Mar. 22, Mass anti-war demo planned

Het Parool

Mass anti-war demo planned

The Platform against a New War has called a demonstration for Saturday, 22 March in Amsterdam.

The Platform is an umbrella group made up of 217 organisations including the Council of Churches, aid group Novib, Greenpeace, the green left Groenlinks and the Socialist Party.

The groups have presented a list of several Dutch celebrities who have signed the declaration calling for the demonstration. Some of the figures will do radio spots to draw the maximum number of people to the anti-war demo.

Documentary and film-maker Lily van den Bergh, one of the initiators, hopes for a massive turnout. She claims there has been insufficient attention for the war until now. "I notice very little about it in the Netherlands. It is just as little mentioned by people in the media," she said.

Cabaret star Vincent Bijlo finds the US attitude to be cynical. "The US probably have a bill of sale somewhere in the White House for the anthrax it gave to Iraq itself."

The Dutch branch of the Arab European League AEL and its several hundred members will also take part in the demonstration on Saturday.

"Democracy won't be brought about in Iraq by bombs," the provisional AEL leadership said. "We AELers, and fortunately very many other people, have no sympathy for the horrible deeds that will shortly be committed against our sisters and brothers."

Anti-war protestors gear up for demo
21 March 2003
AMSTERDAM — About a thousand people took part in anti-war protests in 15 Dutch cities and towns on Thursday night in the lead up to a mass rally in Amsterdam on Saturday.

Gretta Duisenberg — the wife of European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg — joined an estimated 300 people outside the US consulate in Amsterdam.

The protest passed off peacefully, though anti-war demonstrators threw paper airplanes over the security fence into the compound.

Gretta Duisenberg told the media: "What Bush has done is a scandal. Saddam Hussein could have been dealt with in another way. This will be a massive humanitarian catastrophe".

Gretta Duisenberg was in the headlines earlier this year when she toured the Palestinian Territories and met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Last year, she hung a Palestinian flag from the balcony of her Amsterdam home to draw attention to the conflict between the Palestinians and Israel.

The police arrested five people, including Arab European League (AEL) official Nabil Marmouch, during a demonstration last night in The Hague. The police intervened after some protestors set an Israeli flag alight.

About 250 anti-war demonstrators had assembled outside the US embassy in the city, news service nu.nl reported.

In the north of the country, an estimated crowd of 500 people took to the street in Groningen. Both the organisers and the police were surprised by the large turnout because there had been confusion about whether the action was planned for Thursday or Friday.

Thursday night's demonstrations were organised by the anti-war committee Platform tegen de "Nieuwe Oorlog".

The committee, which represents 200 organisations, ran advertisements in newspapers on Friday calling on the public to come to a mass rally at Dam Square in Amsterdam on Saturday 22 March. The protest begins at 1pm.

Among the political figures listed on the ad as supporters of the demo are green left party GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema, her Socialist Party (SP) counterpart Jan Marijnissen and former Labour PvdA environment minister Jan Pronk.

[Copyright Expatica News 2003]

US embassy warns citizens to avoid demo
21 March 2003
AMSTERDAM ?The US embassy warned its citizens on Friday to avoid the anti-war demonstration being held in Amsterdam on Saturday because it may have an "anti-American character" and "possibly escalate into violence".

Anti-war coalition, Platform tegen de "Nieuwe Oorlog," expects up to 50,000 people to gather in the Dam in the capital at 1pm. Similar protests are being planned this weekend in other cities around the world.

In a statement published on its website, the US embassy in The Hague said there were tentative plans for the demonstration to begin at the Dam, with demonstrators subsequently marching to Museumplein and the vicinity of the heavily-fortified US Consulate building.

"Police will monitor the situation," the statement said. "As noted in the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement of February 6, demonstrations in many parts of the world may have an anti-American Character".

"Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn into confrontational situations and possibly escalate to violence," the statement said.

The statement concluded: "US citizens travelling or residing aboard should avoid demonstrations and take commonsense precautions".

Separately, a Dutch government survey has found the number of people who think the war in Iraq will have consequences for the Netherlands has dropped significantly.

A poll conducted on 18 March found 68 percent expect the war will significantly impact the Netherlands. The same poll found 80 percent held this view on 12 March.

Sending the results to Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Johan Remkes said the general conclusion was that "unease among the Dutch public has not risen".

[Copyright Expatica News 2003]

您好，我有个问题，急切盼望您的回答
我自己申请的荷兰LEIDEN UNIVERSITY，并已拿到录取通知书（攻读硕士），那个教授让我交一份FINIANCIAL STATEMENT，然后帮我申请奖学金。我不知道这个财产证明应该开多少？怎样开？开多长时间。那里一年9500E的学费。
存100，000RMB够吗？我家的经济情况不太好，只有这些！
可中国银行的人说如果现在存，大使馆可能不认可，况且，一般情况下，需存3个月，可学校又说在6月前要把学费寄到学校，如果存进银行，还怎么汇款呀？

谢谢！