Terror Siege in Sydeny

A lone gunman has taken an unknown number of hostages in a Lindt Chocolate cafe here in Sydney, Australia at about 10 a.m this morning. The man, who has yet to be named, has been seeing wearing an Islamic bandanna across his head and forcing hostages to hold a black Islamist flag (though apparently not the flag of ISIS) over the window of the cafe. 






www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15…








www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15…




There have been no reports of injuries or death so far as the exact number of hostages remains unknown.

The Sydney CBD remains in lock down as dozens of heavily armed Police Officers have the building surrounded and are attempting to negotiate with the gunman. Five hostages managed to escape from the cafe and run safely to Police positioned outside.




www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15…











I suppose it seemed inevitable, but I had of course hoped that Australia would never see this kind of thing. Terrorist acts have been committed against Australians overseas and a plot by ISIS supporters to behead random bystanders was thwarted, but now it seems we have a real terror act being committed on Australian soil.

So far this does not appear to be apart of a larger plot and instead seems to be a lone wolf incident but we cannot be certain. As I write this at 10:30 pm, the siege has gone on for over twelve hours with no end in sight.

Whatever the gunman's particular motivations are, concerns have been raised on how the Australian Muslim community will fair because of this incident. Anti-Muslim sentiment has been on the rise recently, with reports women wearing traditional clothing have been cursed at and even assaulted. Mosques have also been graffitied and vandalized.

One thing has emerged from this frightening event though that nobody expected. A Twitter hashtag called "Illridewithyou". Sydney’s and Australia’s social media users have united under one hashtag banner, pledging their solidarity with those who fear racially motivated and bigoted reprisals on public transport.

www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/12/ill…

www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15…

The hashtag appears to have come from a Facebook post from a woman who was riding on a train in Sydney, who noticed a Muslim woman quietly take off her head covering.

The woman said: "No, if you want to wear it, then wear it. I'll walk with you.

Another woman took to Twitter and wrote: "If you reg take the bus b/w Coogee/Martin PL, wear religious attire, &don't feel safe alone: I'll ride withyou. @me for schedule."

The woman, Twitter user @sirtessa, then suggested "maybe start a hashtag? What's in #illridewithyou?"

The hashtag has been picked up by a number of prominant tweeters as well as throngs of everyday users, making it one of the most prominant topics on Twitter.



It certainly says something when in spite of how easy it can be to target a whole group of people for the action committed by a single radical (I myself have difficult feelings towards Muslims, not to say that I hate them but the belief that there is nothing inherently wrong with Islam is something I have personal struggles with) but instead unite to show the very thing that these radicals have no understanding of; tolerance and respect for their fellow human, regardless of religion or race.

I guess sometimes you need to fight inhumanity with humanity instead of just bullets.