NETHERLANDS: CROWDS GATHER TO MARCH AGAINST THE VISIT OF UNITED STATES PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Record ID: 338055

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: CROWDS GATHER TO MARCH AGAINST THE VISIT OF UNITED STATES PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
  • Date: 8th May 2005
  • Summary: (EU) AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS (MAY 7, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE SHOT AND PAN THROUGH CROWD; BANNERS AND RUSSIAN FLAGS; BANNERS READING: "ISLAM IS NOT AN ENEMY - TOGETHER AGAINST RACISM"; CLOSER CROWD AND BANNERS PASSING BY WITHOUT END (4 SHOTS) 0.35 2. MV DEMONSTRATOR WITH A BANNER, POLICEMEN ON HORSES AND MOTORCYCLES; TWO GIRLS SHOUTING :"STOP BU
  • Embargoed: 23rd May 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Reuters ID: LVADFJM6XKN4QKV2WAF5PZJEQWL7
  • Story Text: Crowds gather in Amsterdam to march against US
    President Bush's visit to The Netherlands.

    Hundreds of Dutch protesters rallied on Saturday
    (May 7, 2005) against U.S. President George W. Bush's first visit
    to the Netherlands, many venting anger over the U.S.-led
    invasion of Iraq.

    Bush is due to arrive in the southern Netherlands from
    Latvia on Saturday evening. He will attend a ceremony on
    Sunday (May 8) to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the
    end of World War Two in Europe before flying on to Russia
    and Georgia.

    More than 1,000 people, mainly opponents of the Iraq
    war, gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Amsterdam waving old
    Soviet flags and placards with slogans like
    "Stop Bush" and "If you want to stop terrorism, stop
    participating in it".

    "Very few people understand what is really going on and
    they don't know the history of Bush family in the Caribbean
    and Latin America, in the first and second world war, as
    traders of arms and money lenders. It's about time that
    that comes about." said Harriett Broekman an Amsterdam
    resident.

    Blowing whistles and shouting "Bush go home", the
    protesters marched through Amsterdam to the central Dam
    square. Meanwhile, about 100 demonstrators rallied in the
    southern city of Maastricht, where Bush is due to land
    later on Saturday.

    The Dutch centre-right government supported the 2003
    invasion of Iraq and sent some 1,350 troops to help patrol
    the country after the war despite domestic opposition.

    It kept soldiers there when Spain withdrew following
    the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, but recently
    pulled them out after opposition parties refused to extend
    their mandate.

    A poll published by RTL television on Friday showed
    that 68 percent of Dutch think their government behaves
    like the lap dog of the United States, while 71 percent
    believe Washington exaggerates terrorist threats to pursue
    its own interests.

    Only 49 percent said they felt grateful to the United
    States for freedom and democracy in the Netherlands, while
    51 percent said Dutch troops should never have been sent to
    Iraq.

    Bush will be joined by Prime Minister Jan Peter
    Balkenende and Dutch head of state Queen Beatrix on Sunday
    at a U.S. cemetery near Maastricht, where around 8,000
    American war dead are buried. Many of the soldiers lost
    their lives in Allied operations to liberate the
    Netherlands from German occupation.

    A convoy of about 100 old military vehicles carrying
    Canadian war veterans drove through Amsterdam on Saturday
    to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the city.

    A Dutch court this week rejected an attempt by
    left-wing activists to force the government to arrest Bush
    when he arrives in the country to face charges of violating
    human rights.


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