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2005 Cronulla riots

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On December 11, 2005, a series of violent race riots occurred in several suburbs of the Australian city of Sydney. The violence was first reported in Cronulla and later spread to other suburbs of Sydney. The race riots flared again on the night of December 12.

Events

December 11 Daytime

File:Wogfreezone.jpeg
Rioter sporting racist slogan.

Prior to the outbreak of violence, a crowd of at least 5,000 people reportedly gathered at Cronulla beach. 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. 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".

Many rioters wore clothing with slogans such as "Wog Free Zone", "Aussie Pride", "Ethnic Cleansing Unit", and "I Love Pork". Chants of "Lebs out", "Lebs go home" and other expressions of racial vilification were continuously shouted by many of the rioters, including young families with children. 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.

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.

December 11 Evening

By evening, unrest had spread to the Maroubra beach and the suburb of Rockdale, where cars and windows were vandalised. Several instances of property damage at the Rockdale railway station were reported. It appears that this violence occurred in reaction to the violence against people of Middle Eastern apperance 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.

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".

The Sydney Morning Herald reported unspecified unrest in Kyeemagh.

December 12: Further Retaliation

Various news sources reported a large gathering outside Sydney's Lakemba Mosque on Monday night, which had started to disperse at 9:30pm . Residents claimed they were there to defend the Mosque against attacks from southern gangs.

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 of mobs, with several vehicles vandalised. Middle easterns went on a "rampage" while nearby residents prepeared for "battle". Several middle eastern-groups have assualted residents with one incident where a young woman was sexually assaulted and told "We are going to rape you, you Aussie sluts.". One email in response claimed "This is only the beginning, this is a start of the war! Leb's n wog's won't stand for this and will start singling out the aussies and gang bashing them with drawn weapons. We must continue to come together to help the innocent and family's so everyone can enjoy our beach's!"

Timeline

A timeline of important events of leading up to and following the race riots is as follows:

  • On Sunday 4 December 2005, a group of male youths playing soccer on Cronulla beach, and described as being of Middle Eastern appearance were asked by the North Cronulla surf lifesavers to stop playing soccer, as it was disturbing other users of the beach. The response from the youths was: "Get off our beach. This is our beach. We own it." Shortly thereafter either two or three surf lifesavers were assaulted.
  • During the following week, tensions simmered, with a text message being 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.
  • On 7 December there were ongoing stories in the media about people who had been harassed and assaulted at Cronulla beach.
  • On Thursday 8 December, the New South Wales premier urged people to not take the law into their own hands.
  • On Sunday 11 December there were race riots. Sydney Morning Herald photo gallery from Cronulla.
  • On Monday 12 December, there were reports of new text messages leading to concern over fresh violence at Cronulla.

Police response

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 overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who turned up to the beach on 11 December. The local policemen and women 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 reinforcements from the Miranda police station. Police moved to protect several individuals targeted by the crowds, and used capsicum spray to subdue several individuals. Elouera Road was temporarily closed to traffic.

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. 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.

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

Causes

The motive for these riots is as yet unclear. The immediate catalyst appears to be racial hatred between "Aussies" (Anglo-Celtic-Australians) and "Lebs" (generic Australian slang for Lebanese-Australians). A trigger for the riots was an SMS text message calling for all "Aussies" to "retake" their beach from "Lebs and Wogs". The SMS message, and its content, was widely disseminated through talkback radio and other media.

The text message was in response to the assault of two surf lifesavers on Cronulla beach on 4 December, allegedly by a gang of Lebanese youths. Various anarchist, skinhead, White Nationalist and racist organisations were present at the riots, handing out leaflets advocating their causes and 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.

Politicians and local government officials speculated that racial hatred had been building for some time, and that the riot was retalition 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. The initial riot broke out in the vicinity of a memorial to those six victims of Bali terrorist bombings.

Press reports shortly before the riots appear to suggest sexual harrassment and intimidation of female beach-goers by gangs of Lebanese Muslim youths were a recurring problem at Cronulla in recent years, leading some to argue this was an underlying cause of the riots. It has been said that the Lebanese were responsible for assaults, rapes, vandalism and other atrocities in the area for nearly a decade.

Violence relating to access to beaches is not a new phenomenon, with violent clashes between outsiders and locals happening decades ago.

Reactions

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 "thugish", criminal and drug-fueled behaviour. Ken Moroney, Police Commisioner 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."

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.

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.

References

See also

External links

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