civil unrest in australia...what gives?

cheapie

sorry. i just had to say "what gives?" to piss off a couple members here.



but seriously. that's kind of freaky isn't it?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178522,00.html

Carrera

Here is what led to the incident. Please contrast with what has been happening in Holland, Denmark, France and England:
"Australia's reputation for racial harmony lay shattered Tuesday after a second night of violence in Sydney that saw youths of Middle Eastern origin fire shots, smash up shops and beat up bystanders in rich beachside suburbs."
This is identical to what took place in Holland. It offers another confirmation of my view that mass immigration from the Middle East has been problematic from the beginning.
The Bangkok Post then goes on to explain Australians have also reacted violently to what took place.
Obviously I don't condone any of this violence which seems pretty drastic but, sure, there are problems:
"Witnesses said around 70 cars travelled together to the beaches to avenge the singling out of people of Middle Eastern appearance in Sunday's alcohol-fueled melee. They were said to be armed with baseball bats and iron bars.
There were also reports of pistols being flashed and shots being heard. There were reports that police had confiscated 30 Molotov cocktails and milk crates full of stones that white youths had stockpiled in readiness for battle.
Police said it was very difficult to stop hit-and-run raids by youths in cars.
Keysar Trad, president of the Islamic Association of Australia, said he had addressed the gathering at Lakemba but had clearly failed to prevent violence."

Carrera

Seems from what I read so far that there is right and wrong on both sides. Apparently there was some kind of attack on lifeguards carried out by some Middle Eastern immigrants and then many Aussie thugs on the Far Right started attacking anyone of Middle Eastern appearance, so to speak.
But, sure, attacking innocent folks purely on the basis of race isn't a good thing and could hurt Australia's image.

jhuskey

That's not civil unrest,in Australia it's just a good Saturday night party.

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darkboong

Odd, the news reports didn't state it that way here. The reports I read state that people of "Arab or Mediterranean" appearance attacked the lifeguards. That is a million miles away from saying "Middle Eastern Immigrants".

Any excuse to pin the blame on the race you hate... Fucking racist.

Srodders

The news stated they were Lebanese. I believe Lebanon IS in the Middle East and if they are living in a country that is not of their birth that DOES make them immigrants.

Carrera

Maybe you should ask Lim how come he concluded that everywhere Jewish people go, they antagonise people. Now who's antagonising whom in Australia?
Australia is now seeing some of the biggest ethnic riots for many many years. Everything I heard about the riots suggests extremist moslems were at the centre of the violence. No Jewish people involved there.
Couple that with France, Denmark and Belgium. Again, extremist moslems in the thick of things but no Jews.
Don't get me wrong here. I'm not trying to wind you guys up deliberately or be overly impolite. But the fact you guys (Colorado Rider included) keep getting on your high horses and preaching about how bad Jewish people are supposed to be, demands some sort of response.
I'm not Jewish myself but all of this seems to me to be double standards.
And I'll bet my bottom dollar if the right wing gangs now in Aussie land beating up Middle Eastern men were Jewish there would be no end of complaints about it.
Yes, Carrera's in a bad mood tonight.

darkboong

Fuck off with your distractions, grow some balls. I'm talking to you Crappy, if I wanted to ask Lim that I would have asked him.

You still have to explain to us why you misquoted your sources in order to pin the blame on Middle Eastern Immigrants. You still haven't explained why you did that with the Paris riots either and that precedes Lim's (blatantly wrong) comment by a country mile..



That is only true if you ignore the agro that has been going on between the Police and the Aborigines.



I notice that you didn't bother to register your outrage when the initial violence against the Muslim communities occurred. In fact you only bothered to comment when the backlash happened, and your contribution was to claim Middle Eastern immigrants started it... The identity of those particular and origin of those lifeguard attackers has not yet been determined, and YET AGAIN you pin the blame on Middle Eastern Immigrants...

You have made these same claims for a total of 5 incidents now, and you have been wrong every damn time and you have not apologised or acknowledged that you were wrong once. There is a clear pattern here, you hate Arabs and you are trying to pin the blame for every outrage on them.

Billsworld

I spent all my bikkies debating the French thing. Your on your own Carrera

Jupiler

From what I read about it, there are indeed real problems down there with youth gangs of (second generation) Lebanese-Aussies these last years. This incident with the life-guards was just the last straw after a whole series of incidents: threats, intimidations, sexually harassing women... Aussies are very attached to their beachlife apparently and lifeguard are a symbol of that... I'm not condoning it but I know where it's coming from...

Also anti-Arab/Muslim sentiments have been very high since 9/11 and the Bali bombing (like in many other western countries), also in the media and politics, which didn't help either.

Anyhow I don't think the Aussies are any more racist than us Europeans so I'm not going to point fingers. This could happen here too...

How did the Jews get into this discussion again?

Wurm

I can't wait until people start carping about how 'murkins are getting their asses kicked via mob rule here in the U.S. and abroad. When it comes, I'll say, "Oh well! Tough shit for you." It will be 100% the fault of the Bush/GOP foreign AND economic policies.

I only hope the ones that get seriously hurt are the fuckwits that voted Repig the last few elections - it would be entirely appropriate.

The annoying part is: the perps that were voted in will be safely behind layers of security.

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FredC

I think you are a lot nearer the mark than Crappy and his Arab Moslem Racism.At the time of the troubles in Lebanon, the Christian Maronite poulation was over 50%. Many of these emmigrated to Australia among other places. Therefore these second generation Australians are more likely to be of Christian descent, and not Moslems.

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Carrera

I don't dislike moslems as you say. Probably if we took in less of them but paid more attention to integration, there would be less friction all around.
The problem is, political correctness has reduced governments to impotency with a failure to acclimatise people who arrive with totally different views to western ideology.
This is something Paul Mcartney seemed to hint at not too long ago.
The problem is, the floodgates haven't been opened to educated moslems but countless extremists have poured in. It's these people who have burned butchers shops and synagogues, not the other immigrants who come to work as doctors e.t.c. (My own doctor is a moslem).
Surely you can see the point that any immigrant has to gain some sort of understanding of secular values and tolerance for other groups who may think differently? This is why I personally believe immigrants should have obligatory classes to teach tolerance and that there is such a legitimate thing as criticism.
It's hardly fair to call me a racist on those grounds.

Carrera

Seems ironic that all the countries who have demonised Israeli Security forces (who have faced this kind of thing for decades) are now experiencing the same problem of youths in masks throwing stones. Here is a news report and update. Seems like France all over again:
"Witnesses told an Associated Press photographer that some youths involved in the attacks were Middle Eastern or Arabic in appearance and others wore ski masks. Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that police said men of Middle Eastern appearance were involved.
The unrest recalled three weeks of rioting in France that began in the suburbs of Paris on Oct. 27 and spread nationwide, baring frustration in communities with high immigrant and Muslim populations.
Violence spilled into a second night Monday as scores of youths drove through predominantly white suburbs of Sydney, smashing windows of cars, homes and stores and raising fears of spreading racial unrest.
Young men of Arab descent struck back in several Sydney suburbs Sunday, fighting with police for hours and smashing dozens of cars with sticks and bats, police said. They said 31 people were injured, including a white man who was allegedly stabbed in the back, and 16 arrested.
Carloads of youths also tore through the suburbs Monday night, attacking vehicles and throwing bottles through windows. While only one person was reported injured and six arrested, there appeared to be more damage to cars and stores than on Sunday.
Television images of Sunday's riot shocked Australians, who pride themselves on tolerance and credit an influx of immigrants with helping build up the country after World War II.
Tensions between youths of Arabic and Middle Eastern descent and white Australians have been rising in recent years, fueled by the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States and deadly bombings on Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians."