Would Bill Clinton's parting gesture have got him killed? Maybe, if he were from the wrong community, and lived in Sydney.
In Sydney, we have the case of a brother who 'jokingly' gestured to his brother at a nightclub. The next evening, the brother who gave the gesture was killed, allegedly on the orders of a nightclub owner who felt the gesture was meant for him.
So what is worse? That two brothers get along by giving each other the bird? Or that the gesture can inspire an offended party to kill. I get it that one is an example of tolerance, but I refuse to accept the suggestion that the other is an example of zero tolerance.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Behaviour We Expect And Deserve
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Joke with comic star was fatal
By Kim Arlington
OXFORD St at night can be a dangerous place.
But 34-year-old Robin Nassour could not have guessed a single flip of his middle finger at his brother, actor George Nassour from the SBS comedy Fat Pizza, outside a nightclub would result in his death a few days later.
The person who thought the gesture was aimed at him was 29-year-old UN nightclub doorman Michael Ibrahim.
The club, formerly known as DCM, is one of a number premises linked to his brother John Ibrahim - who describes himself as a nightclub promoter and has adamantly denied involvement in criminal activity.
Michael, angry at the misinterpreted gesture, and three of his relatives decided to settle the dispute - leading to the deadly attack.
Yesterday, Michael and his cousins, Mouhamed and Sleiman Tajjour, aged 23 and 27, faced the NSW Supreme Court for sentencing after the three pleaded guilty to Robin's manslaughter at a Chiswick apartment block on January 2, 2006.
Two nights earlier, on New Years Eve, George left the Oxford St club and was standing on the footpath outside when his brother drove past in a car and gave him the finger.
The dispute escalated and the two brothers were lured to the apartments' underground car park to settle it.
The Nassour brothers were confronted by Ibrahim, the Tajjours, and a man named Faouzi Abou-Jibal - who has since been found dead in a Punchbowl park in what is still an unsolved murder.
George yelled that he had been "set up" before Abou-Jibal stabbed him in his right thigh with a 30cm-long knife.
George fought him off before seeing the four attackers surrounding his brother, beating him while he was on the ground.
During the attack Abou-Jibal stabbed Robin in the left thigh, fatally severing his femoral artery.
George, who had appeared in Fat Pizza , sat at the rear of the court yesterday listening intently as the court was told Michael Ibrahim felt great empathy for the victim's family and was full of remorse.
Michael become emotional as his sister Fifi Ibrahim gave evidence that he had cried when he told his family about the attack.
She said he talked about "wishing it never happened, feeling sorry for the family of the deceased" while "accepting responsibility for what happened".
Psychologist Tim Watson-Munro told the court that Michael had expressed remorse and was suffering from an anxiety disorder as a result of the stabbings.
"He has sleep disturbances, he wishes he could turn the clock back, as he's described it," he said.
He said Michael could benefit from a counselling program in jail.
Michael's brother John Ibrahim, who was at court yesterday in a show of family support, denied allegations in the Wood Royal Commission that he was the "life blood" of the Kings Cross drug trade.
The sentencing was adjourned to January 18.
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