/* */

PDA

View Full Version : Sydney Riots-Who is fuelling the Yobs?



Mr. Baldy
12-27-2005, 04:58 PM
Sydney Riots-Who is fuelling the Yobs?
The thousands of Australians who have gathered on Cronulla beach, a southern suburb of Sydney, over the past two weekends in a protest to ‘reclaim the beach’ has contrasted with the slogans and glossy marketing campaign that Australia presents to the rest of the world.

For many, Australia conjures up images of long sandy beaches, surfing and endless sunshine. Whilst Sydney, it’s most famous and largest city, conjures up images of the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. However, just as the riots in French cities exposed Europe’s treatment of its minorities the recent riots in Sydney have exposed a darker side to Australia as a whole.

Approximately 5000 Australians gathered on Cronulla Beach chanting "No more Lebs [Lebanese]" and "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie... Oi, Oi, Oi," and mobs of drunken young men attacked anyone who remotely looked like they might be Muslim or of ethnic origin. One Muslim woman had her scarf ripped off and many of the demonstrators wore clothing with derogatory slogans about Islam. Others wore clothing with the words “Ethnic Cleansing Unit” on them echoing the brutal campaign by Serbs against Muslims in Bosnia in the early 1990’s.

Media reports put the cause of the protest and ensuing riots, down to an alleged assault by Lebanese Muslims on two surf live savers the week before. Talkback Radio host Alan Jones on his breakfast show is credited with whipping up the hatred by reading out a heap of anonymous emails from his listeners such as: " it's not just a few Middle Eastern [expletive]at the weekend, it's thousands. Cronulla is a very long beach and it's been taken over by this scum. It’s not a few causing trouble. It’s all of them."

It would be easy to dismiss these riots and attacks as the antics of a few, drink fuelled yobs. In fact, Muslims in Australia have been victims of an orchestrated campaign of vilification by the media and inflammatory statements from politicians. As Roland Jabbour, chairman of the Australian Arabic Council commented, "Arab Australians have had to cope with vilification, racism, abuse and fear of a racial backlash for a number of years, but these riots will take that fear to a new level."

It is perhaps no coincidence that in the days leading up to these riots, the Australian Senate passed the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act. This Act is very similar to the Anti-Terrorism Bill currently passing through the British Parliament in that both are disproportionately targeting their respective Muslim communities.

John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, denied that government warnings of home-grown Islamic militants had fuelled the riots, by saying "It is impossible to know how individuals react, but everything this government's said about home-grown terrorism has been totally justified.” Yet, clearly in the minds of many Australians these statements and the passing of Anti-Terror Legislation has helped create the environment in which resentment has been directed against Muslims. Dr Kevin Dunn, a Sydney Academic conducted a survey about attitudes towards Muslims after 9/11. 54% of those surveyed said they would be concerned if their relative married a Muslim, and 45% per cent said some cultural groups did not belong in Australia. Although Prime Minister Howard said "I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country", 83% of those surveyed said there was a problem with racism in Australia.

The explosive climate in which these riots took place was exacerbated by the process in which the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed. On 14th October, Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory took the controversial step of publishing the confidential draft of the Federal Anti-Terrorism Bill 2005 to expose the dangers of some of the proposals. Citing concerns about rights, he later refused to sign off on a revised version of the legislation. Many organisations and rights groups expressed similar concern with the Bill. However on 2nd November Prime Minister Howard in an attempt to rush the Bill through parliament said: “The government has received specific intelligence and police information this week which gives cause for serious concern about a potential terrorist threat,” He then said it was necessary for the parliament to pass an amendment to the existing Anti-Terrorism laws within 36 hours. The Bill was subsequently passed by the Senate and became legislation in Australia. Four days later came the Sydney riots with Police warnings of more to come.

These statements by the Australian Prime Minister can equally apply to other politicians in the West. Western politicians have been exposed time after time for their irresponsible language to justify their draconian policies. British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s description of Islam as an “evil ideology” and French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s comment that the rioters were ‘scum’ are ample examples of this.

The use of populist sentiments and the introduction of unjust laws must mean that politicians take some responsibility for the attacks that have occurred in Sydney and elsewhere. Surely, the repeated targeting and blaming of specific communities such as Muslims for the actions of a few will inevitably produce a backlash as these riots have showed. With racism and discrimination endemic at both a local and institutional level, to what extent can western society now be expected to treat its minorities in a fair and unprejudiced manner.
Reply

Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.

When you create an account, you can participate in the discussions and share your thoughts. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and make new friends.
Sign Up

Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-25-2012, 11:51 AM
  2. Replies: 17
    Last Post: 11-21-2011, 12:49 PM
  3. Replies: 6
    Last Post: 07-24-2006, 01:41 PM
  4. Replies: 8
    Last Post: 02-06-2006, 01:33 PM
  5. Replies: 10
    Last Post: 01-29-2006, 03:08 PM
British Wholesales - Certified Wholesale Linen & Towels | Holiday in the Maldives

IslamicBoard

Experience a richer experience on our mobile app!