Posted on 12/14/2005 3:00:48 PM PST by Flavius
By MIKE CORDER Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
SYDNEY, Australia Authorities seeking to prevent more racial unrest in Sydney were keeping a close watch on places of worship, as Prime Minister John Howard acknowledged Wednesday this week's riots may have harmed Australia's image abroad.
Police were investigating whether an early morning fire at a Protestant church in Sydney was related to the rioting that gripped the city's beachside suburbs Sunday and Monday. Another church in the neighborhood, which has a large Middle Eastern population, had its windows smashed overnight.
"Incidents like this don't play well around the world," Howard said on the sidelines of an East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
But he added the violence should primarily be seen as an issue of law and order.
"What happened was a group of people broke the law," he said. "We have to primarily see these things as breaches of the law and they should be dealt with firmly in that context."
The violence erupted Sunday when more than 5,000 white Australians fought with police and attacked people they believed to be Arab immigrants at Cronulla beach in southern Sydney. The mob was angered over reports that youths of Lebanese descent beat two lifeguards at the beach a week earlier. That attack's motive was unclear.
On Monday night, youths of Middle Eastern appearance retaliated for the Cronulla rioting in several Sydney suburbs, smashing store fronts and attacking parked cars.
Forty people were hurt and 27 were arrested in two days of violence.
Calm returned to Sydney on Tuesday, though Arab immigrants were allegedly assaulted by whites in two other cities.
Police were investigating new mobile text messages similar to those that helped lead to the rioting on Cronulla beach, said New South Wales Police Minister Carl Scully. He said many of the text messages were hoaxes "but some of them, we think, have credibility and we need to be aware that there is a risk of incidents continuing."
He promised "a huge police presence across Sydney on Saturday and Sunday," warning authorities were expecting trouble.
Morris Iemma, the leader of New South Wales state, said "special attention will be paid to places of worship, our churches and our schools."
Racial tensions in Australia have been rising in recent years, largely because of anti-Muslim sentiment fueled by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and the October 2002 bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
They also were heightened by a gang rape case in 2002 in which prosecutors and witnesses said members of a Lebanese gang hurled racial abuse at their rape victims, all of whom were white.
It's the Jihad, stupid.
What is happening is really very sad. I have a friend who is a Lebanese Christian and believe me he has little love for Syrians and the PLO. Our war is not against Arabs or any particular race. But against Islam and terrorism.
Howzabout "Yomes", hence Momes and Womes ?
More like Aussie govt. seeks to keep Oz citizenry from fighting back and hurting any jihadists..
Muslims are a protected group that must be allowed to kidnap,gang rape,assault and or murder Aussie citizens at will without consequences from 'vigilantes' or other white people.
imo
But we know THEY were not the ones rioting.
"...as Prime Minister John Howard acknowledged Wednesday this week's riots may have harmed Australia's image abroad."
To hell with "global consensus" and "image abroad", Australia's prime minister is first and foremost accountable to Australian citizens! Australia FIRST!
As it stands, liberals everywhere, from Oz to Europe to North America, feel that Muslim immigrants must be granted exceptional status, with the ability to rape and kill unchallenged.
Prime Minister Howard should not be worried about Australia's image abroad, just as America could give a hoot less about what others think of us. Do the right thing and get rid of these Muslims - eventually they only bring trouble.
"Prime Minister Howard should not be worried about Australia's image abroad, just as America could give a hoot less about what others think of us. Do the right thing and get rid of these Muslims - eventually they only bring trouble."
*Well said, Max. I think "eventually" is already here.
Unfit senator John Kerry is the American - well, sorta, more of a UN devotee and Francophile - who worries about "global consensus." That's is because America's consensus is squarely against him. Kerry has spent years earning his persona non grata status.
You got that right.
"Incidents like this don't play well around the world," Howard said on the sidelines of an East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
First mistake: worring about what people around the world think of your Muslim cancer.
But he added the violence should primarily be seen as an issue of law and order.
Second mistake: the Bill Clinton approach to the World Trade Center bombing, treating a terrorists as a criminal matter.
The folks who are doing the gang raping, harassment of "impurely clad" women and so forth, don't want to be treated as valuable members of society, they want to remake it to their liking, and every one else can go to hell.
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