Tuesday, December 13, 2005
FARE ENOUGH
“Race attacks spread,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald:
In Adelaide, a taxidriver of Lebanese origin, Hossein Kazemi, was injured when punched by a passenger during an incident at suburban Gilberton today.
“There was some sort of discrepancy and argument over the fare,” a South Australian Police spokesman said.
Australia witnessed in 2001 what might be similarly described as a race attack, also involving a Lebanese driver and a fare argument:
Bachir Mustafa, a Sydney taxi driver, had his arm broken by Mark Latham in a dispute over a £15 fare. Mr Mustafa, 36, has not driven his cab since and, because of post-operative complications, he has lost some of the use of his right arm.
Hmm. Meanwhile, police are shutting down the current trouble zone:
Police prepared to impose a virtual blockade on Sutherland Shire last night, erecting checkpoints on every main access road to prevent a repeat of the race riots at Cronulla.
And State Parliament will be recalled tomorrow to give police emergency powers to lock down parts of Sydney, ban the sale of alcohol, conduct random searches and confiscate vehicles.
An extra 450 police took to the streets in expectation of a third night of racial tension. Officers restricted in-bound traffic to Cronulla to one lane and checked every car passing a checkpoint on Kingsway, at the corner of Wilbar Avenue, from about 9pm.
None of which will do much good in the absence of effective bail laws:
The state’s flawed bail laws mean every single lout - from both sides - arrested in this week’s riots will be back on the street almost immediately.
Members of the public and Opposition politicians were yesterday angry that police could arrest people involved in the incidents and be forced, under the state’s bail laws, to release the alleged offenders while violence continues.
And where is the entirely state-funded ABC during this crucial national issue?
About 50 ABC radio staff went on strike for 24 hours yesterday as part of a long-running dispute about the culling of six production jobs in current affairs in Sydney.
The strike affected AM, PM and The World Today.
Not on strike is Professor Bunyip—nor the folk at Muscular Liberals, who observe:
Wouldn’t it be easier to ship both sets of thugs off to some faraway island where drunken violence and cop-bashing are acceptable cultural norms? The UK perhaps?
Well, that’s where David Hicks might be headed.
UPDATE. Blogstrop comments: “Funny how the Cronulla incident is said by some to damage Australia’s image, while the participation of an Australian (now also British) citizen in a training group of murdering, illegal scumbags is not.”
UPDATE II. Excellent woggy analysis of events so far.
UPDATE III. Neo-Lefty Chick writes to Antony Loewenstein: “Gangs of Lebanese males have terrorised Sydney-siders, particularly women, for 20 years. I have been a victim of their awful intimidation myself. Fortunately, I can run, unlike so many of the poor ‘skippy sluts’ who were ...”
Raped. Sensitive Antony responds: “Neolefty chick is hysterical. As usual. Any chance to bash those Aaarabs, with whom she has so much experience, she’ll take it.”
UPDATE IV. The Washington Post seeks a reporter in Sydney:
In an overnight email to The Australian’s Perth-based Mark Dodd, the Post’s foreign editor, Keith Richburg says he is seeking a Sydney-based stringer. “The latest beach riots there, following the discovery of the ‘terror cell’ pointed out to me our vast nakedness in that part of the world,” Richburg says. For those interested, the Post is looking for someone who can write news with a “Yank perspective in mind, like explaining what a dingo is, for idiots”, he says.
(Via Gareth Parker, who notes: “The Post’s foreign editor obviously knows his readership.”)
UPDATE V. Paul Watson mentions “the 5000 or so white pride rioters on Sunday.” Nonsense. As Nazi-hunter Darp points out, “of the five thousand people who turned up ... less than fifty of them would be hardcore racist activists.”
UPDATE VI. Opinion from two NSW police officers.