The man in this picture is not under arrest. He is being protected by the police officer (who is carrying what I assume is a bottle of capsicum spray) from the mob behind.
The man is being pursued by the mob, part of a 5000-strong rabble that converged on Cronulla Beach in Sydney yesterday, because he is (or at least looks like) a “leb”.
“Leb” is a derogatory term, short for “Lebanese” but referring to anyone of Middle Eastern origin.
Here’s a couple more pictures of the same man, before the police came to protect him:
Yesterday’s riots in Cronulla have left most Australians shocked and have shown in harsh and unforgiving light what a desperately divided, confused and fearful nation we have become under the stewardship of John Howard and his gang.
When Howard became Prime Minister in 1996 he promised that Australia would be more “relaxed and comfortable” under his leadership. Today he has condemned the riots but he has refused to describe the rioters as racist.
Last night on television I witnessed the spectacle of thousands of drunken people waving Australian flags and chanting “Fuck off Lebs! Fuck off Lebs! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Fuck off Lebs!”
If that isn’t racist then what the fuck is?
(Pictures from the SMH photo gallery of the riot.)
I was born in Australia, grew up loving the place, figured it was the best spot on earth.
In 1998, I moved. Pauline Hanson was on the march, and as I looked around at the morons who supported her, I felt I had no option but to be elsewhere. I always figured, however, that I’d be back soon enough, when the aussie spirit fought back and put her in her place.
Today I realized I’ll never live in Australia again. I doubt I’ll even visit. The place is overrun with the foulest morons imaginable – a disgrace to the entire world that will never be scrubbed clean.
I’m ashamed to be an Australian today. Tomorrow I’m going to put in for Canadian residency and make it official. The country I grew up in no longer exists.
The lunatics have keep the fucking asylum. I’m done with it.
I saw similar pictures on BBC online news today. Shocking and ugly, no other words for it.
I’m confused as to how any of those racists can distinguish between “middle eastern appearance” and “bondi bronzed”.
The pictures are clear. Where are the arrests?
Racism, hate, and violence seem to be at the core of the human experience. A part of social mentality that has never been absent and shows no sign of ever being absent from any, and I repeat, any group of people the size of which could be classified as a nation. Sometimes it has a recession, but that’s just the quiet before another storm. Canada has plenty of racist problems and violence against the indigenous, America… well we don’t even need to go there, Austrailia- welcome back to the fold of humanity. Sometimes I wonder if there’s anything worth living for out there, but then I think about people like the poor shit getting the shit beat out him here in these images. If I left, who would help his counterpart who appears on my street before me suffering the same type of indignity, risk, and abuse. I’d rather stick around long enough to leave this world helping them.
Wow, that comment is awfully melodramatic of me. Bad day, sorry folks. Disturbing news none the less.