The major news story of the past weeks was the death of 94-year-old Princess Juliana, who abdicated as Queen of the Netherlands in 1980. She was buried in the family vault at the New Church in Delft, where Willem van Oranje, the founder of the Dutch royal dynasty, is also buried.
Newspaper headlines, photo spreads and special extra editions reflected the affection most Dutch people felt for Juliana. “Goodbye dear Juliana” the Telegraaf headlined, the NRC featured a front-page poem describing Juliana as everyone’s idea of “Oma” (Grandma) and other newspapers described her as the “ordinary queen”, a “social worker” and “a super grandma in a flowered dress”. It was Juliana’s expressed desire that a woman, Welmet Hudig-Semeijns de Vries van Doesburg, conduct the liturgy at her funeral. The Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament held special memorial sessions for Princess Juliana, followed by a 10-day recess for mourning, although some political parties, namely the Socialists, objected to this delay, arguing that it%s wrong for Parliament but not the executive branch to cease operating. Eulogies for Juliana had a strong tone of nostalgia for an ideal, simpler, more moralistic past. Yet, despite concerns about moral decline, a new survey reveals that Netherlanders remain conservative. According a Social and Cultural Planning Bureau report, there has been little change in the norms and values of the Dutch in the past 30 years. In 1970, more people (56% of the population) found it difficult to define “good and evil” than today (only 41%), and nowadays far more people view tax evasion as a crime. The Dutch also have a more positive image of humanity than their neighbors. Only 25% of Belgians or Germans think people can be trusted, while 42% of the Dutch trust other people.
Dutch Premier Jan-Peter Balkenende visited President Bush in Washington, with media stressing the “solidarity” between the two men. Apparently, the Dutch Premier’s star is rising in Washington. During Balkenende%s first visit to Washington last year he only had a breakfast of cornflakes and sausages with President Bush, a performance that former Dutch Premier Wim Kok characterized as that of “a lapdog”. This time however Balkenende was received before a roaring fire and Bush praised Balkenende before and after the visit. Balkenende reported that the two also discussed social “norms and values” during their meeting. News that a group looking into economic progress in Europe is to be headed by former Premier Kok was greeted scornfully by the Volkskrant newspaper. Even if Kok were to devise a compelling plan for the European economy, the paper’s columnist wrote, “would anyone in Berlin, London, Paris, Rome or Brussels take note of the recommendations of a retired Amsterdam collector of appointments to corporate boards?” In Holland as in France, the great Muslim headscarf debate broke out. One Dutch political party, the LPF, wants to ban civil servants from wearing headscarves. But the cabinet is opposed to this, which Trouw newspaper applauded, writing that by doing so, the cabinet is “leaving room for religion in the public domain and thereby doing justice to the Dutch tradition of tolerance and plurality.”
Dutch criminal Martin Hoogland was gunned down in the quiet village of Hoorn, the latest in a spate of daylight liquidations on Dutch streets. Hoogland himself had gunned down legendarymafia boss Klaas Bruinsma in Amsterdam 13 years ago. After serving two-thirds of his 20-year sentence, Hoogland had recently been transferred to an “open prison”, where he was free to go out during the day. Apparently Hoogland had been on a “hit-list” ever since his transfer from a high-security jail. Elsewhere, the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reports that Dutch criminals are now collecting strands of hair and saliva from innocent people in order to plant them as fake DNA-evidence at crime scenes. Elsewhere, a Uruguayan man who insulted Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, escaped punishment. The man had handed out pamphlets in Amsterdam in which the Prince was described as stupid and the royal pair as spoilt and amoral, following comments made by the Prince defending the former Argentinean military regime. The man was earlier fined 250 euros by a police court but the verdict was overturned on appeal. And finally, a different kind of Dutch fairytale made waves across the sea. A Dutch homosexual fairytale book for children tells the story of Prince Bert who turns down all the princesses brought to him and chooses Prince Lee instead. The children’s book received awards in the United States but shocked religious conservatives. The parents of a child in North Carolina who brought the book home from the public library were shocked to discover that Prince Bert and Prince Lee even get married at the end of the story. The parents refuses to give the book back.
The major news story of the past weeks was the death of 94-year-old Princess Juliana, who abdicated as Queen of the Netherlands in 1980. She was buried in the family vault at the New Church in Delft, where Willem van Oranje, the founder of the Dutch royal dynasty, is also buried. Newspaper headlines, photo spreads and special extra editions reflected the affection most Dutch people felt for Juliana. “Goodbye dear Juliana” the Telegraaf headlined, the NRC featured a front-page poem describing Juliana as everyone’s idea of “Oma” (Grandma) and other newspapers described her as the “ordinary queen”, a “social worker” and “a super grandma in a flowered dress”. It was Juliana’s expressed desire that a woman, Welmet Hudig-Semeijns de Vries van Doesburg, conduct the liturgy at her funeral. The Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament held special memorial sessions for Princess Juliana, followed by a 10-day recess for mourning, although some political parties, namely the Socialists, objected to this delay, arguing that it%s wrong for Parliament but not the executive branch to cease operating. Eulogies for Juliana had a strong tone of nostalgia for an ideal, simpler, more moralistic past. Yet, despite concerns about moral decline, a new survey reveals that Netherlanders remain conservative. According a Social and Cultural Planning Bureau report, there has been little change in the norms and values of the Dutch in the past 30 years. In 1970, more people (56% of the population) found it difficult to define “good and evil” than today (only 41%), and nowadays far more people view tax evasion as a crime. The Dutch also have a more positive image of humanity than their neighbors. Only 25% of Belgians or Germans think people can be trusted, while 42% of the Dutch trust other people.
Dutch Premier Jan-Peter Balkenende visited President Bush in Washington, with media stressing the “solidarity” between the two men. Apparently, the Dutch Premier’s star is rising in Washington. During Balkenende%s first visit to Washington last year he only had a breakfast of cornflakes and sausages with President Bush, a performance that former Dutch Premier Wim Kok characterized as that of “a lapdog”. This time however Balkenende was received before a roaring fire and Bush praised Balkenende before and after the visit. Balkenende reported that the two also discussed social “norms and values” during their meeting. News that a group looking into economic progress in Europe is to be headed by former Premier Kok was greeted scornfully by the Volkskrant newspaper. Even if Kok were to devise a compelling plan for the European economy, the paper’s columnist wrote, “would anyone in Berlin, London, Paris, Rome or Brussels take note of the recommendations of a retired Amsterdam collector of appointments to corporate boards?” In Holland as in France, the great Muslim headscarf debate broke out. One Dutch political party, the LPF, wants to ban civil servants from wearing headscarves. But the cabinet is opposed to this, which Trouw newspaper applauded, writing that by doing so, the cabinet is “leaving room for religion in the public domain and thereby doing justice to the Dutch tradition of tolerance and plurality.”
Dutch criminal Martin Hoogland was gunned down in the quiet village of Hoorn, the latest in a spate of daylight liquidations on Dutch streets. Hoogland himself had gunned down legendarymafia boss Klaas Bruinsma in Amsterdam 13 years ago. After serving two-thirds of his 20-year sentence, Hoogland had recently been transferred to an “open prison”, where he was free to go out during the day. Apparently Hoogland had been on a “hit-list” ever since his transfer from a high-security jail. Elsewhere, the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper reports that Dutch criminals are now collecting strands of hair and saliva from innocent people in order to plant them as fake DNA-evidence at crime scenes. Elsewhere, a Uruguayan man who insulted Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and his wife, Princess Maxima, escaped punishment. The man had handed out pamphlets in Amsterdam in which the Prince was described as stupid and the royal pair as spoilt and amoral, following comments made by the Prince defending the former Argentinean military regime. The man was earlier fined 250 euros by a police court but the verdict was overturned on appeal. And finally, a different kind of Dutch fairytale made waves across the sea. A Dutch homosexual fairytale book for children tells the story of Prince Bert who turns down all the princesses brought to him and chooses Prince Lee instead. The children’s book received awards in the United States but shocked religious conservatives. The parents of a child in North Carolina who brought the book home from the public library were shocked to discover that Prince Bert and Prince Lee even get married at the end of the story. The parents refuses to give the book back.
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