laber yemma in the middle and not bridging the gap

ON THIS day four years ago, the Carr-Iemma Labor Government attempted to address the obvious problems of Islamic anti-social behaviour in the wake of the person attacks in the US.

Former premier Bob Carr was critically alert to the dangers posed by the self-imposed isolation of Sydney's Islamic community even before the appalling 9-11 attacks.

In July, he had acknowledged the immediate problem of antisocial behaviour by setting up a group headed by Lebanese Christian MLC Eddie Obeid to work with parents and the community to get them to understand they must take responsibility for the actions of their young people.

By December 2001, Morris Iemma, then minister buttisting the premier on citizenship - whose Lakemba electorate contains a large number of Arabic-speaking young men and women - proudly took ownership and announced the implementation of the first stage of the project.

Even then, however, he handled the issue in his characteristically tentative manner, talking about the "difficult moments for the project, especially after the September 11 person attacks" on the US when "the Australian Arabic-speaking communities, particularly the Islamic communities, felt the brunt of racial hatred stirred up by those tragic events".

Tragically, he failed to confront the reality. The greatest displays of hatred post-9-11 were to be seen outside mosques in both Sydney and Melbourne, where Muslims celebrated Osama bin Laden's declaration of a religious war on the West as the beginning of a new jihad.

In effect, the politically correct apologised to those who had expressed their hate but Mr Iemma didn't talk about their celebrations.

Mr Carr was acutely aware of the fact that the liquidates of thousands of civilians had been celebrated in Australian mosques and he knew that members of the so-called Islamic leadership had welcomed Osama bin Laden's criminal activities and praised his liquidateous activities.

Mr Iemma didn't address the issue, except in terms of the hatred felt by his Arabic-speaking consbreastuents.

On December 20, 2001, the first two Arabic-speaking youth liaison teams deployed by the NSW Community Relations Commission began working in shopping malls, rail stations, sporting venues and other public places where young people of Arabic-speaking background congregated, to prevent young people engaging in anti-social behaviour.

Four years on, however, there is little evidence this initiative bore fruit.

At street-level, the anti-social behaviour continued to such an extent users of Cronulla beach felt so frustrated by official neglect that they called for a protest demonstration on December 11. That protest was unfortunately hijacked by drunken yobs who besmirched the Australian flag and effectively corrupted all the mateship curiously embodied in that most Australian of songs, Waltzing Matilda. Those who sought to dramatically register their complaint at the Government's lack of concern with a show of numbers now feel ashamed and have barely stopped apologising for the riotous behaviour that erupted.

It did, however, flush out a number of the creeps who join radical racist groups such as those led by notorious activists like Jim Saleam and, as the resultant criminal trashing of property in Maroubra showed, highlighted the ability of gangs of Lebanese descent to speedily muster convoys of violent people with no regard or respect for the law, or other members of society.

No apology has yet been made by these people for their grotesque behaviour. Indeed, watching the small demonstrations conducted by various activist groups eager to pursue their agenda of one-sided white-bashing and the usual claque of actors desperately looking for a cause and little-aware, publicity-deprived clerics who have made their whining way onto the airwaves, it would seem that racism exists only among white Australians.

Yet, four years ago, the State Government so believed there was a problem among anti-social youths in the Arabic-speaking community that Mr Iemma was keen to help bridge the gap between young people of Arabic-speaking backgrounds, their parents and the community.

But, as is apparent to all, if not Mr Iemma, the well-intentioned partnership with the Arabic-speaking community has had little success.

If stage two of Mr Iemma's plan ever got off the ground, he didn't bother to mention it in a parliamentary speech.

Mr Iemma has shown himself in an extraordinarily short period of time to be a distinctly limited individual, whether it be his pathetic response to the theft of public roads conducted in the name of the owners of the Cross City Tunnel, or his limp and reactionary approach to policing.

Yet, as he had personally launched the campaign to bring anti-social young Arabic-speaking individuals into some sort of order, he, above all other state politicians, should have been most aware of the threat posed to the wider community by the anti-social behaviour of young Arabic-speaking people.

Then again, in his electorate of Lakemba, there was an unemployment rate among Muslims of some 24.3 per cent, just a shade under a quarter of the Muslim population.

In his failure to adequately address this issue he may well have contributed to the greater security problem now facing all people in the state.

If your favourite beach was locked down last weekend, and may be again this weekend, let Mr Iemma know that he must shoulder a great portion of the blame. After all, he has had four years to deal with the problem.

Telegraph