| updated: May, 28 2001 22:40 |
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SREBRENICA: THE DUTCH SABRA AND SHATILLA
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On July 15 1995, the Dutch battalion of the United Nations
protection force fled the Bosnian Srebrenica enclave and
made for Zagreb. That same day, the Serbs began
massacring Moslems; soon at least 6,000 were dead.
Srebrenica mayor Nesib Mandzic recently told the Dutch daily
Volkskrant that Col. Thom Karremans, commander of the
Dutch battalion, had totally forgotten the Moslems whom his
force were supposed to protect. Many months after the
massacre, Dutch historian Henri Beunders commented in the
NRC Handelsblad daily: "...while the Bosnians were standing
up to their knees in blood, the Dutch soldiers in Zagreb were
standing up to their ankles in beer, being applauded by Crown
Prince Willem Alexander, [prime minister] Kok and [minister of
defense] Voorhoeve." Among the Dutch soldiers were racist
radicals who were known to make the Nazi salute. It took
five years for some 40 Dutch writers and media people to write
an open letter, in which they accused: "The safe departure of
the Dutch soldiers was more important than the execution of
their primary task: the protection of the population and
refugees." They added that many fundamental, painful
questions remain unanswered: "The Dutch politicians close
their eyes and windows in the hope that the storm will blow
over. Are we so afraid of the truth that we dare not see it...?"
It is a good idea to keep in mind the Srebrenica tragedy and
the major role that the Dutch played in it when the Dutch
Minister of Foreign Affairs arrives in the Middle East next
week. Last week, Jozias van Aartsen told parliament that he
intends to tell the Israeli government how to progress towards
Middle East peace, and to stress that Israel must take
confidence-building measures, such as stopping expansion of
settlements and transferring to the Palestinians withheld tax
money. MP Koenders, the spokesman of the Netherlands'
largest party, the socialists, went even further in the
parliamentary debate. He suggested that the Netherlands
should use the trade association agreement between Israel
and the European Union to put pressure on Israel. The
image of Prime Minister Sharon is associated worldwide with
Sabra and Shatilla, an event that developed in the course of
one day. One may wonder why that of the Dutch socialist
Prime Minister Wim Kok is not associated at all with the much
more predictable disaster of Srebrenica. In Sabra and
Shatilla, Lebanese Christians murdered hundreds of Moslems;
> in Srebrenica, Serbian Christians killed many thousands.
Comparing these tragedies, in several aspects Kok's
responsibility seems substantially greater than Sharon's. The
United Nations' guilt does not detract from that of the Dutch,
who were in Srebrenica for a year and were familiar with all
the murderous precedents in the bloody Yugoslav war. They
knew well how structurally inadequate decision-making at the
United Nation's command was. Although they had had
sufficient time to evaluate the risks, this was sloppily done.
Inquiries in the Netherlands are still incomplete. Six years
later, the public is waiting for a definitive report by NIOD, the
Dutch Institute for War Documentation. In Israel, mass
protests forced a rapid, detailed inquiry after the Lebanese
tragedy. It is superfluous to say that no Israeli leaders toasted
the Israeli troops stationed nearby. There are many other
reasons why Dutch political advice to Israel is hypocritical.
The last time the Netherlands had to defend its independence
was against the Germans in 1940: it capitulated in five days.
Soldiers of other countries had to risk their lives to free the
country in 1945 as the Dutch were unable to do so themselves.
One can only wonder how fast the Netherlands would
collapse if it had to face the adversities Israel has faced in the
last decades. There is one field, however, in which Dutch
advice could be valuable to Israeli leaders. Nothing sticks to
the Netherlands: their colonial misbehaviour; the Dutch
authorities' widespread assistance to the German occupiers
in arresting and deporting over 100,000 Jews to their deaths
during World War II; the government-in-exile's minimal efforts
on behalf of the Jews; the intentional discrimination against
the Jews in the post-war restitution process; the fallacies in
last year's government report to parliament on this process.
The myth of the benign Dutch is false, but their public
relations are excellent. Perhaps the meetings between the
ministers should focus on how they do it. |
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