Locals are sick of ethnic gangs (mainly Lebanese) hanging around Cronulla beach and harassing people with violence and it's even to the point where girls are claiming that they have been threatened with rape etc. It's been going on for a while now, though in the last 12 months only one arrest has ever been made for this type of behaviour. Then last week two lifesavers were bashed by one of these groups, an act that many locals decided was the last straw.

What happened next was stupid and irresponsible. Reports say that between 2000-5000 people gathered for a protest against this, though the protest itself got out of hand. A mixture of frustration, drunkeness and yes, there would be racism in certain cases, led to something of a riot in the surrounding area of Cronulla beach. The 'stupid and irresponsible' part that I speak of is that cars were smashed up, as were shop windows, and a number of people of Middle Eastern descent were chased down the streets by groups of angry youths.

HOWEVER, don't believe the media portraying this as just an explosion of racism over the one bashing incident. That is crap. Like I said, these groups have been doing this type of thing for a couple of years, yet nothing has been done to stop it. So when a guy, doing his job to save other beach-goers in need, gets bashed by a dozen others, I can at least understand the initial feeling of anger and frustration felt by many who got involved in these riots.

I am not saying that I condone the rioting, that was ridiculous. Fair enough, if they wanted to catch the actual people responsible, but having a go at anyone that looks Middle Eastern is a joke and that behaviour should be punished. One of my best friends is of Lebanese descent and if he had been in the area at the time, he most likely would have been attacked. Yet this guy is 100% Australian, born, bred and extremely passionate about his country. He's probably more Australian than most of those rioters, if you think in terms of patriotism.

But if I saw someone urinating and burning the Australian flag, I'd get pretty pissed off too. And that did happen.