the Children overboard scandal, Tampa, Detention Centres, Iraq was it any suprise that this happened. I think not. What is also disgusting is the role John Laws et al had in inciting and fostering racism towards Middle Eastern Australians.

 

Im sickened by all of this. (and that includes the car smashings that evening as well)

 

The only thing alot of us can commend is role the police and the ambulance services played in attempting to protect the innocent people attacked by those hooligans. Throwing bottles of beer at a Police Officer. Disgusting.

[Jurnee]

I think we are getting awfully comfortable in a country that probably wont tolerate muslims for much longer and these riots just come to show that our comfort is all in vain.

 

Funnily enough Kim Beazley was saying that multiculturalism in Australia is not in danger and '...it is alive and well'. I almost laughed out loud but hearing John Howard's disgusting stance that these riots arent racially motivated replaced the humour with absolute loathing for that little hateful man and his government.

 

There is a lesson to be learnt here...Australia isnt the place we should see ourselves living in the future.

[Modesty]

Wow, Australians are animals! How civilized? I always wanted to visit Australia, but trust me this definately turned me off. This shouldn't be viewed as an attack only on Lebanese people, but all people who aren't white. Racism is well and alive as we can see. I hope the Lebanese youth fight back and kick @ss!

[-Lily-]

I was sickened watching it on BBC news. They call Muslims voilent and uncivilized, nice example they are giving. I just worry for all the Muslims in Australia and other western countries.Many are comparing it to 1930s Berlin. It won't be long before this type of behaviour spreads. There is no justice in this world anymore where people get bombed and get life imprisonments for being terror suspects, those who abuse prisoners get 6 months and the bombing of innocents continues. I wonder what causes terrorism.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Let us all get our tickets booked for JIHADDD! Our muslim brethren is being intimidated and violated, what the heck are we waiting for? Come on, people! Isn't there anyone oo dhiig qabo among this lot! Get up, come on!

 

Seriously, though, this looks to me minute in comparison to what is to come. The idea of multi-calturalism is useless, and muslims will never be accepted as part and parcel of western world so long as Islam is apparent in their lives....! Remember, it is not us that causes these eruptions from time to time, it is the belief and its mighty potential to put them and their systems upside down.....!

I have never and will never be 100% settled in Kuffar-land, and if you have or thinking of, then I assume that you kidding yourself/ves.

 

The only thing that these muslims can do in Australia is fight fire with fire, no other way, just like they did in Burnley, England. Once you stand for yourself and show that you won't shyt, the system/gov't will intervene, but if you sit back and show a sign of cowardice, I guarantee you our girls/women will be their bounty!

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"LAN TARLAA CAN KAL YUHUUDU WALA NAZAARAA, XATTAA TATABICA MILATAHUM..." Jews and Kuffars will never be pleased of/with you till you follow their kuffr.

-QURAN.

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[Medley of extemporanea]

seems to me this has nothing to do with religion... it's just good old fashioned racism.

[Dhagax-Tuur]

Racism, prejudice etc..call it whatever you like, but it all stems from a source of hatred. And in the case of anyone with a middle-eastern look, i can only think of one thing - Islam.

 

If one prefers it to be just Racism, plain old racism, I think one is deluded.

[-Lily-]

Arabs and Muslims have become the new blacks, its always someone.

[Medley of extemporanea]

Originally posted by GEEL-JIRE:

If one prefers it to be just Racism, plain old racism, I think one is deluded.

am sure there's 'anti islam' feeling, but i think the root of the problem is racism, not sectarianism.

 

after all, these groups aren't going after muslims, they're going after arabs.

 

we shouldn't muddy the waters. for example here in america, the largest single muslims community are the african americans. but i've never heard about 'anti muslim' violence against an african american.

[Rahima]

after all, these groups aren't going after muslims, they're going after arabs.

As I watching one of the news outlets and as the reporter spoke to one the scumbag racists, in the background was another yobbo with a black top reading 'MUHAMMAD WAS A CAMAL RAPING FAGGOT’ . Likewise, a group of young Bangladeshi men were attacked because they were not Anglo-Saxon. An Italian man was also bashed by the mob because he did not appear Anglo-saxon. These yobbos are after any person who does not appear Anglo-saxon, be you Arab or not. They do not care. If you are black, you are on the firing line, if you are visibly a Muslim (i.e. wear a hijab for example or have a khamis/beard) you are on the firing line. So for any Muslim who has any doubts that they might be attacked because they are not Arab (i.e. Somalida for example), rest assured that as long as you are not Anglo-Saxon and/or are Muslim you are on the firing line.

 

You will always have racists wherever you will go, but this is completely out of the norm for Australia. I have lived here almost all my life and although it’s been in Melbourne the entire time, I have never heard of or experienced such collective racism from the people. Governments (especially those of the liberals) yes, but never the general public. Then again, 5000 people is a minority, however what is worse is the number of people who support them as is evident in the talkback radio shows. That Allan Jones-couldn’t stand him since his days on the TODAY show, but he has taken this to a new level and even worse he admits to being part of the fueling brigade- I’m wondering if the new laws of inciting hatred apply to him? I doubt it, but they sure should!

 

The other thing is, although I doubt such an outbreak would occur in Melbourne (we don’t have the lay out Sydney does), if it were to occur, as I read in the Age yesterday the likely suburbs would be Heidelberg West, Preston, Reservoir and Springvale. The reason stated was that these suburbs all have large communities of working class/blue collar from both sides of the racetrack. Heidelberg West for example has a very large Somali community as it also has a large Anglo-Saxon community- even worse it is one the areas the government settles ex-cons. Preston and Reservoir have large Arab communities and Springvale a large Asian population. Suburbs like Broadmedows are off the radar because the Muslims are greater in number, likewise Brunswick and Coburg where there are too many Arabs/Italians/Greeks. Carlton, Flemington and North Melbourne will probably escape the fire also because although the Somali communities there are working classes, the Anglo-Saxons living in these suburbs tend to be more educated/white collar.

 

Bottom line my fellow aussies, brace yourselves and start planning for the future. One thing is for sure, like Shankaroon said, we cannot get comfortable in the west (be it here, USA or UK). We should all be planning Hijra as is the responsibility of a Muslim.

[Modesty]

^I completely agree, either hijra...or you Aussies can have some type of civil rights movement like the African Americans did in the US. Cheers!