Sydney siege: Australia has been struck by the act of terror it feared | Paul Daley | Comment is free | The GuardianSydney siege: Australia has been struck by the act of terror it feared | Paul Daley | Comment is free | The Guardian










Close






Skip to main content

 









sign in








subscribe









search




jobs






more


from the guardian:


jobs


change edition:



switch to the UK edition


switch to the AU edition







US edition




switch to the UK edition




switch to the Australia edition













The Guardian


Winner of the Pulitzer prize











home


›
opinion










home




US




world




opinion
selected




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







browse all sections
close







 











Comment is free



Sydney siege: Australia has been struck by the act of terror it feared


Paul Daley








Sydney’s summer languor has been shattered by Man Haron Monis’s attack. Moments like these test the resolve of our leaders• Follow continuing live coverage here • Sydney siege ends as tactical response police storm Lindt Cafe and hostages run out• #illridewithyou: hashtag offers solidarity with Sydney’s Muslims• What is the significance of the Sydney siege flag?• The world reacts: newspaper front pages 

















‘Moments such as these test political leaders.’ Peter Cosgrove, the governor general, pays his respects in Martin Place. Photograph: AAP





Monday 15 December 2014 19.49 EST







Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp
















It was the act of terror that Australia feared would come but could do little to anticipate and even less to prevent.
It arrived, characteristically, when least expected – just as the country was winding down with office Christmas parties ahead of the customary hazy summer languor of cricket, family gatherings and beach. 
And then it came to an ordinarily welcoming morning coffee shop, the Lindt Chocolat cafe in Sydney’s Martin Place, in the form of Man Haron Monis. 
It makes tragic little difference to the two dead hostages and the survivors, who must live forever with the terrifying legacy of their experiences, that Monis was apparently an auto-radicalised terrorist, acting partly under the banner of contorted, extreme Islam.
It already seems probable that Monis was not a remote drone acting directly for the Islamic State (Isis), as others who have come to the attention of Australian counter-terrorism authorities have allegedly been. Rather, as Tony Abbott pointed out early on Tuesday morning, he was a mentally unstable man who “cloaked his actions with the symbolism of the Isis death cult”.
Abbott’s statement is a temperate departure from comments he made a few months ago after the shooting of a Muslim man near a Sydney mosque and an earlier unrelated incident in Melbourne in which police shot dead an Islamic radical.
Commenting in September on those incidents, Abbott said: 

Well obviously we saw the attack on two policemen in Victoria a month or so back. It seems there is an [Isis] death cult influence on this shooting in Sydney in the last 24 hours or so. The important thing is for all of us to absolutely reject this death cult.

But in measured statements during and after the siege yesterday and today, Abbott offered Australians much-needed assurance and empathy, rather than linking the dead terrorist firmly to Islamic State.
Notwithstanding the number of Australian men who have been drawn to the Isis fight in Syria and Iraq, and suspected terrorists already arrested and charged locally, it seems a sensible way to proceed. Abbott’s security mandarins have been on the record for some time about the danger of auto-radicalisation.
In August the then director of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio), David Irvine, said “a recurring nightmare has been the so-called lone wolf, radicalised over the internet, who had managed to avoid coming across our radar”.
And with Monis – a “damaged goods individual” according to his own lawyer – it has come to pass. This is an incident to which all Australians (and citizens anywhere who assume it is safe to buy a morning coffee without becoming a hostage) can relate and, therefore, be fearful of. That is the universal potency of terrorism.
Moments such as these test political leaders. Abbott told his traumatised country: 

I can think of almost nothing more distressing, more terrifying than to be caught up in such a situation and our hearts go out to these people.

It required neither more nor less. But as the siege developed, imprudent hyperbole captivated some headline writers, not least at the The Daily Telegraph, whose special edition screamed “DEATH CULT CBD ATTACK – IS takes 13 hostages in city cafe siege”.
It was, we were advised, “the instant we changed forever”.
But it wasn’t really. Australia and Australians, here and abroad, have had sufficient deadly brushes with the terrorism of contorted Islam to understand their own susceptibility. Our distance, always considered such a tyranny, offers us little safety from the darker uses of the internet, where hatred is easily spawned and the deranged easily captivated by deformed religion.
The frequently naïve chatter of social media and the white noise of rolling, 24-hour news coverage – of journalists who know nothing live crossing to those who know little more, in an endless barrage of speculation – brought new dimensions to inanity, irresponsibility and perhaps insensitivity. 
A traumatised employee of the Lindt cafe, who narrowly escaped becoming a hostage with her work colleagues, was asked on air, “How do you feel ... knowing that could be you?” Who is genuinely served by such an interview?
Thankfully acts of kindness reverberate in times of evil. That’s why Tessa Kum’s hashtag #Illridewithyou – an evocation of support for Muslims, who are rightly fearful of an anti-Islam backlash after the Martin Place siege – has been mentioned more than 120,000 times on Twitter.
It’s a beautifully conceived reminder that such attacks, whether carried out by Isis or a lone wolf, are antithetical to nearly all Australians.
Abbott on Tuesday morning declared there were “lessons to be learned” from what happened yesterday and overnight. As Australia winds down for the beach and the cricket and extended family time, there is plenty else besides to think about this year. There are lessons for everyone, all right.



Topics



Sydney siege




Sydney




Australian intelligence agencies




Crime - Australia








Share on Facebook







Share on Twitter







Share via Email







Share on LinkedIn







Share on Google+







Share on WhatsApp


























View all comments >







comments 
Sign in
or create your Guardian account to join the discussion.

This discussion is closed for comments.

We’re doing some maintenance right now. You can still read comments, but please come back later to add your own.


Commenting has been disabled for this account (why?)







Order by 


newest


oldest




Show 25


25


50


100




Threads 


collapsed


expanded


unthreaded





Loading comments… Trouble loading?




View more comments







 






more on this story














Sydney siege: Australian PM Tony Abbott warns of rise in 'terrorist chatter' - video

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott warns of a rise in 'terrorist chatter' in the aftermath of the cafe siege in Sydney



Published: 23 Dec 2014




Sydney siege: Australian PM Tony Abbott warns of rise in 'terrorist chatter' - video












Sydney siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson mourned at memorial services

Survivors of Martin Place Lindt cafe siege join victims’ families and NSW premier, governor and police commissioner at memorial services



Published: 22 Dec 2014




Sydney siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson mourned at memorial services












Sydney siege floral tributes to be removed before wet weather hits city

Flowers will be mulched and used in a memorial to be established in consultation with the families of the victims of the Lindt cafe attack in Martin Place



Published: 22 Dec 2014




Sydney siege floral tributes to be removed before wet weather hits city












Sydney siege: videos show gunman's wife a risk to public, say prosecutors

Amirah Droudis faces a bid to revoke her bail pending her trial over the killing of Man Haron Monis’s former wife



Published: 21 Dec 2014




Sydney siege: videos show gunman's wife a risk to public, say prosecutors














Partner of Sydney siege gunman arrives at court - video




Published: 22 Dec 2014




Partner of Sydney siege gunman arrives at court - video








Siege survivor Julie Taylor tells of heartbreak over loss of Katrina Dawson




Published: 18 Dec 2014




Siege survivor Julie Taylor tells of heartbreak over loss of Katrina Dawson








Man Haron Monis lawyers and judges receive death threats and other abuse




Published: 18 Dec 2014




Man Haron Monis lawyers and judges receive death threats and other abuse








On guns, David Leyonhjelm is neither a champion nor a villain. He's a libertarian

Eleanor Robertson




Published: 18 Dec 2014







On guns, David Leyonhjelm is neither a champion nor a villain. He's a libertarian

















popular












 








The Guardian






back to top














home




US




world




opinion
selected




sports




soccer




tech




arts




lifestyle




fashion




business




money




travel




environment







all sections
close







home




US




world




UK




europe




americas




asia




middle east




africa




australia






opinion
selected




sports




soccer




MLS




NFL




MLB




NBA




NHL






soccer




live scores




tables




competitions




results




fixtures




clubs






tech




games






arts




movies




tv & radio




music




books




art & design




stage




classical






lifestyle




food




health




love & sex




family




women




home & garden






fashion




business




markets




companies






money




travel




USA




europe




UK






environment




development




cities






science




media




crosswords




video











Opinion




›
Sydney siege








jobs

subscribe
all topics
all contributors

info and resources

contact us

feedback

complaints & corrections
terms & conditions
privacy policy
cookie policy
securedrop


© 2015 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.






















 
