Katy Roberts

At the turn of the millennium, Western Sydney was a terrifying gangland. At the heart of the frenzy was the Darwiche-Razzak family conflict – a Romeo-and-Juliet style tragedy complicated by honour codes, politics and drive-by shootings. Journalist Mahmood Fazal draws on his own experiences as a gang member to tell the inside story of Sydney’s Lebanese gang wars, to pinpoint why young Muslims just like him commit their lives to violence.

Fazal delves into the city’s cultural divide, the special police task force that dealt with the conflict, and what life is really like behind bars. Tough questions emerge from the investigation: Why did these young people re-enact in Australia the experience of a Middle-Eastern war they never knew and which their parents hoped to leave behind? What role did prejudice play in the police’s response to the conflict? And how did Eddie Darwiche get his hands on ten rocket launchers?