Coach, I dont like it.
Fanning the flames of religious intolerence does not solve the problem.
This is a social issue for society as a whole.
Marginalised youth is the problem. Government intervention is the answer.
It is the wellbeing of people and society that matters.
Yes, Australian has had many peolples from around the world settle in Australia, me being one of them, and all people moving to a new place need to be supported by the community. The Government invites people to this country, it is their responsibility to support them.

Lets get away from name calling , lets find out what the underlying problems are, as Tanveer Ahmed has offered, and have our elected representatives create opportunities for marginalised peoples of all backgrounds to live peacefully.

The posts were reading so well till I got to the one posted at 11:01:40 AM

Who won't integrate on this thread?

Glad to see so many posters interested in a balanced viewpoint and keen to solve problems rather than seeking leverage off a problem to help their own special interest.

It was a great article, some things to learn out of it. Some of the issues refered to as being factors in development problems for the kids seem to becoming widespread in general society. I've certainly seen some very undisciplined kids around, the only saving grace is that they may not be being raised with quite the same views about how women should dress.

How do we move on from here and help these youth (even the ones who need to spend some time in jail) start to have some respect for our society, some respect for the choices women make in our society? How do we ensure that they have viable career choices and raise kids who don't carry on the tradition? If we don't do so we may be stuck with a difficult problem for a long time.

R0bert

Tanveer. Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!
Yours is an article that doesn't cloud the issue, tells it exactly how it is and makes no apologies.
The people I feel the worst for are those migrants in our community, whether they be lebanese or not, that have embraced the nation and contributed to building what we have today. They are the individuals and families who will truly suffer from the lefts constant denial of the fact that living in Australia entails responsibilities too.
The deliberate and naive assessment of the problem by some commentators from the left has as per usual clouded the issue with semantics and nonsense about 'John 'the racist' Howard.
The bottom line is that law enforcement angencies must be allowed to enforce the law on ALL segments of the community to facilitate the liberties that MOST Australians love.
Recognising the problem and not being too afraid to raise sollutions is the only way to fix it.

Some helpful insights about Muslim (esp Lebanese) youth identity and the family issues behind it. However, I must disagree with Tanveer's mitigation of a culture of hatred and disrespect toward Western womanhood, as much as he acknowledges it as "worrying".

To say that a home-life of respect toward modestly-dressing females produces the very opposite attitude (ie vulgarity and violence) in public when confronted with less-modest women, is hardly "plausible". More likely it's a home-life of unchecked disrespect to females that then blossoms into more blatant expression when there are no familial ties to restrain.

Either way, to explain such behaviour as a triggered response to some "bad woman" flag in the head of a young male is to excuse aggression that is always wrong, whether the woman is "good" or "bad". It's like the recent statements of young sheik about the immodest dress of some women "inviting" assault. Western dress may well be immodest, but that's never a mitigation for aggression.

Tanveer Ahmed is probably right that a “fevered interest in Koranic verses is of little interest to Lebanese youth…”

The cause of the riots and turmoil involving Muslims that we so often see in the world in general and last week in Sydney in particular is not Islam, per se. Before anybody faints, let me explain: I mean that this violence is not actually done in the name of Islam or by youths reciting Quranic verses. (Of course, on other occasions, we see terrorists yelling “Allah Akbar” as they cut off infidel heads…). In that sense this is not a “Muslim” issue.

However, you must understand that in the recent events in Sydney (as those in Paris) Islam is an enabling agent, or catalyst, that makes these events possible and gives them meaning. The teachings of Islam provide the intellectual and moral basis for the hate found in Muslims, which lead to events of intolerance and violence that are characteristic of Islam.

So we have groups of young people – gangs if you will – that do not act in the name of Islam, but have in their Islamic heritage the roots of their rejection of common values and their isolation from the larger society. They may not be experts in Islam, but they know enough about it to absorb Islamic attitudes toward infidels that manifest themselves in their behavior. So yes, there is a strong (but underlying) religious component at work here.

It is also certain that in the future Islam will play a much bigger role in the lives of these youths, and in their violence. This is natural because as people attack and are attacked they seek support of their own kind. In Islam they find respect and comfort, even if it is the respect given to the dangerous and the comfort of shared anger. This is not good, but it is they way it will be.

There is nothing we can do but be honest. Muslims cannot, or better, will not see the truth about their faith. They are in denial. It will get worse!

kactuzkid

The general problem is that the (mainly) Lebanese groups either can't or don't want to integrate with Australian society. Any real solution will have to be cognisant of the root cause of each particular problem.

That means not all solutions will be pain-free, while others will be.

Where a Lebanese is being utterly pig-headed (growing up in the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne, I've met some who are), there's no amount of rationalising that they're going to listen to. And where some Aussies want to put up the cultural fortress to keep the "Lebs" out, there's no amount of trying to break in that will work for a Lebanese person. Ultimately, the only way to deal with this impasse is for the Lebanese to either: integrate, accept that they can't integrate and keep a low profile, or go back to their home country. On the latter point, who knows, if the Lebanese Government decides to get serious about growing its economy, it may put a call out to its expatriates to come back home. As Lebanese are a nationalistic group, there'd be some that would be off like a shot. This would be at least an element in the solution to the race/cultural problems.