The most common question and debate which was surfaced during the cronulla riots was the integrity behind Australia being a multicultural society welcoming nationalities from all over the world. In the 2006 “Where the bloody hell are you? Australian tourist campaign, there is a scene featured in the advertisement of a girl walking on an unpopulated beach saying “we’ve saved you a spot on the beach”, this was questioned considerably after the cronulla riots as residents were not even able to share the beach with fellow Sydney residents . Through the Cronulla riots we see the changing evolution of the Media and its impact in Australian Society, in the case of the cronulla riots we see the negative impact in which media can have through exaggerating the events which occurred, hence more unnecessary hatred being created. Countries such as Britain, Canada and Indonesia sent out travel advisories warning their population on the race riots which were occurring in Cronulla. John Howard commending the Riots stating that ``Attacking people on the basis of their race, their appearance, their ethnicity, is totally unacceptable and should be repudiated by all Australians irrespective of their own background and their politics,'', however Howard refused to label Australia as a racist country ``I believe yesterday's behaviour was completely unacceptable but I'm not going to put a general tag of racism on the Australian community” . The Cronulla Riots was not however a problem which is only faced in Australia but rather a universal problem in which race riots have also occurred in countries such as Canada, France and Britain.
Cronulla riots also revealed a deep misconception and view of the “Middle Eastern” community in Australia, an image based on violence and terrorist attacks which were highlighted in the media. Cronulla riots was claimed to be a war on bad behaviour demonstrated on the beach by Lebanese groups rather than on race, however these motives are questionable with many rioters donning t-shirts with slogans such as “ethnic cleansing unit” . At the time of the Cronulla riots there was a lot of negative media surrounding the middle eastern community of the world with terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and also the Bali bombing which were still fresh in the minds of people, there was also the case of a gang rape attack which occurred in Sydney by a group of Lebanese men on Australian women which occurred in throughout August and September of 2000. Many residents blamed Middle Eastern people for crimes in area, and also accused Lebanese men of “harassing” Australian women on the beaches, “ The way they’re brought up and the way we’re brought up, just the morals our parents teach us and the morals their parents teach are completely different, it’s got a lot to do with respect for women” . This quote from the television show 4 corners on the Cronulla Riots, reveals what seems a common belief in which Islamic and Middle Eastern men do not treat or have any respect for women. This belief is a clear stereotype of Islamic men due to negative media which surround’s their treatment of women however is also irrelevant as statistics show that 61% of residents living in Bankstown and 57.9% of residents of Canterbury are Christian, with 76.1% of the residents of the Sutherland Shire being Christian. Also with the Lebanese Population of Australia 53 % are Maronite Christians, with only 40% of Lebanese Australians being Muslim, hence most Lebanese Australians share the same Christian beliefs in which those in the shire uphold. The Cronulla riots reveals a lack of education and also miscommunication between both sides, in order to be able to live in a society in which is accepting of people of all nationalities, more must be done in order to educate young Australians on cultures outside of their own .
One of the main aspects of Australian Society which was revealed through the Cronulla riots was the sense of a nation within a nation in suburbs such as the Sutherland Shire. The Sutherland Shire is a predominantly Anglo Celtic community with 78.1% of its residents being born in Australia and 73.1% of its residents being of Anglo Celtic ancestry. The Shire for many generations has been a residential area made up exclusively Anglo Celtic Australians with high socio economic status. Many of the Shire residents look at Cronulla beach as “the jewel in the crown” for Shire residents and also saw cronulla as the epitome of classic Australian lifestyle. Many residents saw the Lebanese visitors as destroying this lifestyle with their rude and derogatory behavior, many of the young residents wore shirts with slogans such as “reclaim the shire”, “save nulla, fuck allah”, “love it or leave it” and “wog free zone” and also wrote all over themselves the Sutherland Shire Postcode 2232 as a mark of pride fighting for their community, with many after the riots concluded getting the Sutherland Shire Postcode tattooed on them. Many believed that the Lebanese and Muslim Culture and way of life was not mixing into the Australian lifestyle and tradition’s which were causing problems such as their lack of respect for women.
There is also clear tribes/clans in the middle eastern society of Australia in areas in which there is a large middle eastern population such as Lakemba, Punchbowl and Bankstown with many of these Lebanese tribes entering the Sutherland Shire in car loads after already being warned to stay away due to the riots to retaliate against the attacks.
Cronulla Riots reveals the tribes and societies within the Australian society as a whole and the lack of communication between these communities, however did not reveal much on Australia as a whole, as it is inaccurate to represent Australia as a racist society by the actions of only a minority, the Cronulla Riots also reveals the negative impact of media on issues in society and how influential what is reported can be on society, even if the information has been taken out of context. It is clear that within the Multicultural Society of Australia there are evident rifts between culturally diverse communities however this is also a universal problem which is not only faced by Australia.
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