Racism fuels volatility of beach suburbs

The Sydney suburbs of Cronulla and Maroubra are hard-core icons of Australian beach culture, intensely territorial and ready to violently repel "outsiders" who step out of line.

Cronulla was where Puberty Blues, the ugly classic of beach life, was set.

It had also been the scene of earlier riots, between locals and "westies" from the other side of Sydney.

Maroubra is the same kind of community, with its notorious locals, the Bra Boys, and the involvement of two of its top surfers in the fatal shooting of a well-known hard man.

The new element in the weekend's brutality was racism.

Cronulla had become increasingly popular with young Lebanese, among them the relatively small group of toughs who went there to strut and provoke.

They could hardly have chosen a more provocative target, or a worse time to gang-bash young lifesavers: there is hardly anything more iconic, or more expressive of Australians' perceptions of their own values.

And school is out for summer, with swarms of young men, full of machismo and alcohol, ready to party.

The thousands who went to Cronulla went for the worst possible reasons, in the worst possible expression of Australian racism.

Spurred by racist slogans, twisted patriotism, emails and the prodding from the sidelines of neo-Nazi groups, they attacked anyone who looked vaguely Middle Eastern.