R e d n e c k ... a l e r t !

Udah tau kah Sydney diguncang kerusuhan kemaren ? Sydney, yg merupakan pusat pemerintahan, perekonomian dan kebudayaan de facto di benua maha luas ini, bisa dibilang hampir selalu menjadi tolok ukur trend dan realitas «mainstream Australians» dan keributan ini berlangsung cuma 3 suburbs, sekitar 5km, dari gue.

Kericuhan kemarin bertolak dari insiden weekend lalu di Cronulla Beach di mana gang pemuda dari luar Cronulla melukai dua life guards volunteeers hingga mereka harus dikirim rumah sakit untuk luka yg cukup serius. Gue kenal baek suburb ini, dulu sempet tinggal di sini, lalu pindah rumah tapi weekend demi weekend sering kali gue abiskan menyusuri pantai, ngafé dan beli gelato di sepanjang esplanade-nya. Kelas surfing gue pun tepat di tengah2 Cronulla beach.

Lalu beredar SMS di antara penduduk lokal yg mengajak mereka turun ke Cronulla beach weekend ini untuk "re-claim our beach".

Masalah besarnya: gang si pembuat onar itu berisi anak2 muda ber-origin Arab, Middle East, dan Mediterranean-looking. Mereka tinggal di western Sydney yg kering kerontang -tanpa beach- dan bertaon2 setiap kali mereka memenuhi Sydney beach, selalu ada pelecehan, insiden kecil. Dibilang, "they got no manner, don't respect the locals and our way of life."

SMS yg tadinya dikira cuma prank (lelucon belaka) ternyata berubah menjadi keributan, 5000 rednecks dan yobbos dibakar alkohol dan matahari terik2 mulai berteriak2 slogan anti etnik, anti ras, dan mencari kambing hitam: semua org yg bertampang Middle Eastern dikerumuni, dicerca, disiram dg bir, dilempari kaleng, ditonjoki.

Polisi dan petugas medik yg berusaha menolong si korban terpojok, hingga terjadi bentrokan.

Gue ngeliatnya di TV aja terpanah, ngga nyangka ini Cronulla beach. Kemaren, gue baru aja paddling di sepanjang peninsula-nya, minum kopi di salah satu kafenya, bahkan ikut barbeque di jalan utamanya. Housemates gue sedikit banyak, krn mereka anak2 lokal, membela compatriots-nya dg alasan, this's been going on for years - it's not just yesterday this resentment against the *Lebs and wogs.

*Lebs = Lebanese; wogs = dark skinned Mediterraneans

Moga2 ngga eskalasi jadi keributan rasis dan ujung2nya bisa berbuntut jadi anti org Asia, org Afrika dan grup minoritas lainnya. Kata media, the ugly face of Australian racism resurfaced.

Gue sendiri hormatin dan menikmati gaya hidup lokal tanpa banyak intervensi tapi banyak Anglo-celtic di sini yg merasa supremasi mereka terancam oleh "pendatang baru" imigran. Lupakah mereka, moyang mereka pun imigran yg tiba dg shackles (rantai kaki) : sekumpulan narapidana buangan Britania Raya 230 taon yg lalu?

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Galeri Neo-Nazi

Neo-Nazis in race riots: police


Neo-Nazis are believed to have been among those who took part in the race-fuelled violence at Cronulla in Sydney's south, NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says.

Up to 5,000 people descended on the beach yesterday as mobs yelling racist chants targeted people of Middle Eastern appearance.

Mr Scipione said police believed neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups were among the crowd.

"That in fact is something that we're following up," he told the Nine network. "Yes, that's the advice we've received."

One woman was pictured at Cronulla Beach holding a poster that read "Aussies fighting back." Her photo appeared in a Sydney News Limited newspaper today. She was advertising a group called the Patriotic Youth League.

The group, founded by former Newcastle student and One Nation activist Stuart McBeth in 2002, described itself as a "radical nationalist" group, News Ltd newspapers reported today.

It has links to the German-based skinhead group Volksfront, British Nationalist Party and the New Zealand National Front, the paper said.

The group has campaigned for the deportation of immigrants and for keeping foreign students out of universities.

'Real' locals shocked

Diana Kontoprias, who runs a gelato bar near the beach, witnessed most of violence yesterday.

She told ABC Radio "real locals" were disgusted by the events.

"They were so embarrassed, so shocked of how the day unfolded," she said.

"It was a disgrace, I don't think anyone in the local area agrees with what happened yesterday."

20 injured, 16 arrested

More than 20 people have been injured and 16 arrested as race-fuelled violence spread through Sydney's beachside suburbs overnight.

But NSW Premier Morris Iemma says police are in control of the situation.

A series of apparent revenge attacks - including two stabbings - occurred overnight following the unrest at Cronulla, where more than 5000 people gathered yesterday.

Drunken mobs within the crowd yelled racist chants and chased down and bashed people of Middle Eastern appearance at the beach in an extended show of violence.

Police and an ambulance crew were also assaulted as racial tensions peaked.

A total of 25 people, including two ambulance officers, were injured, about 40 cars were vandalised and an Australian flag was burned during the mob scenes.

Police said 16 people had been arrested across Sydney and charged with 42 offences.