Heroes & Villains

After Bondi, as our nation reels

I thought, there is no need to write

Whatever I put onto paper just might

Seem a little contrite

And that's not alright.

I don't think I can make the rest of this rhyme while still trying to give it meaning. I tried to shy away from the socials, I really did, but my curiosity got the better of me and I cracked, unable to resist the temptation to view what incisive comments might make an appearance. At first, not many, but after two days the trolls came out from under the bridge. Hello Australia, we have a hero who just happens to be a Muslim. Or is he a Muslim who just happens to be a hero. Either way, we can't let him have too much glory while he's recovering in hospital. Someone, somewhere, did some cursory research just to prove that Ahmed al Ahmed's heroism was a fluke, citing a list of atrocities committed by Muslims. Because that was oh so necessary. Because surely we all know that terrorists are always Muslim but never white. Yet in reality the racialisation of terrorism is never going to change or stop anything.

Businessman Ahmed didn't go out looking for people to save. He saw fellow Australians under attack and he acted without fear, saving many lives and taking two bullets himself. Of course acts of mass violence can be motivated by race or religion but often they are something else entirely. Two of the worst massacres I can remember because I could identify with the time or the place were in the UK and neither had links to religion or race. On 19 August 1987, in the sleepy English village of Hungerford, very close to where I grew up, Michael Ryan, a white 27 year old, went on a shooting spree. Loaded with weapons he killed his mother, rampaged through the town murdering 16 people then turned a gun on himself. No motive was ever established, although acute schizophrenia and other mental health issues were suspected.

Almost ten years later, on 13 March 1996, 43 year old Thomas Hamilton, also a white male, killed 16 and injured 15 others, mostly children, before shooting himself dead at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland. I remember sitting in my car on the way to a meeting when the first announcement came across the airwaves, stating there had been a shooting at a primary school but not which school. I pulled over, panic taking hold, as my boys were then attending primary school in the UK. Of course I breathed a sigh of relief, momentarily, when the second announcement was made and I knew they were safe. But this was followed by a wave of grief for all the parents who weren't so lucky. No concrete motive was established but a combination of embitterment, paranoia and resentment at being rejected by his community was later cited. Both cases are evident of the lack of access to decent mental health services during those times.

So my point is. My point is that people hate and some go on to kill, regardless of their religion, colour or race. In the wake of the weekend's unfathomable tragedy, Australia needs to take stock, we have to be kind to each other and to those with the power to make changes. If we must post, make it relevant and gentle, make freedom of speech count towards the greater good.