lol.. latch..thanks for calling me a 'leb'.... i may have leb parents but im as much an aussie as the next person..but also proud of my heritage of course
to answer fresnellys questions..
Why were the life guards assaulted in the first place? What was the extent of the attack?
apparently (from heresay in the lebanese communit here in sydney) last week some 'lebs' (ie youths of lebanese/middle eastern decent) were swimming outside the flags and some lifeguard kept telling them to get out and swim between the flags for their own safety. sounds like they took offense to it and decided to rough the poor bloke up.
Is there a specific history of resentment towards the Lebonese, or has a general racism just become focused by events of the past week?
there has been a general resentment of the lebanese community in recent years, especially since the pack rape of a few anglo saxon girls by a particular lebanese gang. though not widespread, resentment has been teethering slowly. any time any issues with lebanese youths (minor or major) usually make the headlines and front pages. but over the past week, simmering tensions have escalated with SMS going round telling 'aussies' to help support "leb/wog bashing day", hence the big turn up.
Does anger over the Bali bombings have anything to do with this?
no not really. lebanese are both muslim and chrsitians. although devout lebanese muslims are more suseptible to attack/slurs from 'aussies'.
What is the ethnic/racial mix in the area? Is there a large Lebonese community or district?
cronulla is mainly an anglo saxon beachside suburb. but cronulla is the closest beach to the largest lebanese community in sydney, which is about half an hours drive. people living in cronulla feel as though the 'lebs' are taking over the area, especially on weekends. however this isnt exclusively to cronulla, and other beaches have had similar problems. i should note that cronulla is the only beach that is serviced by a train line in sydney, so its quite easy to get to for youths and for those without cars.
Is this a resort area or a working city that happens to have a beach.
just a working suburb that happens to have a beach.
Are there many tourists in the area?
yes, but not as popular as other beaches like bondi beach is sydneys east.
Are the "life savers" the guys who sit in chairs on the beach and patrol for drowning swimmers a la Baywatch, or something different?
yeah thats a life saver..also its also one of those lollies with a hole through it
What or who is a "wog"?
a 'wog' is a person of non anglo saxon/eastern european background who migrated to australia (usually within the last 50 years). basically a person from mid east, italians, greeks etc. place of birth whether in australia or otherwise does not matter.
ok..now for my 2 cents worth..
news reports said 5000 people.. from eye witness accounts of people who stupidly went down to cronulla put it down to 2000-3000. mass protests with 'aussies' draped in australian flags whilst under the influence of alcohol turned nasty after a few scuffles with innocent 'middle easterners' who happened to be in the area.
after word got round that the 'lebs' were taking a hiding the 'lebs' showed up later in the faternoon and evening and vented their anger on of course innocent bystanders and cars.
all in all a crazy day, where im ashamed to call myself aussie as well as leb.