I watched the news tonight and was sickened by the way the media portrayed the peace meeting between the Bra Boys & Commancheros. The leader of the commancheros made a particularly thinly disguised reference to having seen 'more armed lebos than when I was in Beirut. and they are all gunnin for these guys'. This is basically threatening the life of the Bra Boys leaders, perhaps this would explain their actions?

Just an aside. As a mortarman (and infantryman) I was amused by the reaction of muslims in Lakemba to minor stimulus (rumour). They congregated at the bottom of a hill, in and around a large petrol station, in order to protect their mosque.

Great situational awareness boys. IF I were involved (and trust me plenty of ex-army people are, or will be), I would open 10-20 44gal drums of deisel and petrol at the top of the hill. Gravity would then provide an effective means of delivery, at which point a match would be applied to the residue of the fuel at the top of the hill. The fuel in the hollow (at the bottom = at the mosque & petrol station) would ignite, and the petrol tanks at the fuel station would probably explode.

VERY EFFECTIVE, PROBLEM SOLVED (at least 1/2 of Lakemba would vanish).

Now my little gangstas, please do not underestimate that proportion of Australians that you have not yet run into. They do exist, and they make you look like boy scouts.

PS The information provided in this post is not intended to be used by any person, and I accept no liability (civil or criminal) arising from any unauthorised use of it. The information is provided simply to demonstrate the danger posed to our society by the current problem, and the hypothetical situation described is not advocated by the author.

Kay, once again well said. The balance was just not there.

Quite frankly much of the article looks like a carefully worded attempt to shift the focus away from the reported lebanese gangs onto the other groups of thugs. What is not stated can often change the readers perception.

The phrasing of comment about the smashing of car windows elsewhere in sydney reads as though it was the big crowd doing that - contrary to any report I've seen on the issue which have all suggested that it was the carloads of young guys of "middle eastern appearance" doing that particular act. Does not quite say it but!!

The incident where the lifeguards were bashed is identified as what sparked the riot, probably true but from what I have read the behaviour of these gangs around sydney over recent years was the fuel and a failure to mention that is again in my view misleading.

Irfan criticises other muslim spokespersons for their failure to address some of the issues which are hurting muslim communities and yet appears to be determined to repeat the mistakes himself.

His response to this issue during the lead up to the riot and in this article has saddened me greatly. I guessing that Irfan is hoping to reduce tension by seeking to mask the ethnic issues which do seem to be a relevant factor in this gang violence. That approach seems to just make the underlying suspicion and resentment worse. Far better to get it out on the table and work towards defusing the problem than to try and sweep part of the problem under the carpet.

R0bert

Irfan Yusuf is in denial like most of the Muslim population.Cronulla was the culmination of years of Govt police and judicial impotence.Cronulla happened because the Skips had finally had enough.

What started out as a peaceful demonstration was hijacked by white supremisists groups and alcoholic stupidity.

No mention has been made of the continued random destruction of private property or knife attacks by Muslim youth on innocent people going about their daily lives.

A talk fest of political correctness and feel good intentions will not solve the problems.

Shame on you Irfan.You offer us no real solutions since you won't face the reality and thus your leaders will not confront the problem.
Is the truth too horrible to confront or bear?

Your failure to confront the problem just creates more resentment and Muslim youth will only be spurred on to more violence by your equivocations.

I think the solution of racially motivated violence lies in confrontative style of education. One that allows people to express their exact concerns related to race, not one which tries to dress it up in the guise of culture, country of ancestral origin, ethnic labelling, etc.

Get it all out.

Now that you mention it, Boaz...

>>Have you ever known of Bra boys or even HELLS ANGELS shoot up a Police station with automatic weapons for revenge and to intimidate them ?<<

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/23/1040511005516.html

Why you persist with the relentless stereotyping, when it is crystal clear that we are dealing with mindless thugs, only you can tell. All I can observe is that it fits very badly with your professed religion of tolerance and pacifism.

This particular bit of bother will blow over. It will be a matter of days, if it is allowed to settle in its own time - the attention span of the average thug is relatively short. It will take longer if there are some external forces, such as the self-styled neo-nazi groups, continuing to foment violence at the grass roots level - i.e. directly stirring up the natives.

It will take longer still with the support of people like yourself, continuing to harp on in the background that this is a clash of biblical proportions, that will only end with the extermination of one group or the other. I only hope that someone isn't killed in the meantime, because it is quite possible that even you have a conscience.

Talk about Australia showing its underbelly. What is with you guys?

Too much testosterone, I agree. And insecurity. That too.

Too little understanding of history and, yes, we do seem set to repeat its mistakes as a result.

And as well, too little real understanding of others' lives and cultures.

And I suspect, too many hours spent in front of violent video screens. Life for some is a game of goodies and baddies with no comprehension that there is equal measure of good and bad in all of us.

It's time the ugly face of Australian racism was exposed for what it really is - a destructive cancer eating away at all that is good in our society.

Like it or not, Australia is not homogeneous and never has been. Multiculturalism, for all its challenges, is here to stay. We are surely big enough to live alongside difference without feeling threatened.

If people from different cultures weren't excluded and marginalised to the fringes, and instead felt truly welcomed and accepted for who they are, they would naturally assimilate and feel less of a need to congregate in gangs.

Wakeup Australia. The problem lies with you, not with the 'other'.