Pantai Cronulla terletak di Selatan Sydney, tidak terlalu jauh dari bandara Kingsford Smith, merupakan pantai yang satu-satunya bisa dicapai dengan KA. Mayotitas komunitas daerah tersebut homogen orang-orang Anglo-Celtic.
Minggu lalu terjadi pemukulan terhadap dua orang penjaga pantai dari gerombolan orang-orang yang fisiknya seperti dari Timur Tengah. Penjaga pantai adalah para sukarelawan yang bertugas mengawasi orang-orang yang berenang dilaut agar tidak tenggelam. Konon sudah dua tahun ini pantai Cronulla dikuasai oleh gerombolan Timur Tengah yang terutama suka mengganggu kaum wanita. Beberapa hari yang lalu sudah beredar SMS yang berisikan anjuran bagi para 'f...king Aussies to take revenge against "Lebs and wogs".' Sejak kemarin mulai banyak orang bule yang mengenakan singlet biru bendera Australia di pantai dan hari ini berkumpul sekitar 5000 orang yang sebagian mengalungkan bendera Australia dan mulai minum-minum untuk mencari gara-gara. Meskipun ada seruan dari pemimpin Muslim Lebanon agar mereka menghindari pergi ke Pantai Cronulla, tampaknya ada beberapa orang yang berfisik mirip dan pergi ke sana hari Minggu ini. Seperti bisa diduga terjadi kejadian yang tidak diinginkan, walaupun Polisi sudah siap dengan menambah jumlah petugas dan patroli tambahan dengan helikopter. Tampaknya yang jadi korban adalah orang yang berfisik Timur Tengah yang tidak tahu menahu dan bukannya gerombolan Timur tengah yang orang-orangnya bertatto. Tampaknya kerusuhan juga dipicu oleh adanya 'talk back radio' yang semakin memanaskan suasana. ----------------------- Violence erupts at Cronulla 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 has 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. NSW Police said three people have been arrested and three others assaulted in renewed violence. A NSW Police spokeswoman said two men, aged 32 and 20, had been charged with offensive behaviour. A third man had been arrested and was expected to be charged with assault, she said. The spokeswoman confirmed a total of three people had been assaulted. 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 point 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 lifeguards on Sunday and a brawl later in the week in which youths turned on a media crew. 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 talk back 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 talk back 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 talk back radio become more responsible," he said. He said the racist chants show people are not acting rationally, but are "filled with hatred". Authorities have been calling for calm since those attacks, which are believed to have sparked the text calls for attacks between the two groups. Premier Morris Iemma and Police Minister Carl Scully have warned people against taking the law into their own hands. "Let there be no mistake - if anyone comes to this beach on the weekend with the intention of causing trouble, the police will respond with the full force of the law to maintain order," Mr Iemma said yesterday. "It's time for everyone involved in this to just calm down." http://smh.com.au/news/national/violence-erupts-at-cronulla\ /2005/12/11/1134235936223.html ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
