Nachricht Nummer : 577
Übertragungszeit : 5 min 4 sec
Nachricht von    : WAM@ZAMIR-ZG.ztn.zer.de (Wam)
Antworten an     : wam@zamir-zg.ztn.zer.de
Betrifft         : Zagreb Diary 20 Februari 1995
Kopienempfänger  : /REG/NEWS/DIARY/WAM, /SOC/CULTURE/YUGOSLAVIA, /SOC/CULTURE/CROATIA, /SOC/CULTURE/BOSNA-HERZGVNA, /CL/EUROPA/BALKAN, /APC/YUGO/ANTIWAR
Erstellungsdatum : 20.02.1995 11:49:00 W+1

In or around Croatia, 20.02.95

Dear Friends,

A bit strange diary entrry this time. I was for a 4 days visit in my
"Homeland" and met there with Ben, who decided to going to live in
Amsterdam for a while. He wrote an open letter to me for ARKzin (the
newspaper of the Croatian Anti War Campaign), this article is my
reaction on it. There is much in it about the Netherlands, rather than
about the situation here, still it forms a part of my diary. Sorry for
not being completely "back" yet.

Zagreb,20.02.95

Dragi Ben,

Sorry for not reaction on you letter straigh away, but there came some
things inbetween. In the main time we have seen eachother, when I visit
my "homeland" last week. I recognize you feeling of being lost in the
supermarket, the Clash came from the UK, a little bit the same over
organized and consuming society, which is now also slowly emerging here
in Zagreb. Maybe we still can't get really lost in the supermarkets
here, but with all this foreign products filling up the shelfs around
the place here I think it wouldn't be long before I will feel like a cat
in a strange storehouse (as we say in Dutch, you may know the frace by
now).

He, Benje, I forgot to ask, how was your trip when we put you on the Bus
on Zagreb Autobusni Kolodvor. I mean I went flying up and down
Netherlands last week in a plane full of half drunken Dutch UNPROFOR
soldiers, not really the type of people I feel like swinging with them
on 10.000 feet high up in the clouds. Glad to see your face in between
all those screaming people with red-white and blue flags waiting for the
Dutch heros returning from their batle field.

Remind me that just a month ago another Dutch person arrived on this
Airport, he also never returned to the "homeland" after he joint a war.
The Dutch government send him to "our homeland parts oversee" in the end
40'ties. He was part of the military troops they send down to still not
Indonesia in that time, to take part in the famous "police actions
against the Indonesian rebels". A period we are still not talking about
in the Netherlands, some old veterans I know only told me that the blood
of those "blue-ones (as the nicked named the Indonesia people)" totally
demolested their uniforms and that they didn't could get it out. After
reading the reports of the tribunal which is now taking place in Den
Haag about war-crimes committed during the wars here I can imagine a bit
how they probably have behaved.

Anyway this guy was almost 80 now, heavily ill, he was a desertor of the
Dutch army, fought together with the "rebels" and later became one of
the leading figures of the Human Right movement of Indonesia, not
particalar a good friend from the ruling local government. He wanted to
visit his "homeland" before he would die and as high as the minister
president they had to go to give him a permission to visit my country,
but he was not allowed to talk to the press, neither where his relative
and friend allowed to wait for him openly in front of the arrival gates.
Yes, Ben, it is a real democratic state you are now.

Great to hear that the theater group of refugees from HOME were planning
to play for the displaced people in my country. Only they should have
know that if Dutch people are involved in such evacuations they would be
in huge emergency camps after 24 hours, they are or send home again
since it is safe again or been brought to private houses (where they
easily can stay, since it is only for a few days at the most). Even when
refugees from other countries trying to come into my homeland some times
have to wait for years to get a perrmission to enter in so called
collective centers.

My mother, by the way (in her basement my clothes and some other small
thing I left behind when I came to Croatia, where nicely playing the
famous ship battle between the Spanish Armada and the Brittinian navy
back in the 1600) and some friends also had to be evicuated during the floods,
mother nature is really opening her offensive on us. Hope that those idiots
in my country don't start to fight this war with more armament in the form
of higher dikes against her. But that they understand that it makes more
sense to solve the problem at the source, the well where it all comes from.
Hope that they start replanting trees on those mountains in Germany, France
and Switzerland, so they can keep the water up there, instead of creating
racetracks for raindrops all the way down to the North Sea.

About armament, you know that I had to make that short visit to my
country to take part in a television programme about the riots in
Amsterdam on the 30th of April 1980. Maybe those riots never made in to
the than Yugoslav news, can imagine that the country than was busy with
other things. Anyway that day almost 40.000 mostly youngster had an open
battle with 6000 (1/5 of the total Dutch police force at that time) riot
police men in the streets of a city which actual wanted to have a party
since the new Queen was crowned that day.

The first 10 minutes of that programme really remind me on the
discussions I heard 2 years ago in the HVO barraques in Mostar. The
former police commander was explaining how Amsterdam was mapped in
certain rings, for every ring there was another defence task for the
police. Our later on not so peace full demonstation hit the first
defence line of the inner circle, a few hunderd meters further and the
police snippers would have been brought into action. Since, acoording to
his words, the Dam should never been taken by "us". He didn't know that
hardly none of us, if they would be honest would have been able to say
what and why he or she would do if the Dam ever would have been reached
that day by any of "us".

They explained how since then the police is better trained and better
equimped to handle such fights, you have seen their strategy some weeks
ago during the match football match Ajax-Feyenoord, as you told me.
Let's really hope Benjo that during the Ajax<->Hajduk matches, F-side
and Torcida keep it a bit peace full between eachother. As you said in
your interview in the Dutch Parool about it, let's really hope that also
nobody starts to shout "Sieg Heil" or something, with the Jewish imago
of Ajax and the big preparation of the celibrations of 50 years of
freedom from the Fascists, such thing could be a little bit hard to
explain. Even when they are just a lot likes Laibach's type of
iconografija (before I came to Croatia, I always would related a word
like to system computer like macintosh and windows).

He Benjo, don't forget to say hay to Zocs and all the guy from Sexa (I
have to admit that I don't really like their music, but never the less).
Really that evening in the bar "Together" (a name which remind me own
all kind of beautifull, hippie and 60'ties alike flower power and other
associations, like listening together to Italian Partizan songs). When
you told me that the some of the guys from Post Yugoslavian Countries,
some even with Dutch pasport, were coming together each week and had a
pool shooting compatation with some Dutch guys I really couldn't imagine
what I would be like. Remember that I asked you if "Together" was maybe
a kind of alternative, sqauters bar, or something highly subsidiced by
the town authorities to bring different culture together or so.

Man, what do we, Dutch, have a colourfull country, the real white guys in
the Dutch team were a bit in the minority. Actually the Tamil-Dutch
pub-owner had choosen it name right, he also could call it the paining
palette or so, I counted at least 5 different universal races in that
place and at least 34 different nationalities in the sence of the words
as it is used in this area. We beat in the Netherlands even Slavonia in
it's mixture. And can I confess you a small thing, most of the white
Dutch guys in the place spoke Dutch with a Limburg or at least Southern
dialect, not much real "Amsterdammers" in that pub.

Talking about the south, shit, Ben, that the football match in Split is
during Carnaval, you would like it in my hometown, Sittard, where the
whole city is in the coulors of the Rastafans (allthough when I visit it
this week already on some doors of gambling houses and banks stood a
warning that people dressed up and face covered or sminked can't enter
that place becuase of security reasons, nice starting point from the
crazy three days). I think that if you would see the place during those
three days you surely would have another idea of "being cool". But
believe me it is swinging....... (during those 3 days in the year).

Alaaf, gib mich mal Zjittart, da is all heng get los......... (don't
worry even in Holland they can't translate that).

Mir,

                Wam

Mir od mene,
            Wam:-)

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