Strewth! "White Australia" rears its head
SYDNEY, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Racial tension erupted into violence on a Sydney beach on Sunday when around 5,000 people, some yelling racist chants, attacked youths of a Middle Eastern background, saying they were defending their stretch of beach.
Thousands of local surfers and beachgoers gathered at Cronulla Beach after two young lifesavers were attacked last Sunday by a group of young men from Sydney's western suburbs.
Drunken youths chased and attacked Australians of Middle East appearance at the beach in Sydney's south, sending some cowering into shops and hotels for safety, as riot police and dog squads tried to stop the violence.
By Sunday night, violence had spread to a second beach, Maroubra, where men armed with baseball bats smashed cars. Police said a man was stabbed in the back in south Sydney in what media reports said appeared to be further racial violence.
As the crowd moved along the beach and foreshore, one man on the back of a truck shouted: "No more Lebs (Lebanese)" -- a chant picked up by the group around him. Others carried Australian flags and dressed in Australian sports shirts.
"This is Australia, if they don't like it they can go home," local resident Allan told reporters as he watched the violence.
Police arrested 12 people for offensive behaviour and assault and blocked roads into Cronulla Beach, which was littered with broken beer bottles.
"The behaviour that has been seen down here at Cronulla today is nothing short of disgusting and disgraceful. It is certainly not the Australian way," said Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin. He said some of those attacked were of Arabic background but had been born in Australia.
Cronulla resident Tertia Harry wept as she watched the violence. "I would expect scenes like this in South Africa but not here," she told reporters. "In 2005, there should not be this disgusting display of racism."
Cronulla Beach was the scene of an attack on two lifeguards last week and a brawl later in the week in which youths turned on a media crew.
Following the attacks on the volunteer lifesavers, a mobile telephone text campaign started, calling on Cronulla locals to rally this Sunday to protect their beach.
In response, a text campaign urged youths from western Sydney to be at Cronulla this Sunday to protect their mates.
All week police and politicians have been calling for calm.
Sydney's Islamic community blamed the violence at Cronulla Beach on "racist and irresponsible" sections of the media which turned a common youth issue into an issue of ethnicity.
"Innocent people have been bashed as a result of this simmering racial hatred," said Kaysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia.
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Romper stomper, eh?
Win Win for "Anglo-Celts"
This outbreak of trouble is a win win for the Australian "Anglo-Celt" ( never heard that term before, but maybe its a term that describes myself).
If it can be shown that ethnic Greek/Italian/Croatian attacked ethnic Lebanese, than Mediterrean-types can be blamed for "provoking" and causing the disturbances. It doesn't have to be true, just that it can be shown that these people can't be trausted.
Diversity in Australia (2001 Census). A few mentions of Sydney itself.
[url]www.une.edu.au/campus/chaplaincy/uniting/links/diversity.pdf [url]
(there's a league table of Nationalities at the end.)
