[aap1966]

For the sake of the non-Aussies....
2 sides to every story. The display at Cronulla Beach was disgusting, esp the targeting of individuals for mob attack. However, as someone who grew up in Sydney, this has been coming for the past 20 years. Unfortunately, Lebanese males are grossly over-represented in "petty crime", such as muggings, bashings and intimidation. Even 20 years ago, the Lebanese at the public school I attended attempted to establish a reign of intimidation and thuggery. It seems almost anyone living in Sydney (apart from those in the wealthier suburbs) will have at least a few stories of unpleasant personal encounters with these "gangs". Recently some were gaoled for 55 years for cruising the streets for "Australian" girls and gang-raping them. Local girls using Cronulla Beach will tell stories of sunbaking and suddenly finding themselves encircled by a group of Lebanese males who will stand in silence before making a comment along the lines of "she's not worth 55 years', then walking off. Pre-pubescent girls on the beach have been verbally abused for wearing bikini swimsuits, and so it goes on. The precipitant for the riots was the bashing of two life-savers by a group of lebanese males.

I have often said that Australia would never have a civil war because it would interfere with the weekend. We are usually pretty laid back. What happened last weekend was the end result of usually laid back individuals been pushed too far for too long. The life-savers being bashed was the straw that broke the camels back. Lebanese violence has been ignored for so long under the guise of "political correctness" that this sort of resentment has been allowed to fester. Until very recently, even to suggest that a violence problem was associated with a particular ethnic group was to risk being subject to accusations of racism and hate-mongering form the self appointed intelligentsia. Before anyone accuses me of being a red-neck...my 9 y.o. daughter had to do an assignment on "My Hero"--she chose Martin Luther King. Racism stinks, but racism cuts both ways.