NationStates Jolt Archive

On a beach in south Sydney, a group of young Australian Muslims is about to take a highly symbolic cultural leap.

For the past 10 weeks, they have learned how to rescue stranded swimmers from the foaming surf, discovered more about the undertows and rip currents which can make even the most inviting sea so very perilous, and taken part in gruelling fitness tests.

Now they are about to receive that most coveted of Australian prizes - their bronze, surf life saving medallions.

Tens of thousands of surf life saving volunteers have made this rite of passage.

But this group is unique. These 18 young people, of Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and Libyan backgrounds, are about to become the first Muslim Australians to receive this prized qualification.

More remarkable still, they have learned and honed their skills on the country's most controversial stretch of sand - Cronulla beach, the site of grotesque race riots in December 2005.

[...]

But far from making Cronulla a "Leb-free zone," the riots have had quite the opposite effect, producing what 12 months ago would have been considered an unthinkable ethnic and religious first.

"We always had great respect for the surf lifers associations and they're a great Australian icon," explained Dr Jamal Rifi, a general practitioner from Lakemba in Sydney, who has helped train this inaugural group.

"Unfortunately, we had always assumed it is for the white, blue-eyed, blond-haired Australians, and we were very hesitant to take that step forward to be part of the movement. Unfortunately it took the events at Cronulla to get us to take that step forward," he said.

[...]

"We are as Australian as them," Dr Jamal Rifi said.

"We are sick and tired of being demonised and marginalised and at the same time being perceived to be a threat to Australia. We want to work towards the safety of Australia," he said.


Full article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6324213.stm).

Excellent. And brilliantly symbolic. Muslims as Australian cultural icons - the epitome of the wish to integrate.

Thoughts?

Too little too late.

Full article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6324213.stm).

Excellent. And brilliantly symbolic. Muslims as Australian cultural icons - the epitome of the wish to integrate.

Thoughts?

I like it. I think they're taking an important step, and are giving the right signals to the entire population.
Apart from some who don't want things to get better, but those just can't be helped, I guess.

Too little too late.

:(

I'm still hopeful. I used to do surf lifesaving with a boy named Yusef. He was my best friend while I did surf lifesaving.

I like it. I think they're taking an important step, and are giving the right signals to the entire population.
Apart from some who don't want things to get better, but those just can't be helped, I guess.

There'll always be a few idiots who thrive off ethnic and religious conflict, and who don't want to see Muslims successfully integrate, but other than those negligeable idiots, yes, this sends a strong and positive message.

Fortunately not all Muslims are hate mongering bombers.

Too little too late.

Like the great poet said, you can't please all the people all the time. I guess you'd like everyone to give up and fall into the stereotypes best suited?

White Aussies largely aren't gonna hate Lebo's if the Lebo's were'nt calling white girls whores and raping them.

In any case Surf Lifesavers are good.

calling white girls whores and raping them
Err... :confused:

I guess you'd like everyone to give up and fall into the stereotypes best suited?

That would make things easier.

That would make things easier.

So would giving up the stereotypes.

That would make things easier.

Well, they do, if you just look at it the right way.

You see, these young men are only saving people from drowning so they can rape them later. We know this because they're Muslims.

Well, they do, if you just look at it the right way.

You see, these young men are only saving people from drowning so they can rape them later. We know this because they're Muslims.

Exactly.

Full article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6324213.stm).

Excellent. And brilliantly symbolic. Muslims as Australian cultural icons - the epitome of the wish to integrate.

Thoughts?Oh noes! They should not be allowed to wear their special swimming suits as it makes it haeders for tehm to swim! So theys will be terrorising australia by not saving as many lives as the whiteys.

I seem to remember someone was complaining about Muslim Australians becoming lifeguards a few weeks back.

Exactly.

Further, it is impossible for a Muslim to NOT be a rapist. Muslims also enjoy torturing and killing puppies and small children.

Further, it is impossible for a Muslim to NOT be a rapist. Muslims also enjoy torturing and killing puppies and small children.

True.

True.

I'm so glad I found someone on this forum with opinions identical to mine. We appear to be soul mates.

Further, it is impossible for a Muslim to NOT be a rapist. Muslims also enjoy torturing and killing puppies and small children.

Yo uforgot to mention that Muslims also eat small kittens while they're still alive. Oh, and they never write to their grannies.

Further, it is impossible for a Muslim to NOT be a rapist. Muslims also enjoy torturing and killing puppies and small children.

and then they take their souls and eat their hearts right?

Yo uforgot to mention that Muslims also eat small kittens while they're still alive. Oh, and they never write to their grannies.

Indeed, they are guilty of even the most heinous of sins.

and then they take their souls and eat their hearts right?

And rape their corpses. It's a sad fact.

This thread spiralled into parody pretty quickly.

Back on topic, I say good on them for getting involved.

This thread spiralled into parody pretty quickly.

Back on topic, I say good on them for getting involved.

Derailing threads is on the long list of NSG's favourite pastimes

Derailing threads is on the long list of NSG's favourite pastimes

I realise that, and often I participate in it, but I was surprised at how quickly this one went.

Err... :confused:
Yeah that's what i said.
It happened.

Yeah that's what i said.
It happened.

Versus how many attacks on women by 'whites', yearly?
Just for context.....

Yeah that's what i said.
It happened.
I don't recall them actually raping anyone, did they? I thought it was offensive comments and sexual harassment.

Thoughts?

Yours pretty much seemed mine up:

Excellent. And brilliantly symbolic.

Excellent. And brilliantly symbolic. Muslims as Australian cultural icons - the epitome of the wish to integrate.

Thoughts?

Lots of thumbs up. It's bound to have a good impact on the mass media.

White Aussies largely aren't gonna hate Lebo's if the Lebo's were'nt calling white girls whores and raping them.

In any case Surf Lifesavers are good.

I don't recall them actually raping anyone, did they? I thought it was offensive comments and sexual harassment.

i picked the faux news reference to add gravity to the seriousness of my defence of this argument
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178522,00.html

with all my sympathies to the girls who were raped, it's unlikely that a story involving a similar rape involving the reversed ethnicities would ever achieve such prominence in the mainstream australian media
yes the rapes occurred - but it wasn't rape we were incited to be outraged about, it was the use of ethnic slurs by the rapists. as though this was somehow unusual for a rapist, but totally predictable for a Lebanese... sorry Harlesburg; "Lebo"

i picked the faux news reference to add gravity to the seriousness of my defence of this argument
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,178522,00.html

with all my sympathies to the girls who were raped, it's unlikely that a story involving a similar rape involving the reversed ethnicities would ever achieve such prominence in the mainstream australian media
yes the rapes occurred - but it wasn't rape we were incited to be outraged about, it was the use of ethnic slurs by the rapists. as though this was somehow unusual for a rapist, but totally predictable for a Lebanese... sorry Harlesburg; "Lebo"
Ah, I knew about that. I just didn't think it was the central trigger for the riots, and I was right, although it heightened tensions, the anger was at the guys who attacked lifeguards.

The issue is that there are in fact TWO cases of this kind...the other is under "seal" and the perps are known as MAK and MSK (no names permitted).Their father committed perjury..he later died.

Cronulla was an ugly incident. One we can cheerfully do without in future.

*sigh*

It's a difficult time.

That said, I also applaud what these young Aussies have done. I DID have some reservations about the "burquini" (looks hard to swim in, and the last thing we need is a lifesaver needing to be saved because of their swimwear...)..but they qualified..so more power to them and good luck.

I am a believer in merit, and as they have met the standards and proved themselves..I think i'll go to Cronulla and have a swim and congratulate our newest life savers.:p

I DID have some reservations about the "burquini" (looks hard to swim in, and the last thing we need is a lifesaver needing to be saved because of their swimwear...)..
http://www.stuff.co.nz/images/273916.jpg

To be honest, I don't see a problem. Looks not all that different from any other wetsuit. And the Olympic team seems to do just fine with those.

That being said, I find them silly.

To be honest, I don't see a problem. Looks not all that different from any other wetsuit. And the Olympic team seems to do just fine with those.

Like I said..at first i was sceptical. Now I know they're fine.

That being said, I find them silly.

Hot ,maybe.No sunburn.;)

The issue is that there are in fact TWO cases of this kind...the other is under "seal" and the perps are known as MAK and MSK (no names permitted).Their father committed perjury..he later died.

Was that the one where the father was a doctor, applauded his sons actions, then got his comments on TV and lost half his business? That was awesome.

Was that the one where the father was a doctor, applauded his sons actions, then got his comments on TV and lost half his business?

Thats the one., He died recently.In disgrace.

That was awesome.

How so? :confused: :confused:

How so? :confused: :confused:

It's good to see people like that exposed on national TV.

Full article here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6324213.stm).

Excellent. And brilliantly symbolic. Muslims as Australian cultural icons - the epitome of the wish to integrate.

Thoughts?
I (and I know at least one other NS'er) view not surf life-savers as Aussie cultural icons, but the legend himself, David Boon.

Until a Muslim steps up to the crease and downs 52 beers in one flight, they'll never be true Ockers, imo.

I (and I know at least one other NS'er) view not surf life-savers as Aussie cultural icons, but the legend himself, David Boon.

Until a Muslim steps up to the crease and downs 52 beers in one flight, they'll never be true Ockers, imo.

http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/Boonytopia/th_DSC02592.jpg http://s53.photobucket.com/albums/g66/Boonytopia/th_DSC02595.jpg

:D

I think i'll go to Cronulla and have a swim and congratulate our newest life savers.

Good for you. :)

You're all forgetting one major problem with your thinking. They will not be completely intergrated into Australia (and thus continue to be 'dirty' and 'inhuman') until they become nice little christians. They also should speak only english (herefore known as Australian).

Not just any christians, the only ones that truly believe that Australia is the best country in the world and work for a pittance in the name of the 'National Interest'. Our history programs can truly tell everyone how we took this land, which was a desolate, uninhabited by humans (unless you can call the aboriginals 'people') and turned it into a wonderful thriving land. All without the help of Britain, of course (except for the ships).

They also have to be willing to take the crapiest jobs unless they have a nice, superior white complexion.

The federal government has the right idea! Our Dear Leader has rightfully changed the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to the Department of Immagration and Citizenship. Now all we have to do is get rid of the pesky labor and greens (because we all know they obey the devil) and allow a wonderful future with the Liberals, Family first and the two only true religious groups in the world, the Exclusive Bretheren and the Catch the Fire Ministries.

The issue is that there are in fact TWO cases of this kind...the other is under "seal" and the perps are known as MAK and MSK (no names permitted).

MSK is Pakistani not Lebanese. AFAIK, Lebanese Australians are into gangs and stuff...not heard of rape problems. MSK and brothers are disgrace to humanity. Their lawyer actually argued that they cannot be blamed for the rape because.....it is what they do to such women in their culture. Probably true but it is the worst argument you can make for your client.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20876,20656733-28737,00.html
Last year, Australians had a bitter taste of what shocked Germany when MSK, already serving time for gang-raping girls in Sydney, mounted the defence in a second case that his Muslim upbringing in the North-West Frontier Province in Pakistan led him to believe he had the right to rape girls he considered promiscuous.

Expert evidence given to the trial described the NWFP as the "most fiercely Muslim" part of Pakistan and one where men's authority over women is "encapsulated in the honour code".

A NSW Supreme Court judge rejected MSK's defence that his culture made him do it, but his father, a doctor, said after MSK's first conviction in 2003: "What do they expect to happen to them? Girls from Pakistan don't go out at night."

If they do, the results can be fatal. Honour killings in many parts of Pakistan are sanctioned by tribal and customary law. A woman who transgresses this code in the NWFP, according to the expert evidence, "would be punished by being physically disfigured or killed by her father or brothers to retrieve family honour".

Figures presented to Pakistan's Senate two years ago show the extent of violence in that country where 2774 women died in reported honour killings between 1998 and 2003.

Rape is even more common. In one of the most celebrated rape cases in recent years Mukhtaran Mai, a young illiterate peasant woman from the Punjab, was gang-raped in 2002 as punishment for the alleged sexual activity of her 12-year-old brother. Mai's case came to international attention after she took the step of taking her grievance to court. Pakistan's Hudood laws, introduced in 1980, make this nearly impossible. They mean that if a woman is raped a conviction requires four adult male witnesses or the rapist's confession. If sex is held to be consensual, the woman can be prosecuted for adultery and imprisoned or stoned to death. Plans to amend the Hudood laws to make it easier to punish rapists remain stalled in the Islamabad parliament because of opposition from ultra-conservative Islamic parties.

This may or may not be a islam thing...but this misogynism and treatment of women as property is definitely a problem in certain muslim countries (and also in other sub-continental countries like India too..in a lesser degree).

Case in point.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6316631.stm
Police in southern Pakistan have arrested six men in connection with the kidnap and rape of a 16-year-old girl.

Eleven men are accused of carrying out the attack near the town of Ubaro, about 530km (330 miles) from Karachi.

The girl's family say the rape was in revenge for her cousin eloping with a female relative of the accused.

Doctors confirmed the teenager was raped after she underwent tests in hospital. Such attacks are not uncommon in rural Pakistan in tribal vendettas.

You're all forgetting one major problem with your thinking. They will not be completely intergrated into Australia (and thus continue to be 'dirty' and 'inhuman') until they become nice little christians. They also should speak only english (herefore known as Australian).

Not just any christians, the only ones that truly believe that Australia is the best country in the world and work for a pittance in the name of the 'National Interest'. Our history programs can truly tell everyone how we took this land, which was a desolate, uninhabited by humans (unless you can call the aboriginals 'people') and turned it into a wonderful thriving land. All without the help of Britain, of course (except for the ships).

They also have to be willing to take the crapiest jobs unless they have a nice, superior white complexion.

The federal government has the right idea! Our Dear Leader has rightfully changed the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to the Department of Immagration and Citizenship. Now all we have to do is get rid of the pesky labor and greens (because we all know they obey the devil) and allow a wonderful future with the Liberals, Family first and the two only true religious groups in the world, the Exclusive Bretheren and the Catch the Fire Ministries.

Well said.

Versus how many attacks on women by 'whites', yearly?
Just for context.....

There are more rapes by non-Lebanese in Australia than by Lebanese; but there is also more non-Lebanese. I don’t think anyone has calculated the propensity of Lebanese Muslims to rape, it wouldn’t exactly be appropriate.

The reference made by Harlesburg, describes what is most likely Australia’s worst string serial gang rapes. I am aware one of the victims was repeatedly raped for six hours while being verbally abused. That the rapists tried to use their religion and his culture as a defence only made matters worse.

Well said.

Well, it is nice to know people appreciate the talk. :rolleyes:

These are all young male Muslims, right? This is good. I'll really applaud when young female Muslims do the same thing. I somehow don't think it's going to happen any time soon, though.

I (and I know at least one other NS'er) view not surf life-savers as Aussie cultural icons, but the legend himself, David Boon.

Until a Muslim steps up to the crease and downs 52 beers in one flight, they'll never be true Ockers, imo.

Have you seen this? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVbg_ZB3-jk)

ASD those muslims WERE female.

Unfortunately I do not have broadband so could I have a description of what that was?

Kudos to the guys taking the life saving course. Now if more Muslims would quit using their religion as an excuse to commit violence against women. We've almost got the Christians cured of that crap, with a few exceptions. Bah. Religion isn't the opium of the masses. It's more like a crack/PCP combo.

Kudos to the guys taking the life saving course. Now if more Muslims would quit using their religion as an excuse to commit violence against women. We've almost got the Christians cured of that crap, with a few exceptions. Bah. Religion isn't the opium of the masses. It's more like a crack/PCP combo.

I'd agree with all of that, just that there is no way that extemism/fundementalism culture is dying out. The megachurches of the U.S should show you that it is thriving. The Exclusive Bretheren is another example.