The open society and its enemies in Amsterdam

In 1945 my mother was evicted from the miner's cottage she grew up in, shortly after the death of my grandfather. The trauma of being thrown out onto the street stayed with her all her life. The year before, my late father-in-law took part in Operation Market Garden during which many Allied soldiers lost their lives while helping to liberate the Netherlands. This was a history lesson I had to give a Dutch TV reporter today, when he asked how many Poles were in the building that was illegally evicted early on Saturday morning. As it happens most of the occupants were Dutch. Very early in the morning on the Eerste Oosterparkstraat in Amsterdam Dutch riot police entered the apartments while most people were sleeping and dragged them out onto the streets. The police also used pepper spray to pacify people, and according to witnesses who spoke to me, two were badly beaten. 51 people were arrested and 15 are still unaccounted for. So far only three have been given access to a lawyer. Everyone that was there had all of their property taken from them and it was only after a loud noise demonstration outside police headquarters that an agreement was reached so that the property would be returned. According to an eye witness, the riot police banged in the door and asked for someone's ID. It is not a legal requirement to carry ID inside your house in Holland (at least not yet) so the ID was not shown, with the result that the squatter was dragged out onto the street and arrested, as were 51 others. These apartments are still the subject of a court case and the eviction by the police was illegal. Today at 3.30pm I was denied access to the press conference given by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, so I did not get the chance to ask him the reason why this had to happen.
The police claim to have discovered weapons in the apartments such as a hockey stick and some knives. Most houses have knives to use in the kitchen, and I'm not aware that playing hockey is illegal. They are trying to spin this story as some kind of "war on terror" action, rather than what it really is, a typical Dutch cock-up. In the newspapers there is a nice list of the different nationalities that were present in the building and these included British and Polish nationals. My father-in-law was British and served his country well in 1945. Many Poles lost their lives in the Battle of Britain. This is a sad tale of media hype to paint a picture of a squatting movement intent on violence and disorder. Perhaps, Mr Cohen, you should think of the positive contribution that the alternative scene has made to the international image of Amsterdam as a tolerant and open city.

The sounds of silence

The sounds of silence, originally uploaded by Cookiemouse.

Pastor Marieke Brouwer sounds the meditation bell at the Lutheran and Buddhist prayer afternoon for Tibet. The event was a wonderful moment of reflection, friendship and communication between people of two faiths that both believe in peace and compassion. The scene was set by Milena Dukanovic playing Jehan Alain on the organ. Afterwards there were short twenty minute sessions of meditation and some music by Hildegard von Bingen, performed by Nannie Shuller (soprano) and Elizabeth Gaskill (violin). Many of our friends were there. Manon arrived back in Amsterdam just in time. The quiet inside was in stark contrast to the traffic and bustle outside. For a few hours the soft energy of the heart weaved its way from Amsterdam to Tibet. The Evangelisch Lutherse Gemeente and the Shambhala Buddhists did a great job of organizing the event. The silence made a deep impression on me, and I made many new friends as a corner of Amsterdam became a refuge of peace and harmony. Milena played with passion and sensitivity. My special thanks go to Hanne for making this event possible. Also a big hug to Aad, Inana, René and Kellie.

The Good Life and 300 Years of Permaculture

Tony Bennett has inspired me with his great voice since I was a teenager. I first met him in Cardiff in the sixties. Dedicated to his art he kept going through the ups and downs to become the American jazz and youth icon that he is today. Tonight I'm off to see Milena perform a modern piece for three organs and, as they have no conductor, she has to have a metronome ticking in her ear the whole time! Some good news! The organ is tuned for tomorrow, so we can all sleep easy in our beds tonight. I'm looking forward to what I'm sure will be a great event for peace and freedom.

Over on David's blog, Through Balanda Eyes I found this amazing video about a 300 year old permaculture forest in Vietnam, where a local community gets all its food and medicine with very little effort as the forest has so many food plants and a very rich biodiversity. This is how we should live, completely in harmony with nature. David himself is a cool naturalist and photographer whose pictures are always worth checking out. These are the best days of our lives. My own is full of love and talent, and people who inspire me every day, and so I wish everyone a great weekend. I've done a quick translation of my friend Claus's poem:

The trees love of the earth

As the trees dig their roots deep into the earth
Trusting that the earth will hold them
As they trust their seeds to the wind
Knowing it will carry them over the land
So I surrender to the cycle of nature knowing

Trust creates trust
Honesty produces honesty
And from love comes love
Even when that is not so
At least I can say
I did my best
Watching the roots and fruit grow

Claus Herrmann 2006

An organist's day between an espresso and calzone

Yesterday morning began with an espresso on the Spui in Amsterdam. It was a good start to what turned out to be a very busy day. Milena rehearsed the Jehan Alain recital for Saturday. It is a haunting piece of music that seems to fit the theme of the afternoon, meditation and non-violence. It became apparent during the rehearsal that the reeds were in need of tuning and this is turning out to be a complicated affair as the organ is a valuable antique, usually kept under lock and key. By today lunchtime Milena had organized a tuner for tomorrow so a crisis was averted.

Later on in the evening we went to the Voku or people's kitchen Beaucoup
in the Diepenbrockstraat near our house. The cooks were Italian and they made these delicious calzone, the pizza that is named after a stocking. The pastry was excellent and our filling was vegan. They cook every Wednesday evening and only charge 3 euros, which was a bargain for a fantastic meal. There was also live music and the atmosphere was friendly and intimate, more like a private party, and it was a perfect night out after a stressful day. These people's kitchens are a very good example of the positive contribution that the squatting and activist scene makes to the cultural life of Amsterdam.

Today the Dalai Lama was in London and he gave an interesting interview on the BBC Today programme. He seems to be offering a large olive branch of conciliation to the Chinese. Before going to the UK His Holiness was in Berlin where he gave a public speech about non-violence at the Brandenburg Gate. This evening he will be shaking hands at the start of a human chain of over 2,000 people from the Royal Albert Hall to the Chinese Embassy. Tomorrow he meets the Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Lambeth Palace. A meeting at 10 Downing Street was considered too sensitive by the British government.

On Saturday afternoon we also hope to demonstrate the power of non-violence and peaceful prayer in Amsterdam. Let us hope that the Tibetans and the Chinese can sit down around a table and try to reach a sensible and fair solution to the human rights and cultural crisis of Tibet.
Update/Friday: Dalai Lama in the House of Commons/Simon Hoggart
"He took his seat facing the foreign affairs committee. They wriggled with pleasure - why, nine out of 14 of them had actually troubled to turn up, in spite of the Crewe byelection. It's not every day that they have the incarnation of Avalokitesvara, the Buddha of Compassion, in for a grilling."
Indymedia/Dalai Lama handshake chain in London
Handshake photoblog

Organic roast potatoes with ketchup for lunch

Continuing the fine art of keeping it simple, today for lunch I baked these roast potatoes for 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius in the oven, and we ate them with salt and tomato ketchup. Basta! Everyone agreed that they were tasty. As a starter I made a broccoli and beetroot soup with leeks, carrots, nettles and garlic, which I then put into the blender. The result was a thick purple liquid that, with plenty of pepper, went down very well.

Shortly before, breakfast consisted of these fruit and nut rolls from the Nieuwmarkt, which also has an organic market every Saturday. The nut rolls are a complete meal in themselves, but with some chocolate spread they are gorgeous. The ones with the chocolate spread did not last long enough to take a picture, but maybe next time. For the first time in a while, I was on the local radio today to talk about the situation in Tibet and Milena's Jehan Alain organ recital on Saturday. We played the piece on the radio, in a programme that was a mix of activist news and punk music. So far I don't know what the listeners thought of Jehan Alain and the Tibetan mantras I played but let's hope they liked them.

The next picture answers the question, "How many Croatians do you need to put up an Ikea bed?" Answer: two, one to put it up and one to watch and be the site manager. These guys have such a sense of humor that I can't remember laughing so much in ages.

Last, but not least, a book tip. Check out this review by Theresa of Tropical Vegan of Making a Killing by Bob Torres, about the political economy of animal rights. Bob says,
"Much like racism, speciesism is built into the very logic of our society: from our assumptions about animals as ‘stupid’ or ‘tasty’ creatures, up to the laws that guarantee animals as our property" (p. 71-2).
Theresa writes, "It’s different from most books on veganism that I’ve come across because it doesn’t focus on health or environmental arguments, nor merely compassionate reasons; it takes a broader look at the socio-political implications of consuming animal products and builds a firm ethical base for veganism that supports the compassionate argument." It's a good review of what sounds like a very interesting book that I'm going to keep a look out for. What are your reasons for being vegan?