Sydney continues to experience racial tensions:
"Sydney erupted in a second night of racial violence last night as Middle Eastern mobs fired shots into the air, attacked women and smashed shops around Cronulla, while up to 600 young men - armed with guns and crowbars - prepared for a battle."
al-Jazeera wonders why:
"...Tensions between youths of Arabic and Middle Eastern descent and white Australians have been rising in recent years, largely because of anti-Muslim sentiment fuelled by the attacks in the United States in September 2001 and subsequent bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali."
A combination of machismo, racism - on all sides - and an Australian community that has never fully come to terms with immigration from the Arab world, especially in a post 9/11 environment, all contribute to this unhealthy situation. Prime Minister John Howard might argue that the riots do not reflect deep-seated racism but he knows full well that a great many non-Middle Eastern Australians feel distinctly uncomfortable with the Arab world and its myriad of problems. The Howard government itself stands partly to blame for whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment during the asylum seeker debate.
The issue, however, is far more complicated than that and requires a great deal of self-reflection within the Muslim community and the wider community. Australia's multiculturalism is not yet a completed picture.
"Sydney erupted in a second night of racial violence last night as Middle Eastern mobs fired shots into the air, attacked women and smashed shops around Cronulla, while up to 600 young men - armed with guns and crowbars - prepared for a battle."
al-Jazeera wonders why:
"...Tensions between youths of Arabic and Middle Eastern descent and white Australians have been rising in recent years, largely because of anti-Muslim sentiment fuelled by the attacks in the United States in September 2001 and subsequent bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali."
A combination of machismo, racism - on all sides - and an Australian community that has never fully come to terms with immigration from the Arab world, especially in a post 9/11 environment, all contribute to this unhealthy situation. Prime Minister John Howard might argue that the riots do not reflect deep-seated racism but he knows full well that a great many non-Middle Eastern Australians feel distinctly uncomfortable with the Arab world and its myriad of problems. The Howard government itself stands partly to blame for whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment during the asylum seeker debate.
The issue, however, is far more complicated than that and requires a great deal of self-reflection within the Muslim community and the wider community. Australia's multiculturalism is not yet a completed picture.
12 Comments:
To be fair, whatever the image we intend to project, the picture is never really completed. The truth is that every generation for itself has to develop and define its identity. We build on the progress (or decline) of previous generations, but we nevertheless have to confront reality for ourselves, define for the here and now who where are, what we want, and so on. In modern times the expectation, at least in western, liberal societies, has a pluralist dimension. Viz, people from different backgrounds getting along with one another. But that has never been a static conception. It's always being challenged. Many have never accepted pluralism, in any form.
There's a central problem with characterising the hooligans on the basis of ethnicity. Take a simple example. You don't see Western civilisation being wholly condemned because of the actions of a few yobbos. Yet why must all 'Middle Easterners' or Muslims (or whatever else 'the other' may be described as) take the blame for the actions of a few? Should we expect people from a poor background, who often speak limited English, to be able to reign in their kids when the outward support is limited at best, and non existent at worst? Even in a 'functional' family parents struggle to influence the decisions their kids make. For many Arab and Muslim kids there is a strong sense of alienation. My mother, who is a high school teacher, often mentions that the Muslim kids feel ashamed to be Muslim. I think part of the reason for this is an indignant brand of Islam fueled by insecurity and orthodoxy. Islam doesn't have all the answers. Some things, I'd argue the most important problems, require secular responses. But I still think the main problem is socioeconomic. There is an absence of real engagement by the mainstream with minority members of the community. Similar comments could be made in relation to Aboriginal Australians, and perhaps more strongly.
Quite divorced from the above, you can look at some familiar threads. For eg, why is it always young males? Why does alcohol almost always play a key role? Yet where is the debate of the cult of alcohol abuse in Australian society. And why are women, particularly a woman's sexuality, often pivotal to specific infractions? Yet where is the debate on the popular image and expectation of a woman's role in society?
Let's ignore all these other points and just focus on a simple message. There's some hooligans throwing things around. Let's be tough on crime. There's a clear message here. We can't expect the powerful to address the issues. It's time we stopped passively consuming and started actively engaging in issues.
Thanks. Neolefty chick is hysterical. As usual. Any chance to bash those Aaarabs, with whom she has so much experience, she'll take it.
She's about as interesting and relevant and racist as Alan Jones.
Neo Lefty,
_They_ declared the intifada??? I'm sorry, I must have missed the 5000 strong gathering of young men from Arabic cultures (yup! There's more than one!!) going on an "Anglo Bashing Day".
Oh, that's right. It never happened, it was the Corkies that did that. Whoops.
And thanks for sharing your personal experiences - we all know the weight that anecdotal evidence always carries - I mean, your experiences are clearly totally representative. As someone who lives in the Western suburbs, I have never experienced anything like the portrait you paint - and nor has my girlfriend - and furthermore, why is it acceptable to tar an entire, disparate group of people with the one massive brush based on the reactions of a (tiny) proportion? And why am I even arguing with you? Shouldn't you be over at Stormfront.org?
Yikes. Well, I guess I know where you'll be next Sunday. I can only hope the capsicum spray opens your eyes a little bit.
what makes a few people from a minority group think they can impose their cultural crap on the majority? if these guys want muslim dominance, they can go live in saudi & see how many minutes of their grub behaviour it takes for them to be locked up somewhere very uncomfortable
The use of the word "hysterical" to describe a woman's reaction to being threatened and intimidated by a roving gang is beyond insensitive. It's also sexist. Hysteria refers directly to a woman (hystera=uterus) and implies that the reason she freaked was because of her sex. The other posts here diminishing this woman's experiences and rejecting her testimony out of hand as if they didn't really happen to her and that the people she said were to blame were really not to blame is shameful. Why do people, mostly men I suppose, betray this kind of attitude when a woman says that she has been sexually assaulted in some manner? Is this the "you must have been asking for it" mentality dressed up in slightly different clothing?
I'll use hysterical to describe men and women, and will continue to do so.
If a woman has been sexually assualted, it's horrific and should be condemned.
However, if you'd actually be reading many of the comments by 'neolefty', you'd realise that she in fact supports the assaults against Muslims, hates Arabs etc.
One doesn't make the other OK, but perspective is important, surely.
What, not racist and negative enough for you?
Well, David, you've certainly convinced me. Straw-man & ad-hominem fallacies win the day every time. Yep.
Sorry you're so frustrated that you can't win your points on fact.
Poor you. There, there. There, there.
Here, have a tissue.
Are certain people capable of arguing a point without talking about 'lefties', 'leftoids' etc?
No, didn't think so.
Jelly-backed suckers? Hey, leave the French out of this!
Antony, when are you going to put in that sockpuppet filter? Multiple Personality Disorder CAN have an upside, but only if ONE of them can get it right.
Anthony Lowenstein said:
If a woman has been sexually assualted, it's horrific and should be condemned.
How extraordinarily insensitive you are to traditional Middle-East Values, Andrew! What a terrible thing to say! You've condemning an entire culture, as worthy as our own, based on purely western values and ethos.
Not every Muslim would disagree with your statement. The evidence is though that a not inconsiderable minority would.
Here in Australia, there's supposed to be a certain minimum standard, respect for a minimal set of human rights. A large minority of immigrant Muslim women in all countries suffer oppression within their own homes: you don't have to go far to read stories from the UK, France, Denmark, anywhere where there's a large number of unassimilated fundamentalist Muslims to find examples of "honour killings". By Pakistanis, by Afghans, by Arabs, but always by Fundamentalist Muslims from traditionally patriarchal societies.
Who is to blame? Partly us, the women of Australia. For not speaking out before. For not complaining when spat upon, called whores or threatened with rape for the way we dress, for not publicising the problem so people like Andrew L don't have a clue as to the scope of the problem. It's a "tiny minority" to them. Well do the sums, figure out how many "young men of middle eastern appearance" went around bashing cars, and in at least one case, the women who drove them, with baseball bats. Figure out how many are likely to be from extended families, where such behaviour is accepted, even encouraged, by the family Patriach.
Anthony L, just ask any woman of your acquaintance who has had to ride trains in certain areas of Sydney, whether it's a "tiny minority". Ask them if such things have ever happened to them.
Then tell them that they're being hysterical. Or do they actually have to be raped before you'll condemn what happened to them, and cease tolerating it?
Andrew L, I'm not saying you're bad, evil, or even the traditional MCP. I'm saying you are so incredibly ignorant of the true situation you are clueless, and so smug in your own ignorance that you're saying some very hurtful things.
And it's not all your fault. We should have spoken up before. That's the lesson of the 5000 in Cronulla: not the hundred or so Nazis, or the thousand or so drunken alcohol- and testosterone-poisoned hoons. But the thousands of local residents who just had enough of police inaction, and let themselves do some pretty dumb things out of pure frustration.
And nect time before accusing a victim of "hysteria", check the facts first, OK?
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