In our statements of Wednesday (here and here) 0.7 has tried to communicate – as it happened – what happened when our demonstration against the budget cuts was cancelled. The pressure under which we under was impeding our communication, so a quick update on what passed that 14th, who to blame, and what must be done going forward.
Somewhere after noon on Wednesday the 13th, the day before our demonstration, 0.7 got an emergency-call that summoned us in a coalition meeting 5 minutes later. There, we were told by the AOb, FNV, and police, that the demonstration was off, because the driehoek (Utrecht district attorney, mayor of Utrecht, Utrecht police) would not guarantee its safety. Simultaneously, everybody’s phone blew up because the NOS reported the demonstration was off. Someone had leaked that the demo was cancelled. The whole coalition was shocked and angry, and the emotion did not subside during our conversation with the police spokesman. His answers were evasive, insufficient, untransparent, and frankly suspicious. It seemed like a person avoiding lies, while not speaking the truth. There were no answers to the questions that absolutely needed one. Read Tim’s accounts here.
What we did learn is what had happened an hour or so before this chaotic meeting. Apparently, the driehoek had called AOb and FNV work organizations (the two official organizers) into (a) meeting(s), put them on the spot, and told them that either the unions cancel the demonstration, or the driehoek would, since there was a threat they described as ‘palestine groups from outisde would hijack the protest and not shun violence’. After a – we were told – livid exchange the unions gave in, which turned out in hindsight (and in our opinion) a strategical mistake. The unions were subsequently framed by the driehoek as the decision maker. (Read post FNV here).
Because the cancellation was leaked, and the short notice, the organizing coalition (AOb, FNV, CNV, WOinActie, 0.7, PNN, de Goede Zaak, LSVb, ISO, FvOv) were not able to retract the decision made, nor were we afforded the time to find out what actually happened. What needed to be done now, is inform everybody, do damage control, and set up an alternative. (It also putting the nail in the coffin of the ‘unions have cancelled’-narrative, a narrative they haven’t been able to escape since.) All coalition partners went back to their base and started organizing.
A few hours later, it was already nighttime, we had another meeting to finalize our program of Thursday. 0.7 requested the coalition to ‘uncancel’ the demonstration. The coalition refused because of the risks and communicative nightmare, and proposed an alternative program consisting of local demonstrations that were already set up, and a livestream from our national parlement in Den Hague. Meanwhile the student unions, along left wing political parties and activists, had decided be disobedient, and hold the Moreelsepark demo anyways. 0.7 decided to support this demonstration, while also help organize the alternative plan of the coalition. Weirdly enough the driehoek of Utrecht facilitated this demonstration, and unsurprisingly everything was safe and orderly. No hijacking in sight. We were present, and it was amazing. We were also present in the Hague and this was also extremely effective. We have been present throughout the land, at the local demos, which have all been amazing. The organization, the courage, the participation were all amazing. We were able to show what demonstrating means in many facets. It has been a victory all over.
But a victory over who? Who has tried to prevent us from exercising our democratic rights? We know the PVV and NSC have tried to prevent the coalition from holding our event in parlement. But did mayor Sharon Dijksma, the police of Utrecht, and the district attorney force the unions to cancel without any substantive reason? We honestly don’t know, but it sure seems so. And who leaked? Who came up with the word ‘hijacking’ as it is very clearly not a word activists use. We will press these issues.
Now, who is to blame? Well, first and foremost, the coalition has not cancelled the demonstration, we were just informed about the decision already made by a limited amount of people within two of the unions, who were put on the spot, pressured, and then left to hang out to dry by the driehoek. We already mentioned that it was a tactical mistake in hindsight, but 0.7 does not blame the unions for giving in to the authorities. Those who do are deliberately ignoring the pressure on, and the responsibility and intentions of, the unions. Unions have many flaws no doubt, and we will criticize them tirelessly, but we will not blame them for trying to do the right thing. Whatsmore, this was a learning moment. We ensure you, this will not happen again.
Secondly, the Palestine groups that wanted to attend the demonstration bear no blame what so ever, and hold no responsibility over the cancellation. They were not planning to hijack anything, they are non-violent. 0.7 has been in close contact with them, and they have been excellent partners, who were 100% committed to the demonstration and its main message. They have accommodated requests from the coalition, on the basis of their trust in 0.7, even if it crossed some activist boundaries. So let no one say our partners that are in solidarity with Palestine had anything to do with the cancellation of the demo. That would be a lie. It was also one of the few things the police confirmed. ‘The groups of Mariaplaats had nothing to do with it’. We ask all the partners in the coalition to be as clear as possible on this, because anything less criminalizes legitimate protest against genocide, which has been our far right government’s main objective this past 2 weeks.
Currently, we don’t know yet where to put the blame, but Sharon Dijksma has some explaining to do.
Finally, what’s next? We are under threat, so we have to stand up for ourselves. We are being divided, so we have to stand united. Monday the 25th of November, we have to do just that on the Malieveld in Den Haag. 0.7 will hold on to the coalition, and all other partners. Even the partners that are uneasy allies for us, such as the CVBs, and the UNL. We need everyone to stop the assault on higher education and science and ultimately our free and open society. We will try and build an even broader coalition, and we ask everybody to do the same, especially our partners of the coalition. We have an enormous responsibility. We are up against trans-national fascism, we need a broad societal movement, and 0.7 will help build it.
In solidarity,