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“As children, we cherished our weekly trips to Cronulla, diving into the towering waves,” recalls Issam Mansour, 62, reflecting on the fond memories of his past.
However, since 2005, Issam and his eldest daughter, Sara, 32, have not set foot in Cronulla. Their absence from the once-frequented beach is marked by a significant event in Australia’s history.
The date of December 11, 2005, stands out as one of Australia’s most distressing instances of racial violence. On that day, approximately 5,000 individuals converged on North Cronulla Beach, motivated by a widely circulated text message that encouraged “Aussies” to partake in “Leb and wog bashing day.”
For the Mansour family and many others, the aftermath of the Cronulla riots raises profound questions about identity and belonging in Australia. In an interview with SBS News, the Mansours shared their reflections on how that fateful day profoundly impacted their lives and why they’ve avoided returning to Cronulla ever since.
A young Issam Mansour, who was 12 when the Lebanese Civil War started in 1975. Source: Supplied
This year marked not only the 20th anniversary of the Cronulla Riots, but the 50th anniversary of the start of the Lebanese Civil War in April 1975.
“[It] really dawned on me that was a place that was not for us anymore, there was a sense of anger and frustration,” Sara recalls.
‘They’re never welcome back’
After that, a mass text message was sent to around 270,000 recipients, calling on “every f***ing Aussie in the Shire to get down to North Cronulla”.
A police officer helps a man after he was set upon by a crowd at Cronulla on 11 December, 2005. Source: AAP / Paul Miller
“Let’s show them that this is our beach and they’re never welcome back,” it read.
“It made us go out less and it made us more insular,” Sara says.
Why Sara marked her arm with ‘wog for life’
But after the riots, Sara began to reflect on her identity.
“I think for me it was almost like a defiance and it was a sense of reclaiming my agency and controlling my identity and my body,” she says.
‘Not the image we want’
“We can’t walk away from the fact and instead we have to drive down that commitment to ensuring something like that never happens again.”
“I just can’t go,” Sara says.
Could the Cronulla riots happen again?
“All of the ingredients that were there at the time of the Cronulla Riots twenty years ago are here now today,” he told SBS News.
“It came down to the machine that was feeding that narrative. And that machine has not stopped.”
Issam Mansour and his family in front of the Sydney Opera House. Source: Supplied
Issam says his family just want to live peacefully.
