User:CltFn/2005 Sydney Race Riots

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On December 11, 2005, a series of violent incidents of civil unrest flared up, sparked by the vicious attack of 3 Australian lifeguards by a gang of allegedly Lebanese Middle-Eastern youths on Cronulla Beach. .[1] ,],[2],[3]The outrage caused by the incident enraged the local Australian youths who began indiscriminently assaulting people of Arab and Middle-Eastern appearance in several suburbs of Sydney, Australia . The violence was first reported in Cronulla and later spread to other suburbs throughout the Sydney Metropolitan Area. The race riots flared again on the night of December 12.

1 Background
- 1.1 Decade leading up to December 2005
2 Initial Incident
3 Tensions simmer
4 Outbreak of riots
- 4.1 Police response
5 Reactions and retaliation
- 5.1 Reactions
- 5.2 Continued violence
6 References
7 Video
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Background

[edit] Decade leading up to December 2005

Violence relating to access of beaches is not a new phenomenon, with violent clashes between outsiders and locals happening decades ago.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 December 2002 there was a vicious brawl between the "Bra Boys" (a surfer gang originating from the suburb of Maroubra) and a group of police officers at the Coogee-Randwick RSL club. Many police were injured. ^[4]

In January 2004, Tim Priest, a Sydney detective until 2002, who worked on two National Crime Authority taskforces on organised crime, warned in The Australian newspaper of the increasing problems and violence associated with "Middle Eastern crime groups". Priest went on to say, controversially, that much of their violence was racially motivated:

"That these groups of males can roam a city and assault, rob and intimidate at will can no longer be denied or excused. Even more alarming is that the violence is directed mainly against young Australian men or women … victims … because they are Australian."

Priest drew a comparison with the no-go zones of inner-suburban Paris, pre-dating the 2005 civil unrest in France. [5]

[edit] Initial Incident

Cronulla surf life savers club building

On Sunday 4 December 2005, an unruly gang of twenty some lebanese Muslim youths were playing soccer on Cronulla beach , kicking the ball over the sun-bathers, kicking sand on the beach goers and hurling insults at the sunbathers. They were asked by three North Cronulla surf lifesavers to uphold the beach rules, as it was disturbing other users of the beach. Witnesses reported that the response from the youths was: "Get off our beach. This is our beach. We own it.". Later as the three lifesavers were leaving the beach after their shift was over, they were cornered by four of the Lebanese Muslim men and one of them smashed the 19 year old lifeguard unconscious while the others atacked the 15 and 20 year old lifeguards. About 16 or so other Lebanese youths joined in the attack and left the 2 lifesavers with a damaged jaw and facial bruises. The lifesavers were rescued by the police and taken to the hospital.[6] ,],[7],[8].[9]

Youths of Lebanese descent were alleged to be the culprits according to witnesses, but police say there was no apparent racial motive behind that assault. ^[10] Reports of sexual harrassment and intimidation of female beach-goers by gangs of Lebanese Muslim youths subsequently emerged. [11]

[edit] Tensions simmer

During the following week, from Monday 5 December to 10 December 2005, tensions simmered:

An SMS text message was circulated urging retaliation. The text message encouraged "Aussies" to take revenge against "Lebs and Wogs", and said "Bring your mates and let's show them that this is our beach and they are never welcome". It encouraged meeting on Sunday 11 December. [12] The SMS message, and its content, was widely disseminated through talkback radio and other media.
On 7 December there were ongoing stories in the media about people who had been harassed and assaulted at Cronulla beach. [13]
On Thursday 8 December, the Premier of New South Wales (NSW), Morris Iemma, urged people to not take the law into their own hands. [14]
Throughout the week, popular Sydney radio personality Alan Jones urged a "community show of force" on the beach. [15]

[edit] Outbreak of riots

On Sunday 11 December 2005, prior to the outbreak of violence, a crowd of at least 5,000 people reportedly gathered at Cronulla beach^[16]. Elements in the local community had called for the gathering in response to the assault upon two surf lifesavers the previous weekend, which had been attributed to a Lebanese gang.^[17] According to ABC News, the initially festive atmosphere rapidly became violent:

"Earlier in the day the atmosphere had been party-like despite the large crowd, which some estimates say numbers 5,000 people. That changed when a man of Middle Eastern appearance was chased into a hotel bistro. Within a minute the hotel was surrounded by several thousand people screaming and chanting. About a half an hour later a fight broke out across the road and police led away a man with a shirt over his head as the crowd lobbed beer cans at him". ^[18]

"No Lebs" handwritten on t-shirt

Many rioters wore clothing with slogans such as "Wog Free Zone", "Aussie Pride", "Ethnic Cleansing Unit", and "I Love Pork" (a reference to Muslim dietary laws). Chants of "Lebs out", "Lebs go home" and other expressions of racial vilification were continuously shouted by many of the rioters, including families with young children. Various skinhead, White Nationalist and racist organisations were present at the riots, handing out leaflets advocating their causes; they were said to have incited the violence. Some present were handing out flyers for the "Patriotic Youth League", a group linked to overseas white supremacist organisations.

Through the course of the day, several individuals of Middle Eastern appearance were assaulted, and assaults on police and ambulance workers were also reported. Groups of young men threw beer bottles at police and attacked police vehicles. ^[19]^[20] Several dozen people were treated for minor cuts and bruises, while six individuals were evacuated under police escort to be assessed by doctors. One was further evacuated to St. George Hospital, in serious but stable condition. ^[21]^[22]

By evening, unrest had spread to the Maroubra beach and the suburb of Rockdale, where cars and windows were vandalised. ^[23] Several instances of property damage at the Rockdale railway station were reported. It appears that this was a reaction to the violence against people of Middle Eastern appearance in Cronulla, and was perpetrated by people of Middle-Eastern origin against what were perceived as white areas.

By 1AM on December 12, violence had also spread to Brighton Le Sands, where police wearing riot gear sectioned off Bay Street in a confrontation with a crowd. ^[24]

In Woolooware, a twenty-three year-old man was stabbed outside a golf club. Local police told ABC News that they are searching for a group of men who are "Middle Eastern in appearance". ^[25]

Sydney City's MX Newspaper reported the violence then spread later that night to Ashfield in Sydney City's Inner West, as well as suburbs in Greater Western Sydney, with outbreaks in Bankstown and Punchbowl. The Sydney Morning Herald also reported unspecified unrest in Kyeemagh. ^[26]

[edit] Police response

Police observing protestors

While police at Cronulla had commented that they were prepared to deal with any violence at Cronulla beach at the time the SMS message suggested, local police were in fact overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who turned up to the beach on 11 December. The local police officers were being assaulted along with Lebanese and Middle Eastern people. Many police used riot equipment and capsicum spray to subdue their attackers. Eventually they had to call for reinforcements from the Miranda police station. Police moved to protect several individuals targeted by the crowds, using capsicum spray to subdue several people. Elouera Road was temporarily closed to traffic.^[27]

On the evening of the 11th, the Sydney Morning Herald quoted an New South Wales Police spokesman as saying that seven people had been arrested, with charges filed against four individuals.^[28] By the morning of the 12th, "news.com.au" reported twelve arrests total. Charges included assaulting police, throwing a missile, offensive behaviour, hindering police, and resisting arrest.^[29]

[edit] Reactions and retaliation

[edit] Reactions

On Monday 12 December 2005, political, community, and religious leaders condemned the violence. Some politicians and other leaders have alluded to underlying racism within Australian society, whilst others have condemned the violence as "thuggish", criminal and drug-fuelled behaviour. Ken Moroney, Police Commissioner of NSW, told the Sydney Morning Herald that he was ashamed at the "mob mentality" of the rally. He further elaborated:

"The other equally offensive conduct today, the absolutely total un-Australian conduct today, was an attack on an ambulance. That has brought a higher level of shame to those involved in that level of attack and they deserve to be condemned in the highest possible terms."^[30]

Keysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, stated that the violence was "bound to happen" because of racist rhetoric on Sydney talk radio throughout the week.^[31]

Prime Minister John Howard condemned the riots, describing the violence as "sickening", adding however that he does not believe racism to be widespread in Australia. Opposition leader Kim Beazley also condemned the violence.

Politicians and local government officials speculated that racial hatred had been building for some time, and that the riot was retaliation against perceived slights to the local community. Bruce Baird, Member of Parliament for the Division of Cook, linked the riots to the September 11 terrorist attacks, and to the 2002 Bali bombings in which six locals had been killed.[32]

On 12 December a police strike force was established to track down those responsible for the riots using video and photo evidence.

[edit] Continued violence

On Monday 12 December, there were initially reports of new text messages circulating, leading to concern over fresh violence at Cronulla. [33]

Various news sources later reported around a thousand people gathering outside Sydney's Lakemba Mosque on Monday night. Residents claimed they were there to defend the Mosque against attacks from Southern gangs. The crowd had started to disperse at 9:30pm [34][35], but the Seven Network has reported that many of those then packed dozens of cars, traveling in convoys towards Sydney's southern district, while sporadically assulting people and vandalising cars and property in Bexley and various other suburbs on their way.

Reports from Sydney Police Radio and news.com.au reported further violence on the night of 12 December, with residents of Cronulla claiming fifty cars of men of Middle-Eastern appearance had driven into the area. The local shopping centre appeared to be a target for mobs, with several vehicles vandalised. The middle eastern men went on a "rampage" while nearby residents prepared for "battle". Several middle eastern-groups have assaulted residents with one incident where a young woman was sexually assaulted [36]

After the large 11 December riot, youths from the Middle Eastern and Lebanese families and communities that had been attacked during December the 11th and 12th began to organise a series of retaliatory attacks. Public and police hopes that the violence would subside were dashed when, the first in a series of apparent retaliatory strikes, a 23-year-old man was stabbed in the back outside a golf club at the nearby Sydney suburb of Woolooware. Two cars carrying a group of males, described by police as being of "Middle Eastern" or Arabic appearance, approached the man at about 10.25pm (AEDT) Sunday night. The men were reported to have threatened to kill the man's two female companions he was with at the time. After the man confronted the group of men, they attacked him and stabbed him once in the lower back. The man was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition as he undergoes surgery.

At the same time, up to 50 carloads of youths, mostly from the large Muslim Communities of western Sydney, made their way to the suburb of Maroubra, organized again by SMS text messages circulating throughout the community. Armed with baseball bats, crowbars and bricks they vandalised, attacked and damaged private property (including over 100 cars) throughout streets of Maroubra. Terrified residents took refuge in their homes, while others who tried to confront the gangs were attacked. A 23-year-old man was also injured during the unrest, as he was bashed by baseball-bat wielding youths, who attacked his car [37].

Riot police were also called to the beachside suburb of Brighton-Le-Sands to control groups of brawling youths, believed to be part of Australian and Lebanese street gangs, who had arranged to fight in the suburb earlier. Police trying to break up the brawl ending up having projectiles hurled at them and being verbally abused.

Officers were forced to shut down some roads in Sydney, which were littered with empty bottles as alcohol continued to fuel anger on the streets.

Later, a group of about 60 men, reportedly of "Middle Eastern" appearance and armed with baseball bats, smashed about 40 parked cars at about 9 pm (AEDT) Sunday night. The group then clashed with another local street gang or group, known as the "Bra Boys", outside their local area, the Maroubra Bay Hotel. A 23-year-old Maroubra man was taken to the Prince of Wales Hospital after he was stabbed with a sharp implement during the altercation, believed to be a stick or nail, in the hip. The windscreen of a police vehicle was smashed when police attempted to restore order, and two police vehicles sustained minor panel damage, but no officers were injured. Police established a roadblock to prevent more people from entering the suburb.

In Rockdale police gathered in riot gear following reports of youths armed with crowbars near the train station after 10pm (AEST), of a car driver trying to run down a police officer, and of items being thrown at police cars in Bay Street and (again) in Brighton-Le-Sands. The street was blocked off again, and two police officers were slightly injured as a man attempted to run them over in a car.

Around North Cronulla beach and the surrounding streets, drunk teenagers were reported to be communicating with each other on walkie-talkies about rumoured sightings of Lebanese gangs. The gangs were described by police there as "lost, wandering around, looking for a good fight."

Commanders from the Bankstown and Campsie police patrol units were on alert amid fears of outbreaks of violence. Shortly before midnight police received reports of a convoy of up to 40 carloads of youths heading from Punchbowl Oval to the eastern suburbs.

Even by 12.30am today, December the 13th, there were reports of 20 cars with men of Lebanese descriptions at a BP Petrol Station in Cronulla, throwing rocks at passers by.

The latest developments in the widespread race riots throughout Sydney come from the suburb of Lakemba, during a Second Night of revenge and retaliatory attacks, now carried out by Lebanese and "Middle Eastern" youths and gangs, as well as White, Australian and "Anglo" groups. After a day of relative calm yesterday, tensions rose again last night at approximately 6:00pm (AEST) as hundreds of Muslim men, some part of Lebanese gangs that had taken part in violence earlier, gathered outside Lakemba Mosque, in Sydney's south, and reportedly planned to go to Maroubra, where up to 300 locals, from another local Australian gang were said to be waiting for an arranged fight. Some of the men at Lakemba said they had gathered to protect the mosque, as some residents threatened to attack it, and a heavy police presence kept the Maroubra group in check.

Police earlier confiscated iron bars from men gathered at Maroubra and blocked roads around the mosque. About 20 police cars surrounded the mosque, where a media crew was involved in an altercation with some in the crowd at about 7pm. A man is believed to have suffered a broken leg.

There were also unconfirmed reports a person having been shot; reporters said they heard gunshots near the Northie's Hotel, and that various youths had been seen carrying and threatening local residents with shotguns, automatic firearms and small submachine guns.

At Brighton-Le-Sands, mobs of men believed to be part of a Lebanese street gang ripped out garbage bins, throwing them through windows of shops and at cars. One resident who had the windows of his private clinic smashed described the scene as "madness", as he hid behind a desk watching the violence go on.

Sydney Police have been stretched to their limit in terms of resources and available manpower as they have called on every Crowd Control Unit, Dog Squad, Police Tactical Response Group and Police Patrol from the Metropolitan Sydney area to subdue the violence and unrest. Fresh reinforcements are being called on. There is definitely a heavily felt police presence throughout the city now, as reported by local residents, and police have been constantly patrolling more "troublesome" hotspots such as Maroubra and Brighton-Le-Sands.

As of December 13, police expect the unrest to continue for some time, as they struggle to keep the situation under control.