ntiwar rally
Oscar van Rijswijk, a member of the Dutch section of the Fourth International and one of the antinuclear-missile soldiers recently charged with "revealing state secrets, " was a featured speaker at the September 4 Rotterdam peace demonstration.
This march of 25,000 people was the largest Dutch antiwar action since the massive antimissile demonstrations last fall.
Twenty-eight soldiers marched in uniform in the demonstration despite heavy intimidation from the army command, most of them for the first time.
The report of the rally in the September 6 issue of the daily Volkskrant focused mainly on van Rijswijk's speech.
"Today, too, Military Intelligence is running around taking pictures. Some of the soldiers demonstrating here were told by their commanders that they would get ten days in the stockade if they turned up at any affair like this...
"But punishments cannot keep soldiers from demonstrating. Despite this more and more are coming out on deonstrations. They have the sense to fear nuclear weapons much more than any punishment.
"With the introduction of Cruise missiles, the Defense Ministry wants to that no one would ever utter the word 'nuclear weapons!' The officers claim that anything about nuclear weapons is 'secret.'
We were later released and are now out on bail. But trials are being prepared against three members of the VVDM For that reason, the Hands Off the VVDM has been formed, and it has gotten the ective support of the peace movement.
*With your help, we soldiers can stand up to the wave of repression that has been unleashed against all those in the
Among other things, he said:
NATO SOLDATEN
"Several dozen soldiers have come out to this demonstration-in uniform, in order to make it clear that people in the
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Dutch armed forces are also thinking critically about nuclear weapons.
"We soldiers are obliged to guard sites such as Volkel, 't Harde, Havelte,
SOLDATEN KERNNAPENS and others in Germany. We also guard American-occupied areas full of atomic warheads.
"We soldiers are obliged to learn to fire Nike and Lance nuclear missiles. We can be trained in laying nuclear mines and in firing Neutron grenades with ho-
"Not long ago, it came out that Weinberger, van Mierlo's [the Dutch defense minister] American counterpart, thinks that a nuclear war can be waged over a half year and won. That aroused a
"We soldiers were not surprised. We are being trained in how to wage and survive a limited nuclear war...
"The soldiers are demonstrating in uniform today to show that they do not want anything more to do with this nuclear lunacy.
"The military authorities and some politicians claim that by demonstrating in uniform, we are bringing military dictatorship closer. They are standing things on their head. It is not their atomic weapons but our critical attitude in the army that promotes peace. It is not our wearing the uniform here, but their undemocratic practices that prepare the way for military dictatorship.
"Soldiers who distributed leaflets for last fall's demonstration in 't Harde were arrested and held for five days....Of the 120 soldiers who demonstrated in uniform last fall, seventy were punished....
step up nuclear armament. At the same time, they are stepping up their intimidation of antinuclear soldiers. Last year in Steenwijk, two soldiers were arrested and taken from the base simply because they were thinking seriously of retusing to do guard duty....
"This summer the VVDM (Vereniging voor Dienstplichtige Militairen-Soldiers Unien) was attacked. The VVDM supports freedom of expression in the army, and it backs up those who refuse to guard nuclear weapons sites. Four members of the Executive [including van Rijswijk ] were arrested on charges of having stolen top secret information about atomic weapons. It has become clear that this was a sinister frameup by the Military Intelligence.
"Without any grounds whatever, people were arrested, held in isolation cells, told that they could not talk to a lawyer, and that their homes had been
I can tell you from personal experience that that is no joke. We were held for three weeks. That was supposed to make such an impression on soldiers
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DOMA Dutch soldiers protest against nuclear weapons (DR) army who express critical views about atomic weapons.
"So, I call on all those here today to sign the petitions that are going around, support the soldies who are going to be arrested for showing their support for this demonstration.
"Friends, we are not going to let ourselves be gagged by the Defense Minister in the Hague. We are going to continue to express our opinion about nuclear weapons...and the Cruise missiles are not coming here!"
The September 4 demonstration was marked by a much larger proportion of youth than the anti-Cruise missile last fall.
Rebel, the youth organization affiliated to the Dutch section of the Fourth International, pushed the idea of a conference to form an antiwar organization for youth in Holland on the model of the Youth CND in Britain. The IKV, one of the major peace organizations, has begun organizing a national meeting of youth groups to prepare the way for such a conference.
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