It's 10am on a Sydney Saturday, a week or so out from Christmas, and I decide to go surfing during a three-hour break from work. The aircon is busted in my car and it's already 35C outside and rising. It's unbearably hot, even hotter with the windows DOWN, and feels like a blast furnace. The wax is melting off my surfboard and dripping onto the rear seat but I finally arrive at
The parking spot on the hill overlooking the beach is a good place to drink in the scene, and it's always breathtaking. The cafes and bistros on Campbell Parade are full of beautiful people - celebrities, models, surfers, pop stars, actors, in various states of dress and undress - spilling out to a dozen or more shaded and sectioned-off outdoor table areas, but there's no escaping the heat as the dry, warm, offshore, north-westerly wind blows in from the desert, bringing its peculiar outback smell of red dust, pollen and fire.
On the beach, groups of young women, European backpackers, cover themselves in sunscreen and sunbathe topless. Kids run around building sandcastles with buckets and spades. Old blokes in hats wander down to the shoreline and dip their toes in the surf. In between swims, a group of teenage Lebanese-Australian boys plays a fast game of touch football, kicking up little puffs of sand as they run. On the water, myriad pinprick reflections of the morning sun dance across the brilliant blue water of the South Pacific.
A three-foot, warm-water swell is pushing perfect little left- and right-breaking waves across the sandbank in front of the skate ramp, and the offshore wind is gently brushing the faces clean as they peel off down the line. The action in the water looks hectic from a distance, but it's an illusion; only half a dozen of the hot young local groms are tearing it up on the peak, surfing their way around scores of beginners and backpackers floating sideways in the line-up and who try forlornly to stand up on cheap and nasty surfboards made in China.
Just beyond the peak, there's a lone figure sitting on a big red longboard waiting for the occasional head-high set that is breaking a bit further out. I think I know who it is but I watch for a while to make sure. After a few minutes, a dark wall of water lurches out of the sea directly in front of him and I squint a bit to get a better look as the suntanned figure spins around and paddles into the wave. The board lifts slightly, then surges forward and the rider hops to his feet and cranks into an arcing left-hand turn that leaves a long, white rooster tail of sea spray in its wake.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
Stan, your article is evocative, personal and moving. One of the best things I've had the pleasure to edit for BC.
Dave
2 - Bliffle
Excellent article!
3 - Eric Olsen
great job Stan, thanks
4 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Good job, Stan.
Were it only true that we had only one incident like this to memorialize...
There are a lot more memorials here to those innocents who have died at the hands of terrorists.
The next time some fool whines about not meddling in a war on terror, point your finger to the northwest, the direction of Riyadh, the direction of the house Saud, and tell them that once the evil that issues from Riyadh to the madrassas world wide is stopped, once the head of the snake is chopped off and destroyed, the poison will cease to issue from its teeth and the bladders behind its teeth.
That's where you enemy is Stan, and that is what needs to be destroyed in its entirety before you can even begin to rest at ease, and before those parents, sisters and brothers of those who have died from terror attacks can even begin to sense that there may be closure from the pain they have had inflicted on them.
Destroy the root of the evil plant, and the rest of it will die in its course.
5 - Bliffle
"Destroy the root of the evil plant, and the rest of it will die in its course."
This sort of metaphor is often put forward, but I think it's misleading. It may lead one to think that all you have to do is Get Mister Big and the criminals will wither away. But, of course, it's not true. Kill or jail Mr. Big and one or more of his lieutenants will step up to the job.
It's only superficially true even for actual weeds. It may be too difficult to kill the roots, and by then the seeds may re-introduce the damn things. I once bought a house surrounded by 30 years growth of ivy and the landscapers told me I'd have to kill everything with a radical herbicide, take out at least a foot of topsoil and replace with sterile soil. Too much work and too expensive, so I just rented a stake truck and pulled all the surface growth off until I had bare earth. Then I did some minor tending whenever the darn stuff showed itself, and within a year I had nice green lawns. Digging in the soil revealed rotted ivy roots. Think photosynthesis.
I don't use metaphors for serious decisions.
6 - Stan
Hey thanks guys ... STM here ... I'm away on a surf trip to the far north coast but have found a computer (great way to ruin the natural moment).
And paradoxically I think both Ruvy and Bliffle are right. Ruvy, you have much more knowledge of this stuff than we do here. It's interesting that when I worked as a foreign editor here on the paper, it was during the raids on Jenin and we had a picture of a Palestinian girl standing by her ruined house holding a teddy bear. We received no comment about it, but a few weeks later we used a picture of a little Israeli girl who'd been blown up getting an ice-cream with her grandma in Tel Aviv. I used the picture about the same size (quite large, about a third of a tabloid page) as they were both very poignant.
Lo and behold, after using the picture of the dead Israeli girl I got a lot of calls from Australian-Palestinians (most are refugees from Lebanon) complaining that I was biased, that I never use anything about Palestinians, etc etc.
There's just a bizarre mindset there that leaves me to believe there won't be a solution to this for a long time.
It's almost like there's no recognition sometimes that what we are dealing with is human beings. But I agree about killing off the roots of evil. Problem is, as Bliffle points out, you'd have to do an awful lot of cutting before people stopped stepping up to take the place of those who've been dealt with.
Cheers dudes ... I'm goin' surfin'.
7 - Jonathan Frate
"So next time someone tells me we should just butt out of any so-called global war on terror, I might take them down to Bondi..."
It's a shame that you resort to taking this sad personal story and spin it for poltical reasons.
There's no such thing as a global war on terror because there's no such thing as a global terror network. It's just a fabrication.
Call a spade a spade.
8 - stan
Sorry Jonathan, but I believe what I believe. I don't agree with the war in Iraq or the detention of people without trial, but do I agree with much of the rest of it.
The real "war on terror" involves such things as international police forces working in concert to prevent mass murder or track down mass murderers. It is happening around the world, not just in the US.
By not understanding this, you show your ignorance.
Don't accuse me of "using" this to make a political statement. There is no political spin on this at all ... that's just your take, old boy.
There ARE terrorists out there plotting mass murder ... no matter what spin you put on it.
9 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Jonathan, try coming to Jerusalem, or Tzfat or even 'Eli a couple of kilometers away from here, and see how far you get with your line about international terror being a fabrication. The chances are that anyone who lost a relative to a terror bombing in Jerusalem or to a katysha in Haifa, or to a bomb in Netanya, would strangle you.
Stop hiding behind your spade and come out into the sunshine and see the sad reality in the world we live in.
10 - -E
Congrats! This article has been selected as one of this week’s Editors’ Picks.
11 - Dave Nalle
Jonathan seems to think that the absence of a SMERSH-like organization running all terror in the world means there isn't a problem that spans the globe with terrorism. Believe me, when you get blown up it really doesn't matter at what level the terrorists were organized.
Dave
12 - stan
Too right Dave ... and like I say, for a network that isn't global, New York is a long way from London, which is a long way from Madrid, which is a long way from Tel Aviv, which is a long way from Iraq, which is a long way from Afghanistan, which is a long way from Moscow, which is a long way from Chechnya, which is a long way from from Kashmir, which is a long way from Jakarta, etc etc.
Johnathan: Bomb plotters have recently been foiled in Sydney, Melbourne and London ... so there's your war on terror working for now.
13 - R Miguel
STAN.. your article is incredible in flexing my thoughts over the rigid matter of religion-based killings. In my place, there are various militant groups who cut off dreams and serene lives for their personal interest.... killing for their own claimed salvation, inflicting others to save themselves to get inTO what they believe would be the most blissful PARADISE, a promised diabolically urging them to CAUSE MORE ATROCITIES ...hope u can just write more of this kind so as to awaken many disillusioned mind
14 - STM
Thanks R.M. Yes, indeed ... it would be very nice if we could all live in peace instead of having to go through that kind of grief .. for no real reason.
Thanks again for your support
15 - SFC SKI
Jonathan's comments illustrate one human trait: Denial of any sort of interconnected terror network means the threat can be ignored. That's a lot easier, because if you can't ignore the problem, you have to deal with it, and that may call for uncomfortable, hard choices. He'd actually have to call a spade a spade and confromnt the problem. Ignorance is bliss, that is why so many Westerners who should at a minimum take a cold, hard, objective look at the threat. Politics should be damned in this instance, because the terrorists have no politics, only an ideology that says kill those who do not cleave to their version of True Faith.
16 - Donnie Marler
Stan, Outstanding article. Very touching. My sympathies to your friend and his family.
17 - Jonathan Frate
Ruvy in Israel:
"Jonathan, try coming to Jerusalem, or Tzfat or even 'Eli a couple of kilometers away from here, and see how far you get with your line about international terror being a fabrication. The chances are that anyone who lost a relative to a terror bombing in Jerusalem or to a katysha in Haifa, or to a bomb in Netanya, would strangle you.
Stop hiding behind your spade and come out into the sunshine and see the sad reality in the world we live in.
"
I've been to Israel. And your war with 'terrorists' has nothing to do with JI or the situation in Bali or Bondi Beach.
Israel is a nation created by terrorists through force and politicking. Remmember the King David hotel?
The fact that Israel refuses to halt the progression of the settlements in the choice lands of the so called occupied territories, is the source of your 'terrorism'. It has nothing to do with the Bali bombs, and it's not some sort of global 'get smart' style organization planning on attacking the west.
Bali Bomb - Absolutely horrible.
What can we learn from it? Many things. But I don't think bundling all terrorists into one hydra like organization that is planning on attacking 'the west (tm)' is the lesson that I learn from this.
And like I said, that's a conclusion that's political. And it's sad to turn this personal story of loss into a political rant.
18 - Jonathan Frate
STAN:
"New York is a long way from London, which is a long way from Madrid, which is a long way from Tel Aviv, which is a long way from Iraq, which is a long way from Afghanistan, which is a long way from Moscow, which is a long way from Chechnya, which is a long way from from Kashmir, which is a long way from Jakarta"
If you insist on giving me the rope, I'm more than willing to hang you with it:
CHECHNYA - Are you suggesting that the Chechn independance movement didn't exist BEFORE the existance of al'queda? This is a tribal/independance movement. Call a spade a spade.
IRAQ - This is a civil war. 95+% of the insurgents in Iraq are LOCAL and not in ANY WAY related to Al'Qaeda or any foreign fighters. Can you blame them? Their country has been invaded by a foreign occupier including us in Australia, and guess what? they're forming gangs and the powder keg is turning into a civil war. That's why our soldiers are dieing, not becuase of some global islamic militant fight - as much as howard and bush et al try to characterize Iraq as a holy war, it's just a civil war that we orchestrated and we're stuck in the middle.
AFGHANISTAN - you're clueless. Who's killing who in Afghanistan? Again this is a dirty tribal/nationalist war, and no way is this in any way related to what's happening in Chechnya, Iraq, or no longer are we fighting anyone that was related to the NYC or Bali bombings.
TEL AVIV - Hezb'd'allah and PLO have their own objectives. Those objectives are primarily related to land, self determination, and sour grapes over past wars lost. How do bombings in tel aviv have anything to do with NYC IRAQ or any where else in the world? Oh yah, they don't.
Well the list goes on. There is no al'queda. It's a fabrication. Al'quaeda is an idea, it's not an organization.
The attacks on NYC were not the work of an amazing organization with so called sleeper cells waiting to attack like a hydra. They were the desperate acts of a rag tag group of terrorists.
Sure there's lots of copy cats.
Sure there's lots of homage being paid and lots of lip service being made to the idea of destroying the west by break off groups.
But are these all one interconnected hydra like organization?
No.
The disection of this concept and this idea is more complex than can be contemplated in this blog.
But I still vehemently think it's a shame that you've taken this terrible personal tragedy, and attempted to spin it into a political purpose.
The war on terror is about as intelligent as America's war on drugs. You know, the one that that we've been 'fighting' for 30 years now...
19 - STM
There is a whole lot of idiots across the globe plotting mass murder mate ... simple as that.
Which makes it a global terror network. And yes, they do liaise and interact, which means they also swap ideas and strategies and such things as how to achieve world's best-practise in suicide-bomb making.
Most of them today are jihadis. And while there might be no organisation named al-Qaeda in your world view, as an idea it makes a pretty good organisation.
Please, don't preach to me about Iraq. I lived there and went to school there and have studied Iraqi history and am well aware many of the insurgents are secular nationalists or pan-Arabists.
However, many of the really nasty ones - the ones who'd like to cut your head off with a blunt knife while you're still alive and screaming - are jihadists with links to al-Qaeda.
Like Dave Nalle so succinctly puts it, the fact there is no SMERSH-like organisation with overall control of world terror doesn't mean there isn't a world terror network.
There is. And there is far more evidence that al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah exist as linked entities with a common goal than there is that they don't.
And what I'm actually really railing against in this story mate - and it's apolitical - is the fact some people think it's OK to kill and main other people for no other reason than they don't have the same religious views.
Come on, get fair dinkum: stop trying to read things into this story that aren't there. It's about a beautiful girl who had her life ripped away by idiots and for no good reason. Nothing more.
20 - Jonathan Frate
I think it's a sad story. Death in Bali - this is something I'm familiar with on a first hand basis.
But my pain from Bali doesn't lead to my support for the 'global war on terror'. Bush and Howard are crooks, and their so called "hard line" stance is going to lead more and more Bali bombs.
21 - STM
Jonathan, before we go any further with this can I just point out to you what I point out to others. The war in Iraq and George Bush's misguided adventurism there with Tony Blair is NOT the war on terror, and I do not agree with detention without trial.
However, these people really do constitute a risk and in some sense Bush and his cronies, Blair and Howard, are on the right track. But NOT in Iraq, as I've said. However, the real work of stopping or tracking down terrorists less about military adventurism than the intelligence services and police forces of the west working in concert.
That is the real war on terror. Please do not mistake my post for a piece of political spin.
I'm no fan of Bush. But I'm less a fan of mass murderers. I simply don't believe any of us should allow people to forget what's been done.
22 - Jonathan Frate
Fair enough. I agree that we shouldn't forget about Bali and it's victims.
But perhaps you generalize on the war on terror, you should understand the power of nightmares?
23 - STM
Perhaps I'm not generalising. Perhaps my view of what constitutes such a war is different to what it doesn't constitute for you.
I believe in the existence of terror networks, just not in purusing them by the foolish act of going to war in Iraq. As I've said, it's a story about a girl who was killed by psychopaths. Nothing more. It's you who are reading more into it than there is.
24 - Glen Clancy
Please see documentary on Bali bombings.
Contains important information people should be aware of.