Race riots reminiscent of those last month in France have recently hit Sydney, raising concerns that Australia harbors similar anti-Arab sentiment as well as Arab disillusionment within the larger society within which immigrants have found themselves.
For a second night in a row, racially motivated violence, apparently on the part of youths of Arab descent, left countless store-fronts destroyed, cars smashes, 70 people injured and 11 in police custody.
The rioting was in retaliation for a mob attack this weekend, when people with Middle Eastern appearances were attacked by some 5,000 Australians. Many in the Australian mob were reportedly drunk and wrapped in the national flag. Others carried nationalistic banners, and some wrote messages such as "We grew here, you flew here" on their chests.
The weekend attack, which occurred in the exclusive, mostly white beach of Cronulla, according to the AP, was reportedly in response to an earlier attack on two lifeguards by what are believed to be Lebanese youth.
Cronulla is part of the Sutherland Shire, where more than 90 percent of the population is of British and Irish background.
Following the attacks, police authorities in Sydney were given new freedoms to crack down on rioters in light of the unrest. Morris Iemma, New South Wales state leader, announced on Tuesday, "New South Wales parliament will be recalled for a special emergency sitting on Thursday morning to provide police with extra powers to deal with criminals and thugs who are causing disturbances across our city."
"I won't allow Sydney's reputation as a tolerant, vibrant international city to be tarnished by these ratbags and criminals who want to engage in the sort of behavior we've seen in the last 48 hours," Iemma said.
Telephone text messages were widely circulated throught the region, several calling on some to join the recent violence. One sent this weekend said, "We'll show them!"
Disillusioned minorities question Australia's tolerance
Approximately 300,000 Muslims live in Australia, the majority in lower income areas, and tensions between Australia's non-immigrant community and its Arab population have been on the rise in recent years.
Many feel that unemployment and social alienation are some of the root causes of disillusionment of Australia's Arab-immigrant population.
Tensions have also been heightened by a combination of other factors within the non-Arab sector, including growing suspicion towards Australia's Arab population in many white suburbs, and anti-Muslim sentiment fueled by the September 11 attacks.
The deadly bombings in Bali that killed 202 people in 2002, including 88 Australians, are also thought to have spurred such sentiment, as well as the arrests of 18 terror suspects in Sydney and Melbourne last month.
In country proud of what it considers its widespread tolerance, the unrest has come as a shock and outrage to some.
Prime Minister John Howard was quick to point out that despite the recent attacks, full-blown racism does not exists in Australia.
"I do no accept there is underlying racism in this country," he told the AFP. "I believe yesterday's behavior was completely unacceptable but I'm not going to put a general tag racism on the Australian community."
However, Australia's history does not have a spotless track record for diversity. The former British colony did its best to keep out non-white immigrants in the past, and in the 19th century, it introduced its 'White Australia' policy to keep out Chinese and Pacific islanders. The law was not repealed until 1973.
Some, such as Gerard Henderson, Executive Director of the Sydney Institute, defend Australia's image of a tolerant state. Henderson believes that Australia is inherently different from racist societies.
"In Australia, it is invariably a lack of familiarity which breeds contempt," he wrote, as opposed to societies where various cultures mix, and then clash, such as in "racist societies where ethnic groups are opposed because they are known," he said.
This weekend, however, tolerance was lacking amongst many in Australia. Police discovered many weapons on the roofs of some houses in the beachside suburb of Maroubra on Monday, including petrol bombs and rocks. Five men armed with machetes and baseball bats were also arrested.
