A Lebanese 'problem'?

Janet Albrechtsen’s column in The Australian (December 14, 2005) quoted a young professional woman who has seen the anti-social behaviour for a long time in her area. Anyone who socialises in nocturnal Sydney has seen as much.

The problem has to do with religion in that the lower classes in Lebanon were more likely to have been Muslim.

The more worrying link with religion is the attitude towards Western women. A decent Muslim would undoubtedly be taught to respect women in all their varieties. But all families teach a brand of womanhood, and it’s imparted primarily from mothers and enforced by fathers. If a person is taught that a good woman acts and dresses modestly, it is plausible for them to deduce that a bad woman may dress in a revealing manner. This is particularly true if the young adults are already on an anti-social trajectory.

The repeated insults during revenge attacks on innocent women along the lines of “Aussie slut” are particularly worrying and strike a chord with the gang rapes in 2002.

Muslim youth do have unique difficulties in coming to terms with their identity, especially when they have conflicting value systems at home compared with school or work. This can produce greater deviance or psychiatric disorder, a point better measured in Britain where South Asian youth have a three times higher rate of mental illness.

But there are other Muslim youth from many different countries living in Sydney. Other Arab Australians from Egypt, Jordan, Iran or Syria do not have the same problem. If you meet them, they will be quick to point that their community’s migration was from a more skilled base. They had smaller families, focused on their children’s education and integrated more easily.

It is difficult to place blame on communities that wanted nothing but the best for their children. They are certainly not evil. But it is time to acknowledge that there has been a real failure in specific sections the Sydney Lebanese population. Only then will we have a better chance at helping them. Otherwise the word Leb will leave an even greater linguistic stain in the future.