The NATO Summit and I
Hostage citizens, proud officials, and naughty escorts
I know people, a lot is going on in the world at the moment. But I live and work in the city of peace and justice (ha ha) where the Summit takes place, so here goes my contribution to the protest of why on earth did they do this summit in a residential area? Well, my answer as usual: because they don’t give a shit about us.
This piece is my contribution to the radio show Dutchbuzz, which will air tonight at 21:00 CET in Den Haag FM. You can listen live online if you click on Live Radio, but you can also watch on the webcam TV. I am the one trying to manage the soundboard. The camera is behind me, but I will try to turn around and say hello! I’m a bit sick, so my voice is not the best, but it’s what it is.
Audio Transcript:
I was planning to work this week, you know, as usual. I am a piano teacher in a community center in the Statenkwartier, 300 meters from the World Forum where the NATO Summit is taking place. But I miscalculated.
Already last Thursday I got trapped. I was biking home when I noticed men diverting traffic off the Scheveningseweg. But it seemed that bikes could get through at the corner with Johan de Wittlaan, so another biker and I went ahead. But when we got in, we noticed, the gates on the other side were already closed. A worker told us they would open the gates for us, but it turned out, no, they won’t, so we had to go out the street by the Leonardo Royal Hotel, and make a tour behind the lake to find our way. There were no diverting signs for bikes indicating the alternative route. Thanks God for Google Maps.
But the stress of the ubiquitous yellow and red signs was acting on my unconscious for weeks. On my way from Leidschendam to the Statenkwartier, I saw barriers ready to close in several places, also on bike paths, high fences growing around the Hubertustunnel, the Raamweg, Plesmanweg, that made me think I was now living in some North Korea copy cat country.
But no, I am still in democratic Netherlands, or so I thought. Because nobody asked me about this, nobody asked me if I wanted to cancel my lessons, because, I cannot teach online, it’s not the same, work from home, they say, as if everybody could do that! Tell that to the cleaning lady! So thank you, Meneer Rutte! You made me lose a week of lessons just because you wanted to show off!
I interviewed some people and students in the community center, I asked what were the implications of this summit for them. Some are leaving the city, they find it too dangerous, such a high stake meeting so close to their houses. Group classes are canceled. Schools are closed. The place where I teach is open, but many activities are also canceled. The violin teacher there, Emese, was not happy about it, some of her students canceled because they couldn’t make it, and she said what I was thinking out loud: (voice Emese)
“To me, it’s a little strange that they organize an event of this volume and importance in a residential area basically, whereas they could already find places that are more remote and more secure already like a military base, so I understand how it looks good for The Hague to organize this, but I am not sure if it’s great for the people who work and live in the Statenkwartier.”
And she, and I, are not the only ones who think this. In an article appeared in the NL Times of 21 April, titled “Two-thirds of cops find NATO summit in The Hague irresponsible”, they mention that many things could fail, but “Their main concerns include the failing C2000 communications system, cyberattacks, large demonstrations, and police capacity issues in other places.” This was found in a survey by EenVandaag of almost 1,200 members of the Dutch Police Union (NPB).
Not everyone is unhappy. One of the kitchen volunteers had no problems with it: (Voice lady): “I lived all my life on Scheveningen, and we always have events, therefore you have a bike, you go everywhere around. I like events in Scheveningen.”
I guess this lady doesn’t have to worry about loss of income. But some business owners are worrying. A student of mine who owns an acupuncture practice in the Keizerstraat decided to close for the week. Same as me, in the end, the power of the warning signs won. Some citizens feel like hostages in their own city, and feel treated as suspects a priori. The people who live in the closed off area have to show their passport before being allowed to enter their own homes.
But, you know who is making a lot of money with this? High Class escorts. As reported in De Telegraaf from the 18th of June, the escorts are already noticing an increase of requests, and will be working over hours. “During the NATO summit in The Hague, crowds are expected not only at hotels and restaurants, but also at escorts,” writes De Telegraaf. “Reporter Hein Keijser finds out what some of the international guests want.” Other than good-looking girls in high heels to go to dinner with and later to their lonely hotel rooms, some of the things they request is “face riding.” Don’t ask me to explain.
But yeah, our leaders like to ride girls on high heels after important discussions on bombing other countries and arming themselves to the teeth, because, I guess, they live in an abstract world of high implication decisions where everything can be paid for, life and death, love and hate. Everything has a price. 5 % of GDP, or, 1500 euros for dinner and “face riding”.
