Australians being held Hostage in Sydney café

[LunarHarvest]

Oh dear.



"Australian police said they had not had direct contact with an armed offender holding an undisclosed number of people hostage at a cafe in central Sydney."

"Australia, which is backing the United States and its escalating action against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, is on high alert for attacks by radicalised Muslims or by home-grown fighters returning from fighting in the Middle East."

"Live television footage showed patrons inside a cafe standing with their hands pressed against the windows. A black flag similar with Arabic writing on it was also visible."

Hoping for the best, and that everyone returns safely to their families. :=(:

[Torey]

[LunarHarvest]

I've been at work all day, but we were watching some of it unfolding earlier. Just shocking. I'm just looking for updates now. Apparently five hostages have been set free.

"Another local television station has reported that the man has demanded a flag of the Islamic State group be delivered to him and warned that four bombs have been planted around the city."

"They also state there are 4 bombs... two inside the Lindt caf at Martin Place - and two further in the Sydney CBD."

Although this hasn't been confirmed by the police so it cannot be certain to be true, if there are indeed bombs placed then this is becoming even more serious than before, and it was serious before already!

[iris]

[habbalah]

[DanieMarie]

[LunarHarvest]

Three dead, four wounded in Sydney siege

[habbalah]

Three dead, four wounded in Sydney siege

I'm very sad about the people killed (except for the gunman), but I am glad the majority of them are safe, and that the Australian government is not trying to make a thing out of his ethnicity.

[Torey]

I am glad the majority of them are safe, and that the Australian government is not trying to make a thing out of his ethnicity.

It isn't at the moment, but you can rest assured that his being a refugee will only fuel the fire behind the already long-standing debate about Australia's asylum-seeker laws making it "too easy" for refugees (now potentially dangerous ones) to come into the country. *sigh*

[Azvanna]

It isn't at the moment, but you can rest assured that his being a refugee will only fuel the fire behind the already long-standing debate about Australia's asylum-seeker laws making it "too easy" for refugees (now potentially dangerous ones) to come into the country. *sigh*

If that's all you have to put up with, you're blessed! I have dreaded going to Facebook these past few days because of the onslaught of 'ban Islam!' and 'deport them all!' posts I've been seeing. Not to mention a few clips that stir suspicion and unrest.

Anyway, tonight I wrote this on Facebook in response:

I get so frustrated with the attitudes towards Muslims by my Christian friends. When you stir up ill-will and don't give people a constructive way to vent, you just end up with a dangerous, angry mob. You end up with like what happened in Melbourne when white teenage boys bashed a teenage Muslim girl for wearing a hijab. What is that if it is not doing the very thing we disdain? When you meet something you see as a threat with violence, lies, and ludicrous demands, you become no better than the person who wishes to crush your way of life also. The only way to overcome this is to love your neighbour. The parable of the Good Samaritan has never been more pertinent than now. As far as fighting for your way of life goes, the best way to do that in this country is by learning who to vote for and by being outspoken to your representatives in parliament. Emotions are a motivators, but they need to be channelled correctly. If we harm innocent people and stir ill-will, we fail. Be constructive.

Honestly, am I nuts for thinking this way?

[Aeran]

[Azvanna]

While I agree that cries to deport all Muslims, or running around bashing anyone wearing Islamic garb, is pointless and vile behavior, I also think every community has a certain level of responsibility to police itself. Those Muslims who knew of this man and those like him, and at least tacitly accepted them by doing nothing to publicly speak out against them or expose them, bear a degree of culpability when they then act out on their rhetoric, just as those Christians who do nothing to speak out against the various abuses within their Churches while remaining associated with those Churches also bear a degree of culpability for those abuses (and so on for all organizations and communities, not just ethnic or spiritual ones).

I see a lot of non-Islamic people standing up after tragedies like this and saying "not all Muslims are like him!" But where are the Muslims standing up before these tragedies, pointing these men out to the authorities and saying "Not all of us are like him (oh, and seriously, he's violent and he's nuts, keep a close eye on the guy)"?

I like what you said about a community policing itself. Within organised religion, I don't think laypeople believe they hold much power. I think those kinds of statements need to come from the leaders both local and global. And I believe they need to be making them not just to the public, but to their own people as well.

I had heard on the news that the gunman was an outcast. I had heard that many Muslim leaders were saying that he was unstable mentally and not someone who truly represented their faith.. but again I am hearing this from the news and not from actual Muslims. I also did hear that he was convicted of crimes relating to anti-social behaviour (sexual assault) but he was not watched because his criminal history was more of the anti-social bend than the political. So, I think people were warned but the warnings went unheeded.

[anunitu]

[thalassa]

I see a lot of non-Islamic people standing up after tragedies like this and saying "not all Muslims are like him!" But where are the Muslims standing up before these tragedies, pointing these men out to the authorities and saying "Not all of us are like him (oh, and seriously, he's violent and he's nuts, keep a close eye on the guy)"?

Where are they? Trying to fly below the radar so their kids aren't harassed, so they don't get beat up, or fired, etc.

Just because you don't see it happening, doesn't mean it doesn't happen or hasn't happened. And, when its not happening, maybe its because people in some communities don't trust the authorities enough to go to them. You talk like they are some monolithic bloc of people or something. Like most people, regardless of their religion, maybe they are just minding their own business and depend on hoping nothing bad happens so they can go on living their life. Or maybe, like most people, because they don't see it, they don't believe that it is happening. Or maybe, like many people in targeted minority groups, they are afraid. This is all pretty much human nature...


Personally, I'd be wondering why the heck he was out an running around with a known history of violent crime and multiple current charges, including accessory to murder (from what news I've read which could be wrong)... I'm not Australian, I don't know how your justice system works...but here in the US a guy like that wouldn't get bail before his trial in most juristictions, and if he did, he'd likely be under house arrest with a monitoring device.


ETA: And yeah, like Anu said...maybe the dude just went coocoo. Its been known to happen.

[Azvanna]

Where are they? Trying to fly below the radar so their kids aren't harassed, so they don't get beat up, or fired, etc.

Another reason why I think it should be the Imams and Islamic organisations that are making these kinds of statements. It has happened, but it's not reported much. I have heard it reported a few times (when I set out with intent to hear) that Al-Azhar has condemned ISIS (internet source: Al-Azhar: Islamic State Is Corrupt And “A Danger To Islam.” Lebanese paper The Daily Star reported that Al-Azhar’s Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, Egypt’s highest religious authority, denounced the Islamic State as a threat to Islam and said that the group both violates Sharia law and humanitarian law: “[They] give an opportunity for those who seek to harm us, to destroy us and interfere in our affairs with the [pretext of a] call to fight terrorism.” [The Daily Star, 8/13/14] - http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/...ink-again.html).

Personally, I'd be wondering why the heck he was out an running around with a known history of violent crime and multiple current charges, including accessory to murder (from what news I've read which could be wrong)

Many Australians including the appropriate authorities are asking the same question. I hope that an answer can be found and it can be communicated to the public if any changes have been made... though I don't like the chances of that.

- - - Updated - - -

Because.. you know.. that would mean that the government would have to be accountable.