World, UK and Business news and comment from The Times and The Sunday Times, Times Online — When will this sort of thing break out here?
Elsewhere, about 300 people of Arab descent demonstrated against Sunday’s attack outside one of Sydney’s largest mosques, Lakemba, amid tight police security. Surrounding roads were blocked and iron bars seized as police tried to prevent the protestors from making their way to the fighting on Maroubra beach.
Politicians and community leaders were appealing for calm and struggling to explain how the worst instance of race violence in Australia’s modern history has broken out in a city which considers itself a cultural melting pot.
related links:
The two groups now taunting each other publicly — apparently soccer games are not defusing this
Why I don’t think it’ll happen in the US: I live in a state with the highest percentage of people of Middle Eastern decent in North America. Financially these people do pretty well, as they tend to own and operate restaurants, party stores, gas stations, and numerous other businesses. Put it this way, I’ve never seen a homeless “Arab” in Detroit. Successful people tend not to riot.
My question is why people of Middle Eastern decent do so poorly in the rest of the world?
Oh, more then likely over the Christmas holidays, er the “Holiday” holidays.
Looks the world’s going to have another talk about racial and ethnic differences again.
I for one would love to see the native australians (aka Aborigines) getting all Aussie Pride (aka Nazi) and killing the british invaders (aka the jerks claiming Australia is ‘theirs’).
I think Ima Fish has made a good point, I live in St. Louis Mo. and we have the largest Bosnian comunity in the World, outside of Bosnia it’s self. For the most part they are working, well fed, and many are starting to buy their own resteraunts and import food stores. I can walk through that end of town warmly welcomed. Every race and creed is a potential customer, they seem to be learning that pretty quickly. Personal interest is the ultimate tool against raceism, sadly stupidity still rules the day in much of the world.
It only takes a small spark to start the fire. This all started from a bunch of thugs who were annoying people on the beach by spitting, swearing and threatening people. They happened to be Lebonese and because of that a bunch of “Australians” decided to blame all people of arab appearance. They had an organised riot in which a difference bunch of thugs decided to smash cars, and attack women.
Economic status seems not to be a good indicator of radical Islam. In Britain and other European countries, they’ve found that young, middle-class Muslims are being drawn into the radical wing of Islam.
Certainly in third-world countries where the radicals provide services to the poor while the governments feed their own pockets, it’s easier to recruit, but there’s something else going on that’s very disturbing.
Bush & Company have allowed the radicals to successfully position the U.S. as anti-Islam, and our government’s public diplomacy has been pathetic. It’s critical that our government learn how to play the game as skillfully as our adversaries.
This will never happen in this country with Arabs because, like most other minorities, they are being properly integrated into society. They have jobs, they pay taxes, the contribute to the common good.
My fear is that, after a few more generations of the minority left thinking its OK for a growing Mexican population to not be integrated, this will happen with that population. It is important that hispanics speak English. It is important that they do not tax social services. It is important that they contribute and do not break the law. Unfortunetly we’re a long way from this ideal with their ranks.
Mark Schannon, I see a huge difference between terrorists and rioters. Terrorists work in secret. While rioters are out in the open. Terrorists plan, sometimes for years. Rioters act immediately out of impulse.
I have no doubt that wealthly middle easterners can AND or being recruited into terrorism. However, I cannot see people of middle east decent rioting in a place like Detroit, as they’d be destroying their own businesses in the process!
John it almosts sounds as you want it to happen! its not gonna happen until at least the religois civil war is over
i want to clear my comment up i just ment you should rephrase that better and i meant religious civil wars its bound to happen on the US Fundamnetalists are gonna merge church and state to the chargin of many and there will be fighting and widespread chaos hopefully it wont happen at all or at least not in my lifetime! Blog about Not just futre tech paths but about futre politcal happenings!
John and a lot of other people seem to get a lot of joy from these things. The sky is not falling and most of the worlds OK. If you choose to believe other wise that is your problem not mine.
Boy, I don’t know, Fish. I remember the race riot of ’67 in Detroit (not to mention LA, etc.). A whole lot of black businesses and neighborhoods were ruined. Here in Detroit almost thirty years later we can still see the effects in some areas. The whole rioter thing is just irrational. It may start for some specific reason, right or wrong, but then it explodes into a mindless, chaotic event where reason evaporates. Riots are mass insanity and very frightening when you’re in one looking to get out.
I know I can’t this into a short post. After a half-century in the US civil rights movement, I have to say that I think we’re ahead of the rest of the world in this part of growing into being civilized.
No attempt at an in-depth analysis; but, I feel the sum of the whole process is what has put us ahead of the curve. Take it all the way back to the Abolitionists > the Niagara group and W.E.B.DuBois > Rosa Parks and Dr. King. Institutionalized racism has been on the retreat here for decades.
Many other “liberated” nations in the Dominion, Australia for example, didn’t rid themselves of racist laws on the books until comparatively recent times. To some extent, that’s why you end up with politicians like Howard who believes his own delusions about a nation “free” from racism. Thugs, skinheads, homeboy fascists don’t get to lead riots without willing cannon fodder.
And, of course, just because we’re ahead of the curve doesn’t mean a damn to some poor dude with good grades and the wrong color on the outside — when he gets passed over for a job.
I don’t buy the ‘successful arab is a happy arab’ argument
not in an era of Islamofascism
– see
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/terrorists/fugitives.htm
Nearly everyone on this page was successful somewhere. Many came from good homes, were educated and some where professionals.
It isn’t an issue of happiness or material success –
All the 19 hijackers on 911 fit into society well – or appeared to.
While Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, had a criminal record, a suicide bomber in Iraq had lived in the US enjoying a California lifestyle. The nature of Islamofascism is that it is covert by design.
Sucess is reletive and disjoint from religious dis-satisfaction
More to the point is the context of the violence
An operative phrase
“Politicians and community leaders were appealing for calm”
If these leaders included Arab religious leaders – then this is merely a isolated criminal act of a digruntled few.
If however, violence is accompanied by encitement from clerics – as it has been the past case in the US and UK, then it is a conspiracy requiring a similar turnaround to tolerance of words and deeds of Islamofascism, as was seen in Britian.
99.99% can be good, decent citizens – it just takes 1
– and an encouraging environment.