Mere baggrund for Australske optøjer

Tim Priest, en pensioneret australsk politimand, holdt en tale med titlen "The Rise of Middle-eastern Crime in Australia" i November 2003. Den er optrykt i bladet Quadrant i dets Januar-Februar 2004-udgave:

The impact that this leadership team had on day-to-day operational policing was disastrous. In many of the key areas that were experiencing rapid rises in Middle Eastern crime, these new leaders became more concerned with relations between the police and ethnic minorities than with emerging violent crime. The power and influence of the local religious and minority leaders cannot be overstated. Police began to use selective law enforcement. They selected targets that were unlikely to use their ethnic background and cultural beliefs to hinder police investigations or arrests. It was mostly Anglo-Saxons and Asians that were the targets, because they were under-represented by religious leaders and the media. They were soft targets.

AN EXAMPLE of the confrontations police nearly always experienced in Muslim-dominated areas when confronting even the most minor of crimes is an incident that occurred in 2001 in Auburn. Two uniformed officers stopped a motor vehicle containing three well known male offenders of Middle Eastern origin, on credible information via the police radio that indicated that the occupants of the vehicle had been involved in a series of break-and-enters. What occurred during the next few hours can only be described as frightening.

When searching the vehicle and finding stolen property from the break-and-enter, the police were physically threatened by the three occupants of the car, including references to tracking down where the officers lived, killing them and “fucking your girlfriends”. The two officers were intimidated to the point of retreating to their police car and calling for urgent assistance. When police back-up arrived, the three occupants called their associates via their mobile phones, which incidentally is the Middle Eastern radio network used to communicate amongst gangs. Within minutes as many as twenty associates arrived as well as another forty or so from the street where they had been stopped. As further police cars arrived, the Middle Eastern males became even more aggressive, throwing punches at police, pushing police over onto the ground, threatening them with violence and damaging police vehicles.

When the duty officer arrived, he immediately ordered all police back into their vehicles and they retreated from the scene. The stolen property was not recovered. No offender was arrested for assaulting police or damaging police vehicles.

But the humiliation did not end there. The group of Middle Eastern males then drove to the police station, where they intimidated the station staff, damaged property and virtually held a suburban police station hostage. The police were powerless. The duty officer ordered police not to confront the offenders but to call for back-up from nearby stations. Eventually the offenders left of their own volition. No action was taken against them.

In the minds of the local population, the police were cowards and the message was, Lebs rule the streets. For a number of days, nothing was done to rectify this total breakdown of law and order. To the senior police in the area, it was more important to give the impression that local ethnic relations were never better. It was also important to Peter Ryan that no bad news stories appeared that may have given the impression that crime in any area was out of control. Had these hoodlums been arrested they would have filed IA complaints immediately via their Legal Aid lawyers and community leaders. To senior police, this was a cause for concern at the next Op Crime Review. ...

By avoiding confrontations with these thugs, the police gave away the streets in many of these areas in south-western Sydney. ...

The most influential of the Middle Eastern crime groups are the Muslim males of Telopea Street, Bankstown, known as the Telopea Street Boys. They and their associates have been involved in numerous murders over the past five years, many of them unprovoked fatal attacks on young Australian men for no other reason than that they are “Skips”, as they call Australians. ....

The Middle Eastern cycle of violence is not local. It can occur on the central coast, around Cronulla, Bondi, Darling Harbour, Five Dock, Redfern, Paddington, anywhere in Sydney. Unlike their Vietnamese counterparts, they roam the city and are not confined to either Cabramatta or Chinatown. And even more alarming is that the violence is directed mainly against young Australian men and women. There is a clear and definite link between violent attacks on our young men and women being racial as well as criminal. Quite often when taking statements from young men attacked by groups of Lebanese males around Darling Harbour, a common theme has been the racially motivated violence against the victims simply because they are Australian.

I wonder whether the inventors of the racial hatred laws introduced during the golden years of multiculturalism ever took into account that we, the silent majority, would be the target of racial violence and hatred. I don’t remember any charges being laid in conjunction with the gang rapes of south-western Sydney in 2001, where race was clearly an issue and race was used to humiliate the victims. But then, unbelievably, a publicly-funded document produced by the Anti-Discrimination Board called “The Race for Headlines” was circulated, and it sought not only to cover up race as a motive for the rapes, but to criticise any accurate media reporting on this matter as racially biased. It worries many operational police that organisations like the Anti-Discrimination Board, the Privacy Council and the Civil Liberties Council have become unaccountable and push agendas that don’t represent the values that this great country was built on. ...

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. ...

Policing is about enforcing the rule of law. It has never been about analysing every offender for the root causes of crime. That is not our job. The police enforce the law and protect the community regardless of race, colour or religion. What we have seen in south-west Sydney is ethnic communities being policed selectively. The implications for this are frightening when you look at Paris. They had selective policing of a particular community, which as a result is now out of control.

Husk på, at talen blev holdt i 2003, længe før de muslimske optøjer i Frankrig og før de muslimske optøjer vi nu ser i Australien.

Henrik

Mere om de australske optøjer

Det er allerede blevet nævnt, hvordan optøjerne blev udløst af en libanesisk bandes overfald på to livreddere. Det har imidlertid dybere rødder (The Daily Telegraph):

There is no doubt that many regular users of Cronulla beach feel, as do many Anglo-Australians (particularly women) who come in regular contact with large numbers of Middle Eastern migrants, that Australia's easy-going casual culture is under attack from young Middle Eastern males.

The reports of women being abused for being immodestly dressed, or travelling alone, or drinking alcohol, are too numerous to be dismissed. ..

THE authorities have for too long ignored such incidents of anti-social behaviour instead of adopting a zero-tolerance position toward those who claim they live by different cultural standards.

Hvis nogen skulle ønske at begynder at pege fingre og sige, avisen prøver at hvidvaske optøjerne, så se på artiklens overskrift: "Thuggish louts shame us all". En anden artikel har mere:

The threats had been made since two volunteer lifesavers were bashed eight days ago -- and yesterday, they were looking to get square. ..

"What the Lebs did last week was low and it's time we showed a bit of pride towards where we live," Luke O'Brien, a volunteer lifesaver said.

Another local, Peter, said the huge show of force yesterday had been "coming for five or six years".

"Our girls can't get from the water to their towels without being threatened by these maggots," he said.

Mindre neutralt beskrevet, men dækker over det samme som beskrevet ovenfor. Efter de optøjer, der her til aften blev beskrevet i nyhederne - de oprindelige på stranden - spredte de sig til flere forstæder, da motoriserede libanesiske bander begyndte at smadre biler og overfalde folk som svar (Sydney Morning Herald):

As the violence spread, police cars raced through Sydney streets from Cronulla to Miranda, Brighton-le-Sands, Rockdale, Maroubra, Woolooware and Tempe. Police said they had received reports of firearms being "flashed" threateningly but not discharged. "So far we have had no one shot," an officer said.

A 23-year-old man was in St George Hospital in a serious condition after a fight in Woolooware about 10.25pm. A radio report said he had a knife embedded in his back. Police said the man was with friends when he had an altercation outside a golf club with a "group of males of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance".

Ifølge A Western Heart var manden sammen med tre kvinder, da en bilfuld Libanesere omringede dem og truede med at voldtage kvinderne. Da han forsøgte at forsvare dem blev han dolket i ryggen - hvor ellers. Mere fra Sydney Morning Herald:

In Brighton-le-Sands a group of people were reported to have taken down the Australian flag at the Brighton RSL Club and burnt it in the street. Youths were seen at a garage filling bottles with petrol in nearby Monterey.

Flagafbrænderne har næppe været Australiere.

Police closed Marine Parade, Maroubra, where people converged in vehicles on the beachfront and began fighting with locals including members of the Bra Boys surf gang. Police said 50 carloads of youths smashed more than 100 vehicles with baseball bats and other weapons. In the same suburb a young girl was punched in the face.

Første tilfælde af "people" der dukker op i biler har altså ikke været "locals". De 50 bilfulde af "unge" er ifølge A Western Heart Libanesere.

In Rockdale police gathered in riot gear following reports of youths armed with crowbars near the train station after 10pm, a car driver trying to run down a police officer, and items being thrown at police cars in Bay Street, Brighton-le-Sands. The street was blocked off.

Around North Cronulla beach and the surrounding streets, drunk teenagers communicated with each other on walkie-talkies about rumoured sightings of Lebanese gangs.

Commanders from the Bankstown and Campsie patrols were on alert amid fears of outbreaks of violence. Shortly before midnight police received reports of a convoy of up to 40 carloads of youths heading from Punchbowl Oval to the eastern suburbs.

By 12.30am today there were reports of 20 cars with men of Middle Eastern appearance at a BP petrol station in Cronulla, throwing rocks.

At least 13 people were injured during the earlier violence in Cronulla - including five police - and 12 people had been arrested last night.

Libanesiske repræsentanter var ikke langsomme til at spille offerkortet, nazi-kortet og "bekæmpelse-af-terror-er-racisme"-kortet (The Australian):

Mr Rahman said he believed new terrorism laws were partly to blame for the violence.

"The new laws are dividing and justifying the actions of people, such as in Cronulla," he said.

"This is early Nazi Germany."

Lad os lige holde in mente, at det er en muslimsk terrorgruppe, der blev afsløret for et par måneder siden. Man vil måske huske, at den blandt andet havde planer for at sprænge et atomkraftværk i luften.

Henrik

Kyoto-traktaten, og hvordan man slår folk i hovedet med den

I løbet af den sidste uge har der været en del fokus på topmødet i Canada om Kyoto-traktaten om begrænsning af udledning af drivhusgasser. Fokus er især kommet, fordi Præsident Bush´s USA som sædvanligt har fået verbale tæv, hvilket jo altid gør sig godt i medierne. Problemet er, at ingen af kritikerne reelt har noget at lade ham høre for.

Lidt baggrund først:

Kyoto-traktaten drejer sig om, at deltagerlandene skal begrænse udledningerne af drivhusgasser i forhold til niveauet for 1990. I tilfældet Danmark skal vi for eksempel gå fra indeks 100 i 1990 til indeks 92 i perioden 2008-12.

Det bliver gerne holdt frem, at 157 lande har skrevet under, og at USA derfor er ondt, når det ikke vil være med. Når man kigger nærmere på det smuldrer det store flertal imidlertid. Til at starte med er det kun industrilandene, der skal skære ned - 37 ialt. For 120 af underskriverne er aftalen gratis.

Af de 37 lande er 13 af dem imidlertid tidligere østlande, der på grund af den økonomiske kollaps dér allerede havde opnået deres nedskæringsmål før traktaten var forhandlet på plads. Så er vi nede på 24. Faktisk 23, hvis vi taget Tyskland med - landet har i forhold til Kyoto lukreret på, at Østtysklands økonomi kollapsede som de andre østlandes kollapsede.

Dertil kommer så, at nogle lande ikke har forpligtet sig til at skære ned, men bare begrænse udeledningerne. Island kunne for eksempel ØGE sine udledninger med 10% i perioden. Fratrækkes de lande, er vi nede på 20.

Men hvem er det så, der har delt verbale tæv ud? Jeg kan starte med Canadas premierminister Paul Martin (Iflg London Free Press):

To the reticent nations, including the United States, I'd say this: There is such a thing as a global conscience and now is the time to listen to it ... Climate change is a global challenge that demands a global response, yet there are nations that resist, voices that attempt to diminish the urgency or dismiss the science or declare, either in word or in indifference, that this is not our problem to solve. Well, let me tell you, it is our problem to solve and we are in this together. ... The time is past to seek comfort in denial. The time is past to pretend that any nation can stand alone, isolated from the global community -- for there is but one Earth and we share it and there can be no hiding on any island, in any city, within any country, no matter how prosperous, from the consequences of inaction.

Det lyder jo meget godt, ikke? Problemet er, at Canada faktisk har øget udledningerne mere end USA har. Mens USAs udledninger er øget med 13,3% siden mellem 1990 of 2003 er Canadas gået op med 24,2% (kilde). Dertil kommer, at Canada faktisk skal skære ned med 6% iflg Kyoto, en forpligtigelse som USA ikke har.

Næste levende billede er tidl. Præsident for USA Bill Clinton (iflg Globe and Mail):

“There's no longer any serious doubt that climate change is real, accelerating and caused by human activities,” Mr. Clinton said in a surprise visit to the conference. The Earth, he said, is “literally a biological miracle. . . . It's crazy for us to play games with our children's future.”

Det lyder jo også imponerende. Hvis man kigger på Clinton´s resultater som præsident ser det imidlertid knapt så imponerende ud. Mens USA som sagt har øget udledninger med 13,3% mellem 1990 og 2003, så er udledningerne i perioden 2001-03 - under Præsident Bush - faktisk FALDET 0,8 % (kilde). Langt hovedparten af stigningen er altså sket under Bill Clinton!

Endelig skal vi da lige have en kommentar fra EU, nærmere fra EUs miljøkommissær Stavros Dimas (fra Reuters):

Sixty years ago Winston Churchill told the U.S. Congress the United States always does the right thing, after having exhausted all other options

Stavros Dimas overser her, at 7 EU-lande har øget deres udledninger med mere end USA har. Hans eget hjemland - han er græker - har øget udledningerne med 25,8% mod USA´s 13,3%.

Hvad kan man så udlede af det hele? At det er ligegyldigt hvilke resultater man reelt opnår, så længe man mener det samme som alle andre.

Typisk venstrefløj.

Henrik

PS. Hvis nogen skulle være interesseret har jeg lavet en lille tabel, hvor jeg sammenstiller landenes kvoter ifølge Kyoto, udledningernes reelle udvikling 1990-2003, og forskellen. Det er oplysende læsning - se den her.

Optøjer mod indvandrer-kriminalitet i Australien

Hvis vi skulle tage venstrefløjens sædvanlige briller på, som brugt når ballademagerne er arabere fra Palæstina, så ville historien være bragt som "Australske aktivister kom søndag hen over middag i kamp med arabiske bosættere nær Sydney." Da det ikke er arabere fra Palæstina, vi taler om, bliver historien istedet som følger (kilde: CNN):

Ethnic tensions erupted Sunday into running battles between police and a mob of thousands of youths, many chanting racial slurs, at a beachside suburb in southern Sydney.

At least three people were arrested and several injured in alcohol-fueled fights. Television images showed police protecting an ambulance being pelted with beer bottles and a group of young women attacking another woman.

Other youths stamped on police vehicles and police officers fought back with batons and pepper spray.

The behavior, "is nothing short of disgusting and disgraceful," said Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Goodwin. It's certainly not the Australian way."

"What has been occurring on some fronts is that people of Middle Eastern backgrounds that have been seen in the Cronulla area, a swarm of the crowd has approached these people with vile abuse, in the most un-Australian way," Goodwin said. "We have a number of reports of persons that have been assaulted."

A police spokesman commenting on usual condition of anonymity said three men, aged 16, 29 and 34 were arrested and were being questioned after fights erupted among some 5,000 people who converged on Cronulla beach in southern Sydney.

Many youths were carrying beer bottles, waving Australian flags and chanting racist slogans following reports that youths of Lebanese descent were responsible for last week's attack on two of the beach's life guards.

Earlier this week police boosted the number of officers patrolling the beach after mobile phone text messages began circulating calling for retaliation for the attacks.

Henrik

Hvidt fosfor og virkeligheden

En argt antiamerikansk italiensk dokumentar startede for et par uger siden en sag om at USA skulle have bragt "kemiske våben" i Fallujah - nemlig hvidt fosfor. Enhver person, der ved bare det mindste om hvidt fosfor som andvendt i militæret - også det danske - ved, at de beskyldninger er helt hen i vejret. L.A.Times har en god gennemgang:

What are the facts? What is the law?

The corpses shown in the Italian documentary had blackened skin, consistent with putrefaction after death. Their decayed condition provided no indication of the cause of death — except that it was unlikely to have been white phosphorus. The bodies did not have the localized burns expected from WP particles, and their clothes were not burned as they would have been if they had been hit by a shower of WP particles. White phosphorus was indeed used to burn enemy combatants in Fallouja, but the unfortunates depicted in the Italian documentary probably died from some other cause.

Furthermore, the use of white phosphorus against military targets is not prohibited by any treaty. Protocol III of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons prohibits the use of incendiary weapons against civilian targets, to prevent future Dresdens. It also restricts the use of incendiary weapons against military targets adjacent to concentrations of civilians, but it only applies to bombs dropped from airplanes, not shells fired by artillery as was done in Fallouja. In any case, the United States has not ratified and is not bound by this protocol.

Another argument being made is that white phosphorus is an illegal chemical weapon, a poison gas. Bloggers soon found a couple of U.S. government websites containing documents that seemed to assert that WP was a chemical weapon. Closer reading revealed nothing of the sort.

Widely ignored in all this is the ultimate source authority, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is the international agency supervising the global destruction of chemical weapons. It flatly states that "napalm and phosphorus are not considered to be [chemical weapons] agents."

Henrik