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The Dutch Army Oversea - On Numbers and Budgets · 4 January 2008, 18:57 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Currently I’m reading some literature on the decolonization of the former Dutch East Indies / Indonesia and what strikes me is the number of soldiers that the Dutch were able to field outside of the Netherlands, in Sumatra and Java. In his ‘Afscheid van Indië. De val van het Nederlandse imperium in Azië’ (Amsterdam 2000) historian H.W. van den Doel lists the numbers involved on the eve of the first Dutch major military offensive against the Indonesian insurgents on 20 July 1947. (page 201) According to Van den Doel the Dutch army comprised about 5,000 marines, 44,000 soldiers of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (Dutch: ‘Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger’, or in short: ‘KNIL’) and 70,000 soldiers of the Royal Netherlands Army (Dutch: ‘Koninklijke Landmacht’, in short ‘KL’). The KL constitutes the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands and, at the time, included a considerable amount of conscripts. (Stef Scagliola, ‘Last van de Oorlog’ (Amsterdam 2002), pages 50-52] The KNIL was the colonial army of the Dutch East Indies, of which the main purpose was to suppress revolts and which consisted of both ‘Indonesians’ and Dutchmen, of whom many had an ‘Indonesian’ (‘Indische’) look. [Scagliola, ‘Last van de Oorlog’, page 38] Altogether the Dutch were able to field 119,000 soldiers more than 10,000 kilometers away from the motherland.

Let’s put this number in perspective. According to Wikipedia the United States army was able to send 250,000 soldiers to topple Saddam Hussein in Iraq at the start of the Second Gulf War. This means that the amount of U.S. soldiers which were directly involved in the invasion of Iraq is only more than twice the amount of Dutch soldiers deployed on Sumatra and Java in 1947. ‘Only’, because the population size of the Netherlands amounted to about 9,000,000 people during the mid-forties of the 20th century [‘De Grote Geïllustreerde Bosatlas’ (Groningen 1983) page 75 and CBS Statline], whereas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of the United States amounted to 282,909,885 in 2003. This means that the U.S. population was more than 31 times bigger in 2003 than the Dutch population around 1945. Considering the fact that, as stated above, the Royal Dutch East Indies Army also consisted of indigenous men, my calculation is incorrect, however. Unfortunationaly, I don’t have the resources at my disposal to determine which part of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army drew on the indigenous population and how many soldiers were Dutch. Therefore, let us make another calculation based only on the amount of marines and Royal Netherlands Army soldiers.

Together the number of Dutch marines and the Royal Netherlands Army soldiers which were available on Sumatra and Java in 1947 amounted to 75,000 men. This means that the U.S. army that invaded in Iraq in 2003 was almost 3 and half times bigger than the Dutch army on Sumatra and Java in 1947. This still means, however, that the Dutch army was relatively much bigger than the U.S. invasion force of 2003. That is, only 0.088% of the U.S. population was sent to Iraq in 2003 whereas 0.83% of the Dutch population was sent to Java and Sumatra. If the U.S. had sent the same percentage of its population to Iraq the invading army would have amounted to 2,348,152 soldiers! But what about the ability of today’s Dutch military to project power overseas?

In 2007, according to CBS Statline, the Dutch popupulation amounted to 16,358,000 people. If the Netherlands would send 0.83% of its population on a military mission oversea this expeditionary force would comprise 135,771 soldiers. Currently, as a NATO member, the Dutch army is involved in the ISAF-operation in Afghanistan. To be more precisely, in Uruzgan. Hence the name of the operation ‘Task Force Uruzgan’, TFU in short. TFU, which officially started in March 2006, is considered to be a major operation by the Dutch. As such Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad terms TFU the biggest military expedition for the Netherlands since the above mentioned war in the former Dutch East Indies / Indonesia [Mark Kranenburg, ‘Eindelijk groen licht, na half jaar denken. Kamer stemt in met verlenging Nederlandse missie in Uruzgan’, NRC Handelsblad, 19 december]. But to what extent is the Dutch military preoccupied by TFU? Originally the Dutch Ministry of Defence estimated that two years in Afghanistan would cost 340 milion euro. In May 2007, however, it was estimated that the whole operation would cost 580 milion euro. [Maarten van der Schaaf, ‘Het ‘naïeve’ budget voor de Uruzgan-missie’, NRC Handelsblad, 25 mei 2007] NRC Handelsblad reported that the budget for TFU implied an enormous burden for the Dutch military, as a result of which it is forced to shrink the rest of its army, by selling armoured fighting vehicles (tanks, ‘pantserhouwitsers’) and F-16’s and cutting manpower (1,000 of its 70,000 jobs). [Steven Derix en Jaus Müller, ‘Defensie krimpt drastisch om in Uruzgan te blijven’, NRC Handelsblad, July 2, 2007] But how many soldiers are involved in TFU?

Originally, the Dutch army sent 1,200 to 1,400 soldiers to Uruzgan, but in April 2006 the government deemed it necessary to send another 200 soldiers. On November 30 2007 the Dutch government decided to stay another two year period in Uruzgan, but now with 1,400 soldiers. (Jaus Müller, ‘Belangrijke gebeurtenissen rond de Nederlandse missie in Uruzgan’, NRC Handelsblad, December 17, 2007] The difference with 1947 is staggering. Instead of deploying 0.83% of its population in Afghanistan the Dutch deployed only 0.00978% in 2007. No doubt this calculation isn’t very accurate. Nonetheless, the difference remains staggering. Especially considering the fact that in 1947 World War II was barely over and the process of recovery of the Dutch economy had only just started (European Recovery Program / Marshall Plan, July 1947).

Off course, there’s nothing new here, but for the Dutch it’s good to be aware of. In Newsweek’s recently issued ‘year-end Special Edition’ Minxin Pei, ‘director of the China Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’, states in an article entitled ‘An Unlikely New Ally’ that a group of Chinese thinkers are concerned about ‘the recent decline in U.S. prestige and leadership’. (pages 22-23) This group, ‘made up of the most cosmopolitan elites’, acknowledges the role of the United States as keeper of ‘some sort of stable order’ and provider of ‘public goods (...) as free trade, safe sea lanes, technological innovation and regional stability’. The Dutch should be concerned too about a U.S. decline in power. For it might very well lead to a world, in which a much more active and assertive role for European Union countries is required for the maintaince of a stable world order and the protection of their strategic interests. And such a would might very well require a considerable increase of their defence budgets and a significant increase in military manpower.

afghanistan, decolonization, dutch army, dutch east indies, indonesia, isaf, java, knil, koninklijke landmacht, minxin pei, netherlands, sumatra, task force uruzgan, tfu, u.s. military, uruzgan

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Headscarf and Miniskirt · 28 November 2007, 23:13 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Being an inhabitant of Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands with large Moroccan and Turkish muslim communities, it is hard for me to perceive the headscarf simply as an expression of piety or chastity, as young Rotterdam muslimahs often combine their hijabs with make-up and fashionable, tight jeans by which they reduce them to not much more than a religio-ethnic marker and a fashion item. Nonetheless, I was a little surprised by the outfit of a young woman which I saw in the Rotterdam metro this morning. Although on balance it didn’t looked trashy at all the length of her skirt, which she combined with black, transparent tights, seemed fairly at odds with the fact that she was wearing a headscarf. As it ended at least 10 centimeters above her knees and as she measured about 1.65 m one could easily call it miniskirt. However, I don’t think I’ve witnessed a harbinger of a cultural revolution this morning. Because when she left the carriage she desperately tried to pull her skirt towards her knees and as such she seemed very uncomfortable with it. It wouldn’t surprise me, therefore, if it ended up as cleaning-rag.

ethnic marker, headscarf, hijab, islam, miniskirt, moroccan, muslim, muslimah, netherlands, rotterdam, turkish

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Geert Wilders's Call for a Ban on the Qur'an · 9 August 2007, 19:19 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Last Saturday Ehsan Jami, an Iran born (Mashad, 20 april 1985) Dutch PvdA politician and founder of the (Dutch) Central Comitee for Ex-Muslims, was molested by three men, probably because of his qualification of some statements of the prophet Muhammad as backward. Seemingly as a response on the assault on Jami populist frontman of the PVV (Party for Freedom) and MP Geert Wilders wrote an op-ed, which was published in yesterday’s edition of Dutch daily de Volkskrant. In this op-ed, entitled ‘Genoeg is genoeg: verbied de Koran’ (‘Enough is Enough: Ban the Qur’an’), Wilders compares the Qur’an with Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ and incites (I assume his fellow MP’s and / or the Government) to ban the Qur’an. By this Wilders harms the interests of the country he says he’s vindicating. He’s pouring oil on the flames and, as such, is forcing the Netherlands to use its resources for a fight that shouldn’t be fought. It could use its resources in a far better way.

Let there be no mistake about it: there’s no place in the Netherlands for people who think they have the right to use violence against people who don’t share their (religious) beliefs. People who think otherwise and act correspondingly or threaten to do so, should be dealt with by the law. Furthermore, (potential) victims, like Ehsan Jami or Geert Wilders, should be protected against them at any cost. However, by constantly proclaiming that the existence of a moderate Islam is an illusion Wilders strains reality and offends the large majority of Dutch muslims who live normal and peaceful lives. Demanding a ban on the Qur’an can only be intepreted as an attempt to change this reality and to force the moderates to choose between apostacy and extremism. As such Wilders’s way of thinking closely resembles the obtuse, primitive black-and-white way of thinking of the ones he says he’s fighting.

But also out of sheer realpolitik a less hysteric and more considered response would be welcome. The exact outcome of a ban on the Qur’an in the Netherlands will be unsure. No doubt, however, it will result in unprecedented, societal instability, no doubt Dutch (economic) interests abroad will be seriously violated and no doubt it will put Dutch lives at risk. There’s no way the Netherlands could profit from such a measure. On the contrary, it will only harm the country. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the United States decided to invade Iraq. This was a rash, badly considered decision as a result of which the country’s military capability and economy are dangerously strained, just at a time that ambitious countries as Russia, China and Iran are challenging its world-dominion. By this the Americans set a bad example. The lesson to be learned from it, however, seems to be wasted on Wilders. But as the Dutch live in the same, changing world as the Americans, they can’t afford to be dragged into a conflict that will drain all of their resources either. By renouncing Wilders’s statements, therefore, the Dutch government did the only right thing.

ban on the qur'an, ehsan jami, geert wilders, jami, netherlands, pvda, pvv, qur'an, the netherlands, wilders

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On the Rise of Sovereign-Wealth Funds · 1 August 2007, 11:33 CET by Charles Vermeulen

To make possible a higher offer on the biggest bank of the Netherlands, ABN Amro NV, UK bank Barclays has called in the assistance of the China Development Bank (CDB) and Temasek, the investment company owned by the Singaporean government. CDB and Temasek have invested € 3,6 billion and will invest another € 7,6 billion if Barclays actually succeeds in beating the competing consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander and taking over ABN Amro. In ‘Sovereign-wealth funds. China takes the bank. How sovereign investors plan to operate’ The Economist lines up some pro’s and risks of these so-called ‘sovereign-wealth funds’. More interesting reading material on the subject: ‘Barclays Deal Spurs Drive to Limit Government-Fund Investments’, an article by Ben Sills and Simon Kennedy on Bloomberg.com.

abn amro, barclays, cdb, china, china development bank, netherlands, royal bank of scotland, sovereign-wealth funds, temasek

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'We have a tiny, tiny force in Afghanistan' · 7 July 2007, 10:57 CET by Charles Vermeulen

While the knuckels of Dutch Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop were rapped by a majority in parliament this week after he had stated that the Dutch goverment intended to keep an army in Afghanistan after August 2008, retired Canadian major-general Lewis MacKenzie calls upon the NATO members to double its military presence on the ground in the country.

afghanistan, mackenzie, nato, netherlands, van middelkoop

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Use of Hooding, Electrodes and a Stun Baton? · 18 May 2007, 13:18 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In November 2006 Dutch daily de Volkskrant reported about the possible use of torture of Iraqi prisoners by the Military Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (‘Militaire Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdienst’, MIVD) in buildings of the Coalition Provisional Authority in the town of Al-Samawah in 2003. (The Dutch army had occupied the southern Iraqi province of al-Muthanna as part of the Stabilisation Force Iraq (SFI) from July 2003 till April 2005.) A lot of political turmoil ensued after the report and the then Dutch government was forced to set up an inquiry into the matter (‘Van den Berg-Committee’). Last Tuesday’s edition of Dutch current affairs program NOVA says it laid hands on some findings of this inquiry (‘Het Feitenrelaas’), which will probably be published by the Van den Berg-Committee only sometime in June. According to these findings, NOVA says, captured Iraqi prisoners were hooded and besides water and noise a stun baton (‘electrodestok’) was used during their interrogations, which were carried out by the MIVD. According to a witness, military jurist Misha Geeratz, possible 5 to 10 prisoners were subjected to those interrogation techniques, all probably no longer than a few hours.

Unfortunately, the NOVA report remains unclear on some important issues. First of all, on the use of water and noise. Were water and noise used to deprive the prisoners of sleep or ‘just’ to intimidate or humiliate them? The report, for instance, shows a fragment of a paper with the line ‘keeping detainees awake with water’ (‘het wakker houden van gedetineerden met water’) without discussing or showing the context of the line. Because of this the fragment doesn’t prove anything at all. It might, for example, be that the paragraph of which the line is part of discusses the possibilty that the MIVD applied the technique of sleep deprivation only to reject this possibility as unlikely a few lines further on. To continue, the report discusses a disturbing message from the British headquarters in Basra to the Dutch: a detainee told the British he was ill-treated by Dutch soldiers during his interrogation. According to him water was thrown upon him and sounds were used as well as electrodes. Especially the latter suggests the use of outright torture by the Dutch. But the report also shows fragments of paper with lines with the word ‘stun baton’ (‘electrodestok’) in it. Apparently, the inquiry committee found two different torture tools which were possibly used by the MIVD: electrodes and a stun baton. The report mentions that a prisoner said he was ill-treated with electrodes. But what about the use of a stun baton? Are testimonies available in which the use of a stun baton is mentioned and, if so, how and on what scale were they used?

To conclude, the following is worth mentioning. The interrogations of Iraqi prisoners were performed by an MIVD lieutenant-colonel, two non-commissioned officers, both of the MIVD too, and an interpreter. Officially the MIVD wasn’t allowed to perform interrogations without the presence of a ‘military jurist’. Nevertheless, on October 17, 2003 a message came from ‘the Hague’, in which the military jurists ‘were requested to acquiesce in’ the fact that the MIVD determines who are allowed to be present during their interrogations. And so did the three MIVD officers according the report: they forbade others to attend at least some of their interrogations. ‘Some of their interrogations’ because the report doesn’t explicitly states that others were denied access to all of the MIVD interrogations.

al-samawah, coalition provisional authority, dutch army, electrodestok, hooding, iraq, mivd, netherlands, sleep deprivation, stabilisation force iraq, stun baton, torture, volkskrant

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On Populism in the Netherlands · 23 April 2007, 20:38 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Two interesting statements both dealing with populism in the Netherlands I came upon in respectively last Saturday’s edition of Dutch newspaper NRC handelsblad and in Dutch weekly newsmagazine De Groene Amsterdammer (April 20, 2007, number 16, ‘Het Journalistendrama’, pages 24-26):

To start with, a statement by Bas Heijne in his column in NRC Handelsblad. In it Heijne argues that further European integration requires that nationalism, which is going through a rebirth in the Netherlands, shouldn’t be repressed but instead should be given some space. For nationalists and populists only gain from attempts to thwart them, from what he calls ‘the mysophobia of a not understanding elite which deems every trace of nationalism a form of treachery and every form of regionalism a form of backwardness’.

Secondly, a statement by Pieter van Os. According to Van Os the following rethoric figure of speech has become popular in the Netherlands lately: ‘It might be that everybody says B, but I say A, although only few would impugn A. That is: take a fashionable stance and then claim that you’re brave enough to do so, against the stream.’

bas heijne, european integration, nationalism, netherlands, pieter van os, populism

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Rita Verdonk Fair and Square · 18 February 2007, 12:11 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In last Friday’s telecast of Dutch current affairs program NOVA Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk was offered the opportunity to prove her straightforwardness once more. This week some tumult ensued after new MP Sietse Fritsma of the party of Geert Wilders, the PVV, had tried to prevent the appointment of Ahmed Aboutaleb and Nebahat Albayrak (both PvdA, the Dutch Labour Party) as respectively Minister of Social Affairs and Justice State Secretary because of their double nationality. (Aboutaleb is of Moroccan and Albayak of Turkish descent.) During the telecast it appeared, not supprisingly, that the Minister agreed with the view of Fritsma. Because of this NOVA Interviewer Twan Huys asked the Minister if she thought it desirable that the very popular, blond Princess Maxima should end her dual nationality and give up her Argentine passport too. At first it seemed that she was ready to take on a tough stance once more as she replied: "I have the same opinion about her as I have Members of Parliament and Members of Government. I deem it important for everyone to give th[e] sign[: I’m in the Netherlands, Member of Parliament or Member of Government, and I possess that Dutch nationality and I’m proud of it]." She thought it ‘a chutzpah’ to have two passports. But after Huys tried to summarize her view as ‘Minister Rita Verdonk is of the opinion that crown-princess Maxima should surrender her Argentinian Passport’ she subtly took a safer stance. On a tone by which she seemed to express her approval of his summary she replied in a way by she in fact distanced herself from it as her words read as follows: "You know that Minister Rita Verdonk holds the view that laws apply for everyone in the same way in this country and that everyone should make his own judgement".

aboutaleb, ahmed aboutaleb, albayrak, geert wilders, maxima, nebahat albayrak, netherlands, populism, pvda, pvv, rita verdonk, verdonk, wilders

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Saudi Students in the Land of Flowers (2) · 30 January 2007, 07:28 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In the previous posting I mentioned Saudi students who will be trained for physician during a seven years stay in the Netherlands. Part of their education will be an introduction into Dutch culture, which, apparently, also includes some attention for World War II, as the NOS Journaal report showed some students during a class who were asked if they could tell something about it. The answer of one of the students to this question was rather remarkable. Without batting an eyelid he replied: ‘it was actually between Japanese and also Americans. They killed many peoples (...) there in Hiroshima and Nagasaki’. Off course any account of World War II should be about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but why did the student start here? Did he also mention the bloodshed and destruction elsewhere in the world during the war? For example the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking, China or the Holocaust? If he did so the report didn’t show it. However the fact remains that the student felt the need to start his answer with something which happened at the end of the war. But his mentioning of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki might also have been his whole answer. Anyway, I would really like to see the history books which taught the boy about World War II.

hiroshima, maastricht, nagasaki, netherlands, saudi students, university of maastricht

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Saudi Students in the Land of Flowers · 29 January 2007, 21:32 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Today Dutch public television news show NOS Journaal reported about more than 560 students from Saudi Arabia who arrived in the Netherlands for a seven years stay during which they will be trained for physician. Later that night I sat on the couch to zap for a while and while doing so I ran into a show hosted by Dutch tv celebrities Patty Brard and Gerard Joling. Instantly my thoughts wandered to the Saudi students. What would they think of Patty Brard and Gerard Joling? Not very much right now, but they will be taught Dutch and then inevitably Dutch popular culture will penetrate their minds. This means that they will learn about Dutch minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk, about Geert Wilders who once said he eats headscarves for breakfast, about drunk, trashing hooligans flooding the streets after a soccer game. I could not help wondering what their final impression would be after seven years in the Netherlands? Will their stay bring the West and the Middle East together or will it fuel occidentalist sentiments? One student told the NOS Journaal reporter that she preferred a stay in the Netherlands to Australia, because, among other things, it was ‘lovely and quiet’. She wanted to stay in ‘the land of flowers’. I honestly hope she won’t be disappointed.

geert wilders, gerard joling, headscarve, maastricht, netherlands, patty brard, rita verdonk, saudi arabia, saudi students, university of maastricht, verdonk, wilders

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A Company Which Is Affraid to Lose Market Share · 3 January 2007, 21:42 CET by Charles Vermeulen

The biggest loser of the Dutch General Election of 2006 no doubt is the VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy). This party lost 6 seats in the Dutch Lower House and ended up with 22 seats. According to Patrick van Schie, director of the Telders Foundation, a think-thank affiliated with the VVD, the party has tried to much to attract voters from the political middle. This wasn’t a smart thing to do, the director says in today’s edition of NRC Handelsblad (page 3), because already too many other parties aim at the political middle. From the election-results, furthermore, it appeared that Dutch voters were attracted by parties who ‘dared to distinguish themselves’ from other parties. Van Schie, therefore, urges the VVD to embark on a more radical course and, in doing so, to borrow some ideas from the PVV (Party of Freedom), the far-right party of the VVD’s prodigal son Geert Wilders. Off course Van Schie would defend any change of course of the VVD as necessary to keep in touch with its voters, but somehow the impression arises of a company which is losing market share and which decides to sell different products in an attempt to regain its costumers. Whatever happened to parties which are dedicated to ideals and ideas and which try to win supporters over to those ideals and ideas?

geert wilders, netherlands, patrick van schie, pvv, teldersstichting, vvd, wilders

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The Netherlands Towards Violent Escalation? · 1 January 2007, 21:51 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad columnist H.J.A. Hofland looks back upon 2006 as far as the Netherlands are concerned (page 10-11). According Hofland three dangerous, entangled tendencies are discernable. First of all, an ongoing socio-economic marginalization of migrants of Turkish and Moroccan descent, which constitute the main muslim minority groups in the Netherlands. Secondly, the rise of an anti-immigrant or sometimes even all-out racist attitude among native Dutchmen. Thirdly, the waning of the political middle and the rise of radicalism, a tendency which was clearly visible during the 2006 General Election, which was in fact won by the far-left (Socialist Party) and the far-right (Geert Wilders’s Party for Freedom). These three tendencies combined constitute a dangerous explosive mixture, which, as Hofland fears, might one day escalate violently. Far-fetched? I’m not so sure of that. Today Dutch national news agency ANP reports that at the turning of the year lots of policemen, ambulancemen and firemen in the Netherlands had to endure violence of drunk and riotous mobs who throw stones and fire heavy skyrockets at them. If Hofland’s doom scenario comes true one day, it won’t be difficult for some demagogue to raise a brownshirt army.

demagogue, geert wilders, h.j.a. hofland, hofland, netherlands, racism, socialist party, wilders

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Temperature Record in 2006 in the Netherlands · 29 December 2006, 18:51 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Today the KNMI, the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, reports that 2006 has been the warmest year in at least three centuries in the Netherlands. By chance it is exactly three centuries ago that temperature was measured in the Netherlands for the first time. This year’s average temperature amounts to 11,2 °C, while the previous record amounted to 10,9 °C (1990, 1999 and 2000). In the period 1971-2000 average temperature amounted to only 9,8 °C. In today’s edition of Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad KNMI climatologist Rob van Dorland adduces several explanations for this record. To start with, the greenhouse effect seems to hit harder on the Netherlands than on the world as a whole. Secondly, the wind blew from the South more often this year. If there’s a connection with climate change remains uncertain, however, Van Dorland states, because for the present there’s not enough knowlegde on the matter. To conclude, the North Sea played its part. As a result of two heat-waves in July, which lasted three weeks altogether, and the amount of sunshine (1,780 hours in 2006 against 1,550 normally), which didn’t allow the sea-water to cool down, its water has been relatively high this year.

knmi, netherlands, north sea, rob van dorland, temperature record

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Minister of Expelling Foreigners · 27 December 2006, 18:29 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In an oped in today’s edition of Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad poet, novelist and polemicist Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer levels biting criticism on the Netherlands. In 2006 this country has in turned into ‘a narrow-minded, parochial, xenophobic country’, Pfeijffer states. An example of this new mentality which Pfeijffer adduces and which is worthwile quoting here, is the popularity of Dutch Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk. Verdonk, who got more votes than her boss and leader of the VVD Mark Rutte during the General Election of 2006, is perceived by the Dutch electorate as ‘Minister of Expelling Foreigners’, Pfeijffer rightly states. And the fear of her political associates of alienating this part of the electorate explains why she survived so many political scandals.

ilja leonard pfeijffer, mark rutte, netherlands, pfeijffer, rita verdonk, rutte, verdonk, vvd, xenophobia

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No Moderate Islam Possible in the Netherlands (2) · 22 December 2006, 11:16 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Yesterday night Dutch current affairs programme NOVA had an item about the founding of Marhaba, a debating center dedicated to Islamic art and culture, sponsored by the municipality of Amsterdam. The intention of the initiators of the project is to build bridges between muslim culture and Dutch culture. There’s a lot criticism on initiative, among others by Geert Wilders, Member of Parliament and leading man of Dutch right-wing party ‘Partij voor de Vrijheid’ (‘Party for Freedom’). According to Wilders Amsterdam’s subsidy of € 400,000 is a waste of tax money, for Marhaba ‘pursues something that doesn’t exist, that is a moderate islam’.

amsterdam, geert wilders, islam, marhaba, moderate islam, netherlands, partij voor de vrijheid, pvv, wilders

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On the MIVD Interrogation Methods in Iraq · 12 December 2006, 07:37 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Almost a month ago Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported that the Military Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (‘Militaire Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdienst’, MIVD) tortured dozens of Iraqi prisoners in buildings of the Coalition Provisional Authority in the town of Al-Samawah in 2003. After this disclosure a discussion ensued whether the MIVD actually tortured or whether its interrogation methods in Iraq had been somewhat ‘rough’. A commission was established by Defence Minister Henk Kamp and his colleague Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Minister of Justice, to investigate the matter.

Yesterday’s edition of daily NRC Handelsblad (frontpage + page 3) in the mean while has acquired new documents, originating from the Ministry of Defence, which shed new light on the issue. According to these documents water was thrown on the detainee’s by the MIVD interrogators, not so much to keep them awake, but as a means of punishing a detainee who ‘told lies’. Likewise, detainees weren’t exposed to loud music to prevent communication between them, but painful load music (‘white noise’) was used to put pressure on the prisoners.

Now, especially the water component of this new revelation is interesting: water wasn’t thrown on the detainees to keep them awake, but to force them to give information which the MIVD wanted. According to two Dutch professors, Willem van Genugten and Liesbeth Zegveld, who were quoted by NRC Handelsblad, this makes throwing water on a detainee an illegal method of interrogation. Accordingly, NRC Handelsblad implicitly presents ‘wettening detainees to keep them awake’ as a legal method. But what if ‘keeping detainees awake’ actually entailed the ‘torture lite’ interrogation method of ‘deprivation of sleep’? That would sound a lot worse than the allegation that water was thrown as a means of punishment. Therefore, signs that water was used to keep detainees awake shouldn’t be treated as something soothing. On the contrary, these are disturbing signs which require a thorough investigation.

al-samawah, coalition provisional authority, deprivation of sleep, iraq, liesbeth zegveld, mivd, netherlands, sleep deprivation, volkskrant, willem van genugten

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Sinterklaas and Immigrants in the Netherlands · 5 December 2006, 18:22 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Of old the celebration of the name-day of Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas), patron saint of children, on Sinterklaasavond (Saint Nicholas’ eve) is a traditional, domesticated event in the Netherlands, celebrated with friends and family. This morning Dutch public television news show NOS Journaal revealed a more dark side which accompanies Sinterklaasavond since recently. The Sinterklazen (plural of ‘Sinterklaas’) and their Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes), their traditional assistants, who go out on the streets to visit the people on Sinterklaasavond are being harassed and bullied, apparently by teenagers with an immigrant background as the Sinterklazen have started to recrute Zwarte Pieten of Moroccan, Turkish and Surinamese origin to counter the bullying. I assume some animosity fueled by 9/11 and other, related issues prompts the muslim teens to harass the ‘benevolent saint’ and his assistants, clearly identifiable symbols of Dutch culture. Surinamese and Antillean kids are probably offended by the racial connotation which Zwarte Piet as acquired in the 19th century. Originally ‘Zwarte Piet’ was a name of the devil, which had been turned into a slave of Sinterklaas, but since about 1850 it was assumed that he was a Moorish slave which served the saint. Because of his sometimes clownish behaviour Zwart Piet could easily be considered a coon caricature.

Today’s edition of Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad shows another, apparently opposite development. The daily reports how much Moroccan, Turkish and Antillean children enjoy the celebration of the Sinterklaas holiday at school and how their parents participate in the festivities, some Antillean fathers even dressed up as Zwarte Piet. Prerequisite for this, is that the school downplays the christian background of Sinterklaas and that Zwarte Piet is stripped off of his coonish features.

black pete, netherlands, sinterklaas, sinterklaasavond, zwarte piet

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Rutte Wards Off Coup - Verdonk Backs Down · 29 November 2006, 07:34 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Yesterday night the parliamentary party of the VVD, including fighting cocks Rita Verdonk and her boss Mark Rutte, convened and had some ‘very intensive talks’. It became clear that Rutte was supported by the party and Verdonk stood pretty much alone. According to Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant some members of the parliamentary party accused Verdonk of ‘destroying the party’. Current Minister of Internal Affairs and as such influential VVD member Johan Remkes dismissed the idea of setting up a research commitee, because «commitee’s are underground shelters spineless for politicians. Verdonk must simply decide what she wants.» At the end of the evening that the outcome of the ‘very intensive talks’ appeared to be that there won’t be any committee that would decide who should lead the VVD’s parliamentary party and Verdonk was / felt forced Verdonk to state publicly that she will ‘range herself on the side of Mark Rutte’. Because ’[h]e’s the number 1’.

Rita Verdonk, Verdonk, Mark Rutte, Rutte, Johan Remkes, VVD

johan remkes, mark rutte, netherlands, rita verdonk, rutte, verdonk, vvd

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The Loyalty of Rita Verdonk · 28 November 2006, 21:20 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Today, on a press conference set up by herself, Dutch Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk stated that she will remain loyal to the parliamentary party and to her boss, current leader of the VVD Mark Rutte. But because she attracted more voters than the number one of the list of candidates during the General Election – ‘a unique situation’, she stressed – she deemed it necessary that the party contemplates on the new situation. Therefore she told the party’s leadership that it should set up a committee which should research what this situation implicates.

dutch general election, mark rutte, netherlands, rita verdonk, rutte, verdonk, vvd

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Dutch General Election - Aftermath · 27 November 2006, 20:20 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Today the final election-results were declared by the Electoral Council (Kiesraad) and it had a remarkable result in store as far as the center-right party VVD of Mark Rutte is concerned. After former political leader of the VVD Jozias van Aartsen resigned Rutte had to compete with hard-line Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk for the party’s leadership. Rutte was elected by 51.5% of the VVD members and could count on the support of the VVD leadership. The Dutch voters decided otherwise. During the General Election, which were held last Wednessday and during which the VVD lost 6 seats in the Dutch Lower House, 553,200 of them voted on Rutte and 620,555 on Verdonk. According to Dutch public television news show NOS Journaal it was the first time in the history of the Dutch parliament that the number two of a party beat the leader. Maybe even more remarkable: Verdonk apparently didn’t feel uncomfortable about it. On the contrary, she was ‘proud’ of it and clearly in ecstasies because of it as she cried out: ’(...) 60,000 Voters, this is truly unbelievable!’ So much for decency and loyalty within the VVD. The question is now: will she actually attempt to topple Rutte and force her party to embark on a less moderate, right-wing course? The party’s prodigal son, PVV leader Geert Wilders, is probably closely following current events.

dutch general election, mark rutte, netherlands, rita verdonk, rutte, verdonk, vvd

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Why Balkenende Presented RTL Boulevard · 25 November 2006, 14:17 CET by Charles Vermeulen

As Dutch Prime Minister and leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) Jan-Peter Balkenende presented RTL Boulevard, a daily television show dedicated to fashion and gossip about celebrities, just a week before the Dutch General Election of last Wednessday of course he expected to win votes. But what was the plan behind this move? In today’s edition of daily NRC Handelsblad (page 37) Martijn Lampert of Bureau Motivaction, a Dutch research bureau, says that Motivaction had advised the Prime Minister to present to show and explains this advise as follows. Motivaction thought it wise for the CDA to aim this time at the voters who don’t belong to the CDA’s traditional rank and file, which is ‘ideologically strongly colored’ and very ‘sensible of authority’, but at modern, middle-class voters. The latter not being ‘ideologically-minded’, but rather dedicated to their jobs and families, ‘culturally conservative’ and ‘sometimes somewhat frightened of the outside world’. People ‘who are looking for security’ and ‘susceptible of hypes’. These are the people who happen to be the audience of RTL Boulevard. Besides being co-host of the show Balkenende also got the chance to determine the topics of the show. Mindful of the CDA’s new target group the CDA and Motivaction selected tangible topics because of the relative unfamiliarity with ideologies of the target group. Therefore the show was about subjects as ‘decency’, ‘being proud of the Netherlands’, ‘less sex and violence on TV’ and Balkenende’s love of fast cars.

balkenende, cda, dutch general election, jan-peter balkenende, motivaction, netherlands, rtl boulevard

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Dutch General Election - The Immigrant Electorate · 24 November 2006, 11:34 CET by Charles Vermeulen

According to research bureau Foquz Etnomarketing most members of the big ethnic minorities in the Netherlands voted on one of the left wing parties last Wednessday. Of the Moroccans even more 90%. Two-third of them voted on the PvdA, as did almost half of the Surinam voters and more than one-third of the Turkish voters. Remarkably, 12.3% Of the Turkish votes went to the center-left / liberal Democrats 66 (‘Democraten 66’, ‘D66’ in short) of Alexander Pechtold. On its website public television news show NOS Journaal suggests that the explanation for the popularity of the D66 among Turkish voters is the PvdA’s decision to remove Erdinç Saçan of the candidate list, because of his refusal to fully acknowledge the Armenian genocide, bred bad blood among the Turkish electorate. However, Foquz also states that the PvdA remains very popular among Turks as 35,8% of them voted on the Dutch Labour Party.

armenian genocide, d66, democrats 66, dutch general election, erdinç saçan, netherlands, pvda

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Dutch General Election, 2006 - Some Facts · 23 November 2006, 20:18 CET by Charles Vermeulen

The left – Although the main left party of the Netherlands, the PvdA of Wouter Bos loses 10 Lower House seats, all left parties together (PvdA, Socialist Party, GreenLeft) win 6 seats. (The Lower House comprises altogether 150 seats in the Netherlands.) 24% Of the voters of the Socialist Party, once founded in October 1971 as a Maoist party, voted on the center-left PvdA during the elections of 2002. 31% of its voters didn’t vote at all in 2002.

Populist / Anti-immigrant right – The main scions on the Pim Fortuyn tree, Marco Pastors’s EénNL 1, successor of the Pim Fortuyn’s LPF List Five Fortuyn (Lijst Vijf Fortuyn) and Hilbrand Nawijn’s Party for the Netherlands (Partij voor Nederland) get no seat at all. Geert Wilders’s anti-immigrant Party for Freedom (Partij van de Vrijheid) gets nine seats, but isn’t a scion of the Pim Fortuyn tree although 24% of his voters voted on the LPF in 2002. 43% Of Wilders’s voters didn’t vote at all during the elections of 2002.

Rotterdam – In port city Rotterdam, which happens to be the home base of this blogger, the PvdA remains more than twice as big as the CDA of Jan Peter Balkenende (29.2% of the city’s votes against 14.4%). EénNL of Marco Pastors, once protégé of Pim Fortuyn and like Fortuyn based in Rotterdam too, got only 3.2% of the votes.

dutch general election, fortuyn, geert wilders, hilbrand nawijn, marco pastors, netherlands, pim fortuyn, pvda, rotterdam, sp, wilders

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Dutch General Election - Anti-Islam Party 9 Seats · 22 November 2006, 23:22 CET by Charles Vermeulen

83.1% Of the votes is counted and the election-results are assuming a definitive shape. Balkenende’s CDA gets 41 seats (loses 3), the social democrats of the PvdA lose 9 seats and ends up with 9 seats. Current partner of the CDA in Balkenende’s government VVD of Mark Rutte loses 6 seats. Big winners are likely Jan Marijnissen’s SP (Socialist Party) (wins 16 seats, gets 25 seats) and Geert Wilders’s PvdV (Party for Freedom) (1 seat now, wins 8). Especially the success of the latter is remarkable, because public opinion poll’s didn’t predict it. It shows that anti-immigrant sentiment, especially anti-muslim sentiment, is still alive in the Netherlands.

balkenende, cda, dutch general election, geert wilders, jan marijnissen, mark rutte, netherlands, pvda, rutte, sp, vvd, wilders

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Dutch General Election - CDA Likely the Biggest · 22 November 2006, 21:06 CET by Charles Vermeulen

All polling-stations in the Netherlands just closed and public broadcaster NOS and ANP, leading news agency of the Netherlands, presents a prognosis of the results of the Dutch General Election, 2006: CDA 43 (of 150) seats, PvdA seats 35, SP 24, VVD 21, GroenLinks 8, D66 2, Christen Unie 5, SGP 2, Geert Wilders’s Partij voor de Vrijheid 6, Marco Pastors’s EénNL 1 and the Partij voor de Dieren 3.

Update – According to the above mentioned prognosis Jan Peter Balkenende’s Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) will lose one seat and as result the party likely remains the biggest party in the Dutch Lower House (Tweede Kamer). The PvdA, the social democrats of Wouter Bos, will lose 7 seats, probably most of them to the SP, the Socialist Party of Jan Marijnissen, the big winner of this election. The SP wins no fewer than 15 seats. Also Geert Wilders’s right-wing Party for Freedom (PvdV, ‘Partij van de Vrijheid’) seems to be a relatively big winner. Wilders will be joined by five new political associates in the Dutch Lower House. The latter showing that anti-immigrant sentiment, though relatively modest, is still alive. Also former Pim Fortuyn’s protégé Marco Pastors and his EénNL will enter the Dutch Lower House, be it alone. On the other hand, the List Five Fortuyn (Lijst Vijf Fortuyn), successor of the Pim Fortuyn’s LPF and big winner of the General Elections of 2002, seems to be wiped out completely (zero seats). Dutch animals seem to get their own representatives in Dutch parliament, as the Party for Animals (Partij voor de Dieren) probably wins three seats out of nothing.

Dutch General Election, CDA, PvdA, Geert Wilders, SP, Pim Fortuyn

cda, dutch general election, fortuyn, geert wilders, jan marijnissen, netherlands, pim fortuyn, pvda, sp, wilders

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Torture or No Torture? (4) · 19 November 2006, 21:07 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In today’s edition of discussion program Buitenhof Chief of Staff of the Dutch armed forces Dick Berlijn described what has happened, to his knowlegde, in Al-Samawah, Iraq: no high tones were used by the MIVD, but ‘some of background noise’ in order to avoid that detainees could communicate with each other, detainees were put on a blinded goggle and ‘water was thrown’, but neither high pressure syringes nor fire-engines were used. The latter seems to be a red herring of Berlijn, for it wasn’t the question if high pressure syringes were used, but if the detainees were wetted to keep them awake.

al-samawah, buitenhof, dick berlijn, iraq, mivd, netherlands, torture

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Minister Verdonk Attending Al Jazeera in Dutch · 18 November 2006, 19:41 CET by Charles Vermeulen

The 6 pm edition of Dutch public television news show NOS Journaal showed Dutch Minister for Integration and Immigration Rita Verdonk in the coastal village of Noordwijk being interviewed by Al Jazeera about the intention of the Dutch government to ban the wearing of burqa’s and other face covering veils in public. The minister, known for her tough stance towards non-western immigrants, answered the interviewers in Dutch instead of in English. Why? Because she deemed ‘it very important that Dutch is spoken by all sorts of people who want to participate in society’.

al jazeera, burqa, dutch, face covering veils, netherlands, rita verdonk, veil

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Torture or No Torture? (3) · 18 November 2006, 08:18 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In a previous posting I mentioned professor Willem van Genugten who states that the applied interrogation methods of the MIVD amounted to torture. I failed to mention on what grounds the methods should be labeled ‘torture’, according to Van Genugten. In de Volkskrant, however, he underpinned his statement by referring to three articles of the third Geneva Convention:

Article 3 forbids ‘violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture’ and (...) ‘outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment’.
Article 13: ‘Prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated’ (...) Likewise, prisoners of war must at all times be protected, particularly against acts of violence or intimidation and against insults and public curiosity.
Article 14: ‘Prisoners of war are entitled in all circumstances to respect for their persons and their honour.’

Update – Professor Frits Kalshoven, which I mentioned in the same, previous posting, agrees that the Convention prohibits the MIVD conduct, but denies, on the other hand, that it amounts to torture. In today’s edition of Dutch daily Algemeen Dagblad (AD) Kalshoven stresses that ’(...) [t]orture is ever so much worse’.

frits kalshoven, geneva convention, kalshoven, mivd, netherlands, torture, van genugten, volkskrant, willem van genugten

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Political Turmoil After Volkskrant Report · 17 November 2006, 22:26 CET by Charles Vermeulen

The report published by de Volkskrant this morning created a lot of political turmoil in the Netherlands. A survey of the events that ensued the publication can be found in the International Heral Tribune.

de volkskrant, netherlands, volkskrant

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Torture or No Torture? (2) · 17 November 2006, 17:54 CET by Charles Vermeulen

In Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad professor M.T. Kamminga, specialized in international law, says that the MIVD methods reminds him of the interrogation technics which the British applied during the conflict in Northern Ireland. On 18 January 1978 (Ireland vs. the United Kingdom) the European Court of Human Rights condemned these technics as a violation of article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, ‘prohibition of torture’. Not because the technics amounted to torture, but rather to ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. The British technics involved comprised ‘hooding’, ‘wall-standing’, ‘subjection to noise’, ‘deprivation of sleep’ and ‘deprivation of food’. The Netherlands is one of the signatories of the Convention.

deprivation of sleep, hooding, human rights, iraq, kamminga, m.t. kamminga, mivd, netherlands, sleep deprivation, torture

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Torture or No Torture? · 17 November 2006, 11:30 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Should sleep deprivation, exposing prisoners to extremely high sounds and glaring light be considered as torture or not? On Healing Iraq for the first time I learned about the methods used by Iraqi militia’s to torture their prisoners which involved electric drills. No one would deny this is torture. The methods used by the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) as described above, on the other hand, are clearly less bloody and, I assume, less painful. Also in de Volkskrant two Dutch experts have already gave their opinion about the matter and disagree with each other. Frits Kalshoven, a Dutch retired professor specialized in war-law, says this isn’t torture. Willem van Genugten, a professor whose field of expertise comprises international law and human rights, on the other hand, says it is torture according to international law. Who’s right? I’m not sure. Nonetheless, if the allegations are correct it’s clear that the MIVD set foot on a very slippery slope and the least thing one could say is that torture looms ominously on the horizon.

frits kalshoven, human rights, iraq, kalshoven, mivd, netherlands, torture, van genugten, willem van genugten

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Dutch Tortured Too in Iraq · 17 November 2006, 07:23 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Today Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reports that the Military Intelligence and Security Service of the Netherlands (‘Militaire Inlichtingen en Veiligheidsdienst’, MIVD) tortured dozens of Iraqi prisoners in buildings of the Coalition Provisional Authority in the town of Al-Samawah in 2003. The Dutch army had occupied southern Iraq province of al-Muthanna as part of the Stabilisation Force Iraq (SFI) from July 2003 shortly after Gulf War II till April 2005. The prisoners were put on goggles, as a result of which they couldn’t see anything. Intermittently their glasses were put of after which they were exposed to glaring light. To keep them awake they were wetted and their hearing was exposed to extremely high sounds. According to de Volkskrant even now retired Chief of Staff Luuk Kroon was informed about what was going on at the time, but Kroon chose to ignore the advise of Kees Neisingh, major-general of the military police, to propound it to the Counsel for the Prosecution (‘Openbaar Ministerie’ or ‘OM’). Whether Defence Minister Henk Kamp was informed remains unsure for the time being. De Volkskrant furthermore reports that according to some ‘secret memo’ of a juridical department of the Ministery of Defence the Dutch forces in Iraq weren’t even allowed to interrogate any one at all.

al-muthanna, henk kamp, iraq, luuk kroon, mivd, netherlands, sfi, stabilisation force iraq, torture, volkskrant

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Postmodern Prime Minister · 16 November 2006, 19:03 CET by Charles Vermeulen

Right now Dutch Prime Minister and leader of the Christian-democratic party CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal) Jan-Peter Balkenende, once again nick-named Harry Potter in this week’s edition of The Economist, is co-hosting RTL Boulevard, an airy, daily television show dedicated to fashion, crime fighting and gossip about international and Dutch celebrities.

albert verlinde, balkenende, cda, jan-peter balkenende, netherlands, postmodern, rtl boulevard

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Small-Scale Clash of Civilizations? · 14 November 2006, 17:03 CET by Charles Vermeulen

With a population of almost 600,000 Rotterdam is the second largest municipality in the Netherlands after Amsterdam. A considerable part of its inhabitants belongs to one of its major ethnic minorities (Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese). This is also the case in the Afrikaanderwijk, an old working-class neighbourhood in the south of Rotterdam. According to the The Centre for Research and Statistics (COS), the research centre of the municipality, 33.7% (3,175) of the population of this neighbourhood is of Turkish descent and 13.4% (1,264) of Moroccan descent. This is clearly visible because of the considerable amount of women wearing headscarves on the streets of the Afrikaanderwijk.

Yesterday afternoon I walked along the metro line which passes through the Afrikaanderwijk as a poster caught my attention. The poster, put up on the sidewalk along the busy Hillelaan near metro station Rijnhaven, announced that the Dutch cabaret artists De Vliegende Panters (The Flying Panthers) will visit Rotterdam next week to perform a show in the old Luxor Theatre. The poster showed a naked woman wearing nothing but a jackboot (on her left foot), exposing her pubic hair and her breasts. The poster could hardly be overlooked and a large part of the poster’s audience no doubt consists of Dutch Moroccans and Turks. What would they think of this poster? As the woman on it looks somewhat disturbed or annoyed and definitely not sensual, it’s obvious that the photographer didn’t attempt to present her as an object of lust. Will they be offended nontheless, consider it as yet another sign of Dutch / Western decadence / lack of morality, creating / adding to an occidentalistic attitude? Or will they pass the poster with a shrug? Today I checked and the poster was still there, unharmed.

afrikaanderwijk, clash of civilizations, ethnic minorities, moroccans, netherlands, rotterdam, surinamese, turks, vliegende panters