Race for the Beach (ATOM Study Guide)

Mecca Laalaa is a twenty-year-old girl any parent would be proud of: University graduate, helpful eldest sibling, community minded and moderately religious. What she isn't is a swimmer. Yet this hijabwearing Muslim girl sets her heart on becoming a surf lifesaver at Cronulla, the Sydney suburb famous for powerful waves and hating Muslims.

For years, Sydney Muslims from the hot inland have cooled off at mostly white Cronulla. Hostility between white locals and Muslims grew – particularly after 11 September 2001 and the invasion of Iraq. In December 2005, Muslim men allegedly bashed two Cronulla surf lifesavers, heroes of the Australian beach. A rally in support of the lifesavers became a riot. Anyone of Middle Eastern appearance was bashed. For three nights following, Muslim gangs descended on beach suburbs and attacked any vulnerable white Australian they could find. It was the worst racial violence in Australia for decades and the first open battle between Muslims and non-Muslims on Australian soil.

The summer after the riots, Mecca joins twenty other young Muslims mostly like her. They are directed by forceful Muslim community activist Dr Jamal Rifi. Dr Rifi and his charges aim to show people at Cronulla how peaceful, moderate and, above all, Australian they are.