Bankstown youth offer support

Wednesday, November 17, 1993 - 11:00

Aaron Benedek, Sydney

Young people living in Sydney's south-west, regularly targeted by the state ALP government's "law and order" and "anti-terrorist" policing, have seen the Redfern Block's resistance as an inspiration.

"The way the police treat young people, especially youth of colour, is pretty much the same in Redfern as it is in Bankstown", 26-year-old Bankstown resident and Palestinian activist Rihab Charida told Green Left Weekly. "They intimidate and harass us whether we've committed crimes or not."

Resistance member Dory Melki, agreed: "[The police] treat you as though you're a convicted criminal." "I was so happy to see people stand up for themselves", Nomise, a 25-year-old rapper from Bankstown, told GLW.

Charida believes young people need to support the Indigenous community in Redfern, "racism and police harassment disempowers us, the only way to counter that is to unite and organise".

From Green Left Weekly, February 25, 2004.

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From GLW issue 572