Sydney terrorist attack

[Sir David Gray]

Breaking news just now that Sydney is under attack.

They have taken an unconfirmed number of hostages in a cafe in the city centre and have reportedly told police that they have explosive devices planted across the city and have demanded to speak to the Prime Minister on radio. Hostages have been pictured pressed up against the window of the cafe with their hands up and the terrorists have draped a black flag with Arabic writing on it over one of the windows.

Also unconfirmed reports that there's a police operation at the Sydney Opera House.

Very worrying.

[Sylar]

Looks like a lone idiot, flying Islamic flags.

Still drawing on and no immediate resolution in sight. These are the kinds of attacks I think we can expect from these nutters going forward, rather than the mass orchestrated scenarios such as 7/7 or September 11th.

I'm presuming he must have bombs in the cafe, wired to a dead-man's switch, as he's nonchalantly parading around at the windows in clear line of sight otherwise.

[johnbc70]

If a lone gunman then surely a sniper can take him out?

[Jay]

He is claiming to have two bombs within the cafe and two bombs in the nearby financial area.

[Sylar]

Probably (hopefully) not connected but in addition, four armed gunmen have entered an apartment in Ghent (Belgium) and police have sealed off the area:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30478231

[Colr]

Looks like a lone idiot, flying Islamic flags.

Still drawing on and no immediate resolution in sight. These are the kinds of attacks I think we can expect from these nutters going forward, rather than the mass orchestrated scenarios such as 7/7 or September 11th.

I'm presuming he must have bombs in the cafe, wired to a dead-man's switch, as he's nonchalantly parading around at the windows in clear line of sight otherwise.

Terrifying as it could happen anywhere. He is clearly an idiot to the extent that he has brought the wrong flag!

I really feel for those involved. Hope nobody is harmed (except the twat responsible, obviously).

[Sir David Gray]

Thankfully the initial reports of there being a wider terrorist attack across Sydney have proven to be false and it appears to be just one individual who has taken the hostages in the cafe.

Five people have managed to escape but there's still several people being held inside the cafe and there's no immediate sign of the situation coming to an end.

I hope this comes to a peaceful conclusion.

[Northernhibee]

The situation in Sydney just now is understandably tragic and as I've said before I hope it can be resolved without any further hatred or violence.


I'm also saddened to see that the media have continued their part in all of the hatred by immediately jumping at the chance to add to their "muslim fanatic/terrorist" narrative before facts even become clear. Before the situation has had time to see itself out they are there to point fingers and stir the pot further.


Let's be absolutely clear as to why lone individuals who do such things end up heading to such extreme measures - a sense of feeling voiceless more often than not. When you see lone gunmen in America opening fire in shopping centres, workplaces or so forth they are often found to have wanted the exposure and attention. These people are often absolute introverts to the point of being a loner in every sense of the word and aren't good at expressing their feelings which leads to the sense of alienation and voicelessness. It's also interesting how the media choose not to group them in with others in their religion in these instances, but that's another story for another time.


The media's decision to make an enemy of the entire religion of islam is little more than inciting racial hatred. All these falsified stories usually along the lines of sharia law or halal food are there to appease the ignorant who are keen to find a villain to point their fingers at stir up hatred whilst the many, many positive stories about muslims in the UK are not reported, nor are stories reported of how much harder it is for a muslim to find work, to earn a large salary, of the racism that some face day to day.


Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of innocent people have lost their lives in the Iraqi and Afghan wars - these are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. Whether or not you believe that these wars were about oil or not is largely irrelevant, however the agenda for going to war was weapons of mass destruction and this has turned out to be totally and entirely false. Hundreds of thousands of families around the world have lost innocent family members yet this is barely reported in the mainstream media, who prefer to report on how "Muslim only loos are being installed in shopping centres". It comes back to that same thing again - voicelessness.


This in no way condones the actions of the likes of the gunman in Sydney but it's saddening that some feel the need to go to such extremes to look for a sense of attention and exposure. I really, really hope that this can be resolved without any casualties.


The situation in the world today can't be solved with hatred or violence or more wars, it can only be solved by compassion, empathy and understanding.
Here's hoping that the situation in Sydney can be resolved peacefully.

[Sylar]

The situation in Sydney just now is understandably tragic and as I've said before I hope it can be resolved without any further hatred or violence.


I'm also saddened to see that the media have continued their part in all of the hatred by immediately jumping at the chance to add to their "muslim fanatic/terrorist" narrative before facts even become clear. Before the situation has had time to see itself out they are there to point fingers and stir the pot further.


Let's be absolutely clear as to why lone individuals who do such things end up heading to such extreme measures - a sense of feeling voiceless more often than not. When you see lone gunmen in America opening fire in shopping centres, workplaces or so forth they are often found to have wanted the exposure and attention. These people are often absolute introverts to the point of being a loner in every sense of the word and aren't good at expressing their feelings which leads to the sense of alienation and voicelessness. It's also interesting how the media choose not to group them in with others in their religion in these instances, but that's another story for another time.


The media's decision to make an enemy of the entire religion of islam is little more than inciting racial hatred. All these falsified stories usually along the lines of sharia law or halal food are there to appease the ignorant who are keen to find a villain to point their fingers at stir up hatred whilst the many, many positive stories about muslims in the UK are not reported, nor are stories reported of how much harder it is for a muslim to find work, to earn a large salary, of the racism that some face day to day.


Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of innocent people have lost their lives in the Iraqi and Afghan wars - these are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. Whether or not you believe that these wars were about oil or not is largely irrelevant, however the agenda for going to war was weapons of mass destruction and this has turned out to be totally and entirely false. Hundreds of thousands of families around the world have lost innocent family members yet this is barely reported in the mainstream media, who prefer to report on how "Muslim only loos are being installed in shopping centres". It comes back to that same thing again - voicelessness.


This in no way condones the actions of the likes of the gunman in Sydney but it's saddening that some feel the need to go to such extremes to look for a sense of attention and exposure. I really, really hope that this can be resolved without any casualties.


The situation in the world today can't be solved with hatred or violence or more wars, it can only be solved by compassion, empathy and understanding.
Here's hoping that the situation in Sydney can be resolved peacefully.

Whilst I agree to an extent (certainly with the 'Daily Mail-esque' coverage in some instances), the identification of this man as a Muslim extremist is a simple reporting of fact. Whilst there are probably underpinning psychological things one might take into account, he's a an Iranian cleric who sought asylum in Australia and is currently on probation for sending threatening letters to families of Australian soldiers. He's also flying a flag that is associated with jihadi groups in part of Europe and Africa and has requested an Islamic State flag (according to the media reports, granted...). He has drawn the linkages himself really, not the media.

Your wider points about the demonisation of Islam are sound (and some of these stories do make me uncomfortable) but I don't see anything over and above here. In fact, the coverage that they've given to the somewhat positive #illridewithyou that's trending on Twitter is quite refreshing.

[Northernhibee]

Whilst I agree to an extent (certainly with the 'Daily Mail-esque' coverage in some instances), the identification of this man as a Muslim extremist is a simple reporting of fact. Whilst there are probably underpinning psychological things one might take into account, he's a an Iranian cleric who sought asylum in Australia and is currently on probation for sending threatening letters to families of Australian soldiers. He's also flying a flag that is associated with jihadi groups in part of Europe and Africa and has requested an Islamic State flag (according to the media reports, granted...). He has drawn the linkages himself really, not the media.

Your wider points about the demonisation of Islam are sound (and some of these stories do make me uncomfortable) but I don't see anything over and above here. In fact, the coverage that they've given to the somewhat positive #illridewithyou that's trending on Twitter is quite refreshing.

Was #illridewithyou started by the media or by the public out of interest?

[Sylar]

Was #illridewithyou started by the media or by the public out of interest?

According to a Guardian article on the matter, it was started by a TV content editor and writer, following on from a tweet by a member of the public telling her story about helping an obviously frightened Muslim woman who had removed her hijab to avoid being targetted.

[Sylar]

It's just come to an explosive ending - police have stormed the cafe and killed the gunman (apparently). 4 hostages taken out on stretchers, 5 ran free.

Around a 30 second gun battle by the sounds of things - quite incredible scenes!

[hibsbollah]

#illridewithyou is a pretty cool online reaction to todays events.

[Sergio sledge]

Reports that one of the hostages and the hostage taker were killed during the gunfight. Sad news if true.

[Pretty Boy]

Reports that one of the hostages and the hostage taker were killed during the gunfight. Sad news if true.

Police confirm 3 dead, one being the gunman.

[HH81]

What a complete nightmare. You could not imagine been in that cafe.

[Sir David Gray]

The situation in Sydney just now is understandably tragic and as I've said before I hope it can be resolved without any further hatred or violence.


I'm also saddened to see that the media have continued their part in all of the hatred by immediately jumping at the chance to add to their "muslim fanatic/terrorist" narrative before facts even become clear. Before the situation has had time to see itself out they are there to point fingers and stir the pot further.


Let's be absolutely clear as to why lone individuals who do such things end up heading to such extreme measures - a sense of feeling voiceless more often than not. When you see lone gunmen in America opening fire in shopping centres, workplaces or so forth they are often found to have wanted the exposure and attention. These people are often absolute introverts to the point of being a loner in every sense of the word and aren't good at expressing their feelings which leads to the sense of alienation and voicelessness. It's also interesting how the media choose not to group them in with others in their religion in these instances, but that's another story for another time.


The media's decision to make an enemy of the entire religion of islam is little more than inciting racial hatred. All these falsified stories usually along the lines of sharia law or halal food are there to appease the ignorant who are keen to find a villain to point their fingers at stir up hatred whilst the many, many positive stories about muslims in the UK are not reported, nor are stories reported of how much harder it is for a muslim to find work, to earn a large salary, of the racism that some face day to day.


Hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of innocent people have lost their lives in the Iraqi and Afghan wars - these are fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. Whether or not you believe that these wars were about oil or not is largely irrelevant, however the agenda for going to war was weapons of mass destruction and this has turned out to be totally and entirely false. Hundreds of thousands of families around the world have lost innocent family members yet this is barely reported in the mainstream media, who prefer to report on how "Muslim only loos are being installed in shopping centres". It comes back to that same thing again - voicelessness.


This in no way condones the actions of the likes of the gunman in Sydney but it's saddening that some feel the need to go to such extremes to look for a sense of attention and exposure. I really, really hope that this can be resolved without any casualties.


The situation in the world today can't be solved with hatred or violence or more wars, it can only be solved by compassion, empathy and understanding.
Here's hoping that the situation in Sydney can be resolved peacefully.

Surely you aren't suggesting that we should feel sorry for people who take others hostage and threaten people and cause widespread fear and panic across a whole city because they are loners and introverts.

I think it was fairly obvious quite early on yesterday that the guy had Islamist sympathies. It wasn't just some prejudiced assumption made up by the right wing press, it's a simple fact that is being mentioned by everyone who is giving a profile of this man's life.

I totally agree that it is wrong to somehow suggest that the entire religion of Islam should be held accountable for such attacks. I'm sure the vast majority of Muslims will be appalled by the actions taken by this man.

However, just as it is wrong to blame the entire religion of Islam for such attacks, I think it's also unhelpful when we have people like yourself who seem to be trying to downplay the seriousness of Islamic fundamentalism in the world today.

Islamism and all that goes with it is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today but some people would rather ignore it as they don't want to be seen to be putting any blame on Islam or Muslims in general, even although they wouldn't be doing any such thing.

[The_Exile]

#illridewithyou is a pretty cool online reaction to todays events.

Amazing how quickly it gathered pace, respect to all those willing to stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of what happened, incredible.

[CropleyWasGod]

Surely you aren't suggesting that we should feel sorry for people who take others hostage and threaten people and cause widespread fear and panic across a whole city because they are loners and introverts.

I think it was fairly obvious quite early on yesterday that the guy had Islamist sympathies. It wasn't just some prejudiced assumption made up by the right wing press, it's a simple fact that is being mentioned by everyone who is giving a profile of this man's life.

I totally agree that it is wrong to somehow suggest that the entire religion of Islam should be held accountable for such attacks. I'm sure the vast majority of Muslims will be appalled by the actions taken by this man.

However, just as it is wrong to blame the entire religion of Islam for such attacks, I think it's also unhelpful when we have people like yourself who seem to be trying to downplay the seriousness of Islamic fundamentalism in the world today.

Islamism and all that goes with it is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today but some people would rather ignore it as they don't want to be seen to be putting any blame on Islam or Muslims in general, even although they wouldn't be doing any such thing.
The facts have still to be established. However, rather than focus on the so called religious aspect, I'd be more interested in why he was out on bail while facing 40 charges of sexual assault and accessory to murder.

[easty]

Off topic a bit, but what do you all think about France negotiating with Al Qaeda, and releasing 4 'terrorists' to get back the French guy who was being held hostage?

Obviously it's great the French guy gets to go home to his family, but does this not just encourage more hostage takings?

[CropleyWasGod]

Off topic a bit, but what do you all think about France negotiating with Al Qaeda, and releasing 4 'terrorists' to get back the French guy who was being held hostage?

Obviously it's great the French guy gets to go home to his family, but does this not just encourage more hostage takings?

It probably encourages more French hostage taking. France have a history of negotiating with kidnappers.

[The_Exile]

It probably encourages more French hostage taking. France have a history of negotiating with kidnappers.

Cheese eating surrender monkeys! :greengrin

[.Sean.]

Surely you aren't suggesting that we should feel sorry for people who take others hostage and threaten people and cause widespread fear and panic across a whole city because they are loners and introverts.

I think it was fairly obvious quite early on yesterday that the guy had Islamist sympathies. It wasn't just some prejudiced assumption made up by the right wing press, it's a simple fact that is being mentioned by everyone who is giving a profile of this man's life.

I totally agree that it is wrong to somehow suggest that the entire religion of Islam should be held accountable for such attacks. I'm sure the vast majority of Muslims will be appalled by the actions taken by this man.

However, just as it is wrong to blame the entire religion of Islam for such attacks, I think it's also unhelpful when we have people like yourself who seem to be trying to downplay the seriousness of Islamic fundamentalism in the world today.

Islamism and all that goes with it is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today but some people would rather ignore it as they don't want to be seen to be putting any blame on Islam or Muslims in general, even although they wouldn't be doing any such thing.
Correct, folk are scared to make a statement for fear of being branded right wing. Of course there will be hundreds of thousands of decent, honest Muslims, however on these shores it appears there is definetely a backwards and sexist edge to their beliefs which should have no place in our society. I've no problem with a multicultural country whatsoever but the arrogance and ignorance of a fair number of Muslims towards other faiths, our traditions and way of life is all wrong.

[.Sean.]

Off topic a bit, but what do you all think about France negotiating with Al Qaeda, and releasing 4 'terrorists' to get back the French guy who was being held hostage?

Obviously it's great the French guy gets to go home to his family, but does this not just encourage more hostage takings?
Never bow down to the demands of a terrorist.

[CropleyWasGod]

Never bow down to the demands of a terrorist.
Even when it helps to deliver peace, as it did in NI?

[Sylar]

Correct, folk are scared to make a statement for fear of being branded right wing. Of course there will be hundreds of thousands of decent, honest Muslims, however on these shores it appears there is definetely a backwards and sexist edge to their beliefs which should have no place in our society. I've no problem with a multicultural country whatsoever but the arrogance and ignorance of a fair number of Muslims towards other faiths, our traditions and way of life is all wrong.

The opposite of that is also true. A lot of people decry Islam and its followers for being this, thinking that, behaving this way or that...

Mostly peddled by people that don't know a thing about Islam or know any Muslims, acquiring most of their opinion and 'facts' from Daily Mail-esque sources.

I used to have a lot of misconceptions about Islam until I moved to the south east, when I met a lot of Muslims - I started playing football with one of the Islamic groups here at the University and a nicer bunch of guys you couldn't ask for.

However, I also started playing football with specifically 2 groups of people - Iranians and Saudis (again, mostly all Muslims). Their cultural take on issues of gender and race was a lot more Medieval and something I never encountered with the first group I played with (who were from all over, including here in the UK, parts of Africa, other parts of Europe, Asia...)

I think cultural upbringing is every bit as much to blame as Islam for the most part.

[Mon Dieu4]

Sounds as though this guy was mentally ill and a bit radge to boot that happened to be a Muslim rather than a fundamentalist to me

[Betty Boop]

Even when it helps to deliver peace, as it did in NI?


Council of the European Union, to take Hamas off the Terrorist organisation list.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30511569

[Colr]

Off topic a bit, but what do you all think about France negotiating with Al Qaeda, and releasing 4 'terrorists' to get back the French guy who was being held hostage?

Obviously it's great the French guy gets to go home to his family, but does this not just encourage more hostage takings?

Cheese eating surrender monkeys.

[easty]

Cheese eating surrender monkeys.

Ahhhh someone's already beat you to that one!