Life's a riot
I've been in Sydney five years now. That's five years with a riot just about every year. The first, a bit of a warm-up, was school leavers running amok in Bondi, smashing up a few cars. The next was the Redfern riots, Aborigines versus the Police after the death of an Aboriginal teenager. Then there was Macquarie Fields, poor whites versus the Police. Now its Cronulla, the very peculiar and insular Shire where I went to school years ago. This time it's about lower middle-class whites versus anyone of "Middle Eastern appearance".
I still haven't quite worked out whether Muslims are the feared "other" in Cronulla, whether it is Lebs in general or whether any old wog will do.
Most Lebanese in Australia are Maronite Christians and they, like their young Muslim countrymen, do seem to travel in gangs. I once saw a group of Christian Lebanese at an inner-west soccer match. At the end of the game they ostentatiously took off their shirts to display their tattoos. It was quite a site. Some kids had their entire backs covered in bloody and beautiful images of the crucified Jesus.
I'd never seen gang patches quite like them. You were left in no doubt that to screw with these kids would not be healthy.
Like most western cities Sydney is now wildly multi-ethnic. That is a strength and not a weakness. It is a joy on many different levels. I simply couldn't imagine living a full, rich life in a city that didn't offer that kind of diversity.
In my opinion, it is the Police that have covered themselves in glory this week. While some cry out for harsher measures, a few more broken heads, the Police instead have saved people and worked to calm rather than inflame a difficult situation. Investigations and prosecutions will come, but all in good time.
Just a decade ago the New South Wales Police was one of the most corrupt forces around and, after that, one of the most demotivated. They are now an inspiration to Police forces everywhere. That deserves to be recognised.
This isn't over yet and lives may still be lost. There are young hotheads on both sides and they want to score before the final whistle goes. But in the end these riots are just another blip, worthy of note not because they are the norm, but because they are the exception. It's life in the city. Love it or leave it.
I love it, but I'm leaving it anyway. I was made (happily) redundant last week and will return to New Zealand next week, Girlie in tow as usual. I'm not sure what I'll do when I get back and don't even want to think about it for a while, but right now lying on a beach and staying with my old Mum and Dad seems pretty spot-on.
I'll worry about the rest in January - or maybe February.
I still haven't quite worked out whether Muslims are the feared "other" in Cronulla, whether it is Lebs in general or whether any old wog will do.
Most Lebanese in Australia are Maronite Christians and they, like their young Muslim countrymen, do seem to travel in gangs. I once saw a group of Christian Lebanese at an inner-west soccer match. At the end of the game they ostentatiously took off their shirts to display their tattoos. It was quite a site. Some kids had their entire backs covered in bloody and beautiful images of the crucified Jesus.
I'd never seen gang patches quite like them. You were left in no doubt that to screw with these kids would not be healthy.
Like most western cities Sydney is now wildly multi-ethnic. That is a strength and not a weakness. It is a joy on many different levels. I simply couldn't imagine living a full, rich life in a city that didn't offer that kind of diversity.
In my opinion, it is the Police that have covered themselves in glory this week. While some cry out for harsher measures, a few more broken heads, the Police instead have saved people and worked to calm rather than inflame a difficult situation. Investigations and prosecutions will come, but all in good time.
Just a decade ago the New South Wales Police was one of the most corrupt forces around and, after that, one of the most demotivated. They are now an inspiration to Police forces everywhere. That deserves to be recognised.
This isn't over yet and lives may still be lost. There are young hotheads on both sides and they want to score before the final whistle goes. But in the end these riots are just another blip, worthy of note not because they are the norm, but because they are the exception. It's life in the city. Love it or leave it.
I love it, but I'm leaving it anyway. I was made (happily) redundant last week and will return to New Zealand next week, Girlie in tow as usual. I'm not sure what I'll do when I get back and don't even want to think about it for a while, but right now lying on a beach and staying with my old Mum and Dad seems pretty spot-on.
I'll worry about the rest in January - or maybe February.
posted by Rob O'Neill at 4:40 PM
10 Comments:
I saw some of the rioting on the news last night... If these fat, bleached, boofheads are so averse to 'Middle-Easterns', then I reckon they should piss off to Iraq to see what they can do for the 'great white cause' over there... With any luck the fuckwits will set off every land-mine in the place...
I couldn't help notice this photo...
http://network.news.com.au/image/0,10114,5085625,00.jpg
I wondered if the guy in the camo cap is swinging a kebab (which would be somewhat ironic)
And note the obvious endorsement of Carlton Draught - the rioters beer of choice.
It sure looks like a kebab, doesn't it?
Nah, it is not a kebab. There is fluid coming out of the top. I think it may be a bottle wrapped in a paper bag.
I'd like to think it's a kebab. You get some pretty fluid ones sometimes...
somebody has done a collage of these pics with the Grand Theft Auto logo over it, Grand Theft Auto: Cronulla Beach.
will post if I can find it.
Muslem attacks on white Australians in cronulla. Thoughts? (2884 views)Whites fighting back in Australia (2364 views)Revolution In Cronulla (1531 views)Tookie is Gone! (1097 views)Pic thread! (1067 views)A random fact about yourself. (978 views)A Formal Apology To Muaddib and Muaddib's Supporters (936 views)Hundreds of Lebs riot on Sydney streets. (734 views)betrayal on the beach (697 views)Duke Webradio & Stormfront Town Hall May 9th (677 views)
Oops, do we have a white supremacist in our midst? How quaint!
Careful, cheezy! While ad hominem is always easier than considering another's opinion, it does nothing but stiffle discussion and makes its employer look more closed-minded than its victim.
It is just possible that the Islamic madness that is exerting itself everywhere else in the world could be swinging its elbows in Aussie.
Does that thought make me a white supremacist too?
man it's all wack... what the hell are they talking bout "get out of my country, go back to where you came from"... well i got something to say Mr KKK, as history has taught me well... i DISTINCTLY recall whites comming to Australia as English convicts then later settled as migrants. So what's why are you so different from an arab who came to Australia in the 70's or 00's... most of us were born here, by us I ment Arabs... sorry let me rephrase that thanks to the media "ethnic gangstaz of a Middle Eastern appearance".
So is there after all a real grand theft auto game entitled macquarie fields. If anyone knows if this game is for real please post message here. Thanks so much! Pssst
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home