Schiptar
Geek
Sydney's racial tension spreads
December 11, 2005 - 11:03PM
Race-fuelled violence spilled into other Sydney beaches tonight.
A police media spokesman confirmed there had been problems at Maroubra beach, following the near-riot at Cronulla beach earlier today.
"There have been a number of incidents of property damage in the past hour-and-a-half that included broken windows and damage to motor vehicles," he said.
Reports on radio station 2GB indicated up to 50 vehicles with passengers armed with "baseball bats" had been causing trouble in Maroubra, in Sydney's east.
Police have set up a command post in the area, 2GB reported.
Sky News reported that a group of people in cars and with baseball bats, bits of wood and stakes, had "slammed every single car" in some streets.
"The windows were smashed out", one report said.
One eyewitness reported every car in a section of Maroubra Road had had their windows and windscreens smashed, and glass was littering the road.
In Wride Street, a group of 50 local people chased after the offenders on foot before disappearing into units in the area.
An eyewitness said one man, believed to be of Maori or Polynesian descent, was "bleeding profusely" and taken in by locals.
There were also reports of crowd trouble at beachside suburbs of Kyeemagh and Brighton Le Sands, in Sydney's south.
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Mob violence envelops Cronulla
December 11, 2005 - 7:57PM
Police have been pushed, pelted with beer bottles and had their patrol cars stomped on as violence worsens at Sydney's Cronulla Beach.
Racial tension turned to violence today as at least 5000 angry people converged on the beach after simmering anger and disputes between beach users flared last week.
An ambulance spokesman said crews had treated at least five people after pockets of violence broke out among the crowd.
At least two of those would require hospital treatment, he said.
No details about their injuries were available. The two most seriously injured were at the Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club, he said.
He could not comment on a report that a girl of Middle Eastern appearance had been pushed over and was kicked repeatedly as she lay on the ground.
Reporters at the scene said groups of young men had been seen hurling beer bottles at police cars.
Crowds also swarmed around police vehicles, stomping on them and preventing them from moving through the troubled community's foreshore area.
Roads have been closed down in the area and some traffic lights are out.
Police are also standing guard at the kiosk adjoining the surf club, where roller doors have been pulled down as the violence continues.
Seven people have been arrested and four people have been charged, a NSW police spokesman said.
A 28-year-old Cronulla man has been charged with affray and a 17-year-old Cronulla youth has been charged with assault police. The pair will face Sutherland Local Court at a date to be fixed. Two people - a 16-year-old Sutherland boy, and 33-year-old Kareela man - have been charged with offensive conduct. The 33-year-old will also face Sutherland Local Court at a later date. It was not known how the youth's charge will be handled. Another three people have been arrested and are being questioned at Miranda police station. No charges have been laid.
Witnesses at the beach reported seeing police use capsicum spray to subdue at least one man.
A reporter at Cronulla station, where violence has also flared, said police were involved in a physical struggle with a group trying to board a train.
They used capsicum spray to subdue the group.
It was not clear if any of the arrests related to earlier witness reports of at least three men being pursued and attacked as they tried to get away from angry members of the crowd chasing them on foot.
At least two of the men took refuge at Northies Pub, where police gathered to protect them, Macquarie Radio reported.
Broken beer bottles scattered Elouera Road, which runs along the foreshore, with many in the crowd drinking heavily. Police have had to close the road to traffic at times.
Mounted police and other units are maintaining a heavy presence at the beach today after two rival groups used text messages to urge attacks on each other.
Some of the text messages encouraged people to carry out vigilante style attacks, and some message had racial undertones.
One of the messages had urged "Aussies" to take revenge against "Lebs and wogs". Another urged locals to rally at points on the beach today to take retaliation against "Middle-Eastern" gangs.
As the crowd moved along the beach and foreshore area today, one man on the back of a ute began to shout "No more Lebs" - a chant picked up by the group around him.
Others in the crowd, carrying Australian flags and dressed in Australian shirts, yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie ... Oi, Oi, Oi".
North Cronulla Beach, in Sydney's south, was the scene of two violent incidents last week - an attack on two lifesavers on Sunday and a brawl later in the week in which youths turned on a media crew.
Two ambulance officers were injured when an angry mob attacked their vehicle.
The ambulance was transporting six injured youths under police escort when the crowd descended upon the vehicle and began hurling beer bottles.
Windows on the ambulance were shattered and its panelling dented from kicking.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said one officer was hit in the head with a bottle as it passed through a broken window.
A second ambulance officer received lacerations to the arm. A police officer in the vehicle was not hurt.
The six patients were taken to an area away from the crowd where they were assessed by doctors.
One patient was taken to St George Hospital with unspecified but minor injuries.
The other five were released.
Dozens of people have been treated for minor cuts and bruises, and some have been decontaminated for capsicum spray, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Sydney's Islamic community has blamed the violence on what it calls racist and irresponsible sections of the media.
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 issues 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.
"One wonders how much further this can go before those people on talkback radio become more responsible," he said.
He said the racist chants show people are not acting rationally, but are "filled with hatred".
A disgusted NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney called the behaviour "un-Australian".
"Clearly there has been a level of racial vilification ... and those who are found to behave this way will be prosecuted," he said.
NSW Opposition leader Peter Debnam has called for a much tougher police response to the violence, describing it as "a real disgrace".
"Sydney is a violent city, with violence and intimidation occurring in many suburbs on a regular basis.
"But the biggest problem is Premier Morris Iemma, Police Minister Carl Scully and the Police Commissioner Ken Moroney have been in denial about the problem."
Mr Debnam said police numbers must be restored as part of any effort to head off further violence.
Mr Iemma, however, said police had the resources to deal with the problems.
He repeated calls for calm in the troubled community, which has been the scene of two violent incidents in the past week.
"We will do everything in our power to protect the right of all law abiding Australians and our life saving volunteers to use the beach in safety."
"The police have resources available to do their job and they will continue to do so for as long as necessary."
Mr Iemma said lawlessness would not be tolerated and there would be no compromises in upholding the law.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on an ambulance at North Cronulla today," he said.
"There is never any excuse to attack any emergency vehicle."
Police Minister Carl Scully commended the professionalism shown by officers under the command of Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin.
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Take back our beach
December 10, 2005
THE bashing of two lifesavers at Cronulla last Sunday has rightly elicited general outrage. The story got progressively worse during the week. The alleged bashers turn out to be of Middle Eastern background, and not from the Sutherland Shire. Moreover the alleged events fit a pattern of misbehaviour by crowds of similar youths - less serious, but nonetheless objectionable. Talkback radio and website blogs have been running hot with the comments of angry or alarmed residents of the area, and with calls for vigilante action. Police patrols have been stepped up and helicopters are hovering over the sand and the surf, watching for signs of trouble. It is time everyone calmed down.
Testosterone-fuelled misbehaviour at beaches - not just Cronulla - is common. That does not excuse it, but it should be placed in context. The beach is where Australians relax, but it is also where cultures mix at leisure. Or they should. In practice it does not quite work like that. The beach culture tends to dominate as those who live nearby gradually acquire a proprietary attitude towards the beach itself. "This is our beach," said one inflammatory text message circulating this week. Our beach? Who are "we" here?
The Sutherland Shire, despite the presence for a time of a migrant hostel in South Cronulla, was for many years a particularly homogeneous Anglo-Celtic enclave. To some extent it still is. Because it is the only Sydney beach on a train line, it gets many visitors on weekends who do not belong to the local culture. Clashes of varying intensity have been happening regularly for many years. In the 1960s, Cronulla was one venue for regular fights between gangs of locals - surfies - and the out-group of the day, rockers. On occasion they were organised events. Rockers rejected the surf culture, rode motorbikes, listened to different music and could therefore be demonised by local youths, who could be heard telling each other in shocked tones how rockers carried flick-knives. The out-group were not just different, they were inferior - cowardly people who roved in packs, used weapons and would not fight man-to-man.
Similar things are said about Middle Eastern youths today. Quite apart from the events of last week, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that indeed some do rove in packs and on the beach their behaviour can be ill-mannered in the extreme. The fact that they may feel excluded by the beach culture, and that their exaggerated aggression springs from a feeling of inferiority, is no excuse. Nor, however, is it a reason to demonise a whole ethnic group. Soon enough the hoons will learn acceptance is gained by behaving as if they are accepted, not by mindless self-assertion. The beach belongs to everyone - in-groups and out-groups alike.
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http://www.smh.com.au/
December 11, 2005 - 11:03PM
Race-fuelled violence spilled into other Sydney beaches tonight.
A police media spokesman confirmed there had been problems at Maroubra beach, following the near-riot at Cronulla beach earlier today.
"There have been a number of incidents of property damage in the past hour-and-a-half that included broken windows and damage to motor vehicles," he said.
Reports on radio station 2GB indicated up to 50 vehicles with passengers armed with "baseball bats" had been causing trouble in Maroubra, in Sydney's east.
Police have set up a command post in the area, 2GB reported.
Sky News reported that a group of people in cars and with baseball bats, bits of wood and stakes, had "slammed every single car" in some streets.
"The windows were smashed out", one report said.
One eyewitness reported every car in a section of Maroubra Road had had their windows and windscreens smashed, and glass was littering the road.
In Wride Street, a group of 50 local people chased after the offenders on foot before disappearing into units in the area.
An eyewitness said one man, believed to be of Maori or Polynesian descent, was "bleeding profusely" and taken in by locals.
There were also reports of crowd trouble at beachside suburbs of Kyeemagh and Brighton Le Sands, in Sydney's south.
---
Mob violence envelops Cronulla
December 11, 2005 - 7:57PM
Police have been pushed, pelted with beer bottles and had their patrol cars stomped on as violence worsens at Sydney's Cronulla Beach.
Racial tension turned to violence today as at least 5000 angry people converged on the beach after simmering anger and disputes between beach users flared last week.
An ambulance spokesman said crews had treated at least five people after pockets of violence broke out among the crowd.
At least two of those would require hospital treatment, he said.
No details about their injuries were available. The two most seriously injured were at the Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club, he said.
He could not comment on a report that a girl of Middle Eastern appearance had been pushed over and was kicked repeatedly as she lay on the ground.
Reporters at the scene said groups of young men had been seen hurling beer bottles at police cars.
Crowds also swarmed around police vehicles, stomping on them and preventing them from moving through the troubled community's foreshore area.
Roads have been closed down in the area and some traffic lights are out.
Police are also standing guard at the kiosk adjoining the surf club, where roller doors have been pulled down as the violence continues.
Seven people have been arrested and four people have been charged, a NSW police spokesman said.
A 28-year-old Cronulla man has been charged with affray and a 17-year-old Cronulla youth has been charged with assault police. The pair will face Sutherland Local Court at a date to be fixed. Two people - a 16-year-old Sutherland boy, and 33-year-old Kareela man - have been charged with offensive conduct. The 33-year-old will also face Sutherland Local Court at a later date. It was not known how the youth's charge will be handled. Another three people have been arrested and are being questioned at Miranda police station. No charges have been laid.
Witnesses at the beach reported seeing police use capsicum spray to subdue at least one man.
A reporter at Cronulla station, where violence has also flared, said police were involved in a physical struggle with a group trying to board a train.
They used capsicum spray to subdue the group.
It was not clear if any of the arrests related to earlier witness reports of at least three men being pursued and attacked as they tried to get away from angry members of the crowd chasing them on foot.
At least two of the men took refuge at Northies Pub, where police gathered to protect them, Macquarie Radio reported.
Broken beer bottles scattered Elouera Road, which runs along the foreshore, with many in the crowd drinking heavily. Police have had to close the road to traffic at times.
Mounted police and other units are maintaining a heavy presence at the beach today after two rival groups used text messages to urge attacks on each other.
Some of the text messages encouraged people to carry out vigilante style attacks, and some message had racial undertones.
One of the messages had urged "Aussies" to take revenge against "Lebs and wogs". Another urged locals to rally at points on the beach today to take retaliation against "Middle-Eastern" gangs.
As the crowd moved along the beach and foreshore area today, one man on the back of a ute began to shout "No more Lebs" - a chant picked up by the group around him.
Others in the crowd, carrying Australian flags and dressed in Australian shirts, yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie ... Oi, Oi, Oi".
North Cronulla Beach, in Sydney's south, was the scene of two violent incidents last week - an attack on two lifesavers on Sunday and a brawl later in the week in which youths turned on a media crew.
Two ambulance officers were injured when an angry mob attacked their vehicle.
The ambulance was transporting six injured youths under police escort when the crowd descended upon the vehicle and began hurling beer bottles.
Windows on the ambulance were shattered and its panelling dented from kicking.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said one officer was hit in the head with a bottle as it passed through a broken window.
A second ambulance officer received lacerations to the arm. A police officer in the vehicle was not hurt.
The six patients were taken to an area away from the crowd where they were assessed by doctors.
One patient was taken to St George Hospital with unspecified but minor injuries.
The other five were released.
Dozens of people have been treated for minor cuts and bruises, and some have been decontaminated for capsicum spray, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Sydney's Islamic community has blamed the violence on what it calls racist and irresponsible sections of the media.
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 issues 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.
"One wonders how much further this can go before those people on talkback radio become more responsible," he said.
He said the racist chants show people are not acting rationally, but are "filled with hatred".
A disgusted NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney called the behaviour "un-Australian".
"Clearly there has been a level of racial vilification ... and those who are found to behave this way will be prosecuted," he said.
NSW Opposition leader Peter Debnam has called for a much tougher police response to the violence, describing it as "a real disgrace".
"Sydney is a violent city, with violence and intimidation occurring in many suburbs on a regular basis.
"But the biggest problem is Premier Morris Iemma, Police Minister Carl Scully and the Police Commissioner Ken Moroney have been in denial about the problem."
Mr Debnam said police numbers must be restored as part of any effort to head off further violence.
Mr Iemma, however, said police had the resources to deal with the problems.
He repeated calls for calm in the troubled community, which has been the scene of two violent incidents in the past week.
"We will do everything in our power to protect the right of all law abiding Australians and our life saving volunteers to use the beach in safety."
"The police have resources available to do their job and they will continue to do so for as long as necessary."
Mr Iemma said lawlessness would not be tolerated and there would be no compromises in upholding the law.
"I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on an ambulance at North Cronulla today," he said.
"There is never any excuse to attack any emergency vehicle."
Police Minister Carl Scully commended the professionalism shown by officers under the command of Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin.
---
Take back our beach
December 10, 2005
THE bashing of two lifesavers at Cronulla last Sunday has rightly elicited general outrage. The story got progressively worse during the week. The alleged bashers turn out to be of Middle Eastern background, and not from the Sutherland Shire. Moreover the alleged events fit a pattern of misbehaviour by crowds of similar youths - less serious, but nonetheless objectionable. Talkback radio and website blogs have been running hot with the comments of angry or alarmed residents of the area, and with calls for vigilante action. Police patrols have been stepped up and helicopters are hovering over the sand and the surf, watching for signs of trouble. It is time everyone calmed down.
Testosterone-fuelled misbehaviour at beaches - not just Cronulla - is common. That does not excuse it, but it should be placed in context. The beach is where Australians relax, but it is also where cultures mix at leisure. Or they should. In practice it does not quite work like that. The beach culture tends to dominate as those who live nearby gradually acquire a proprietary attitude towards the beach itself. "This is our beach," said one inflammatory text message circulating this week. Our beach? Who are "we" here?
The Sutherland Shire, despite the presence for a time of a migrant hostel in South Cronulla, was for many years a particularly homogeneous Anglo-Celtic enclave. To some extent it still is. Because it is the only Sydney beach on a train line, it gets many visitors on weekends who do not belong to the local culture. Clashes of varying intensity have been happening regularly for many years. In the 1960s, Cronulla was one venue for regular fights between gangs of locals - surfies - and the out-group of the day, rockers. On occasion they were organised events. Rockers rejected the surf culture, rode motorbikes, listened to different music and could therefore be demonised by local youths, who could be heard telling each other in shocked tones how rockers carried flick-knives. The out-group were not just different, they were inferior - cowardly people who roved in packs, used weapons and would not fight man-to-man.
Similar things are said about Middle Eastern youths today. Quite apart from the events of last week, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that indeed some do rove in packs and on the beach their behaviour can be ill-mannered in the extreme. The fact that they may feel excluded by the beach culture, and that their exaggerated aggression springs from a feeling of inferiority, is no excuse. Nor, however, is it a reason to demonise a whole ethnic group. Soon enough the hoons will learn acceptance is gained by behaving as if they are accepted, not by mindless self-assertion. The beach belongs to everyone - in-groups and out-groups alike.
---
http://www.smh.com.au/
