Racial tension has erupted in riots in Sydney, Australia. BBC reports on a second night of riots. Michael Corder of the Washington Post reports: "In one of Australia's worst outbursts of racial violence, thousands of drunken white youths attacked police and people they believed were of Arab descent at a Sydney beach, angered by reports that Lebanese youths had assaulted two lifeguards.Young men of Arab descent retaliated in several Sydney suburbs, fighting with police and smashing 40 cars with sticks and bats, police said. Thirty-one people were injured and 16 were arrested in hours of violence Sunday."
Tim Blair has the play-by-play. Another round-up at Pajamas Media. Michelle Malkin refers us to Quadrant Magazine's transcription of a talk in 2004 by Tim Priest, a former Australian detective. Priest talks about the evolution of Muslim-based crime in the Sydney area, a problem compounded by the poor policing decisions and poor approach to policing.
It appears that frustration has erupted on the part of white men with the day-to-day lawlessness of the Muslim communities. Priest says: "The problems in Paris in Muslim communities are being replicated here in Sydney at an alarming rate. Paris has seen an explosion of rapes committed by Middle Eastern males on French women in the past fifteen years. The rapes are almost identical to those in Sydney. They are not only committed for sexual gratification but also with deep racial undertones along with threats of violence and retribution. What is more alarming is the identical reaction by some sections of the media and criminologists in France of downplaying the significance of race as an issue and even ganging up on those people who try to draw attention to the widening gulf between Middle Eastern youth and the rest of French society."
Priest's article, while lengthy, deserves a careful and thorough read. To what degree are we in America making the same mistakes? It will also be interesting to see how Australia's prime minister, John Howard, negotiates this tightrope -- the BBC says that "Australian Prime Minister John Howard condemned the weekend's attacks by thousands of young white men on people of Arabic and Mediterranean background." Not so clear that he shouldn't be working on law enforcement too.
UPDATE: See Wretchard's entry at The Belmont Club for his perspective.
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