Thursday 20th we will move the tree from Oude Meer (Schiphol Oost) to Nieuwe Meer (Het Buitenland). The boat leaves at 11.30 a.m. Wanna board: come to the cafe on the corner of Bilderdijk- and Jacob van Lennepstraat. Or call 0624148872

LOOK WITH US!

What happened since the commemoration?

Miloud Fritass is in prison, in the Detention Centre of Rotterdam Airport (Zestienhoven). We have succeeded to postpone his extradition to Morocco by mobilizing as survivors and supporting artists and activists. Lawyers did their bit, a member of Parliament has had the guts to ask critical questions. And the judge forbade extradition on medical grounds. Our brother is under heavy stress, on top of the post-traumatic stress disorder that dominates his mind ever since the fire.
On Wednesday morning the Rotterdam Court will meet in public session to decide whether or not he has the right to recover his mental health in Holland before being deported.
A serious delegation will be on the public bench to meet and greet him. And give him a piece of our Monument.
That is on Wednesday the 19th of November at 9 a.m. Wilhelminaplein 100, 3072 AK Rotterdam.

The monument that we have mounted on Sunday the 26th of October has been placed illegally according to the Mayor of the Haarlemmermeer. And he has ordered us to remove it not later than Monday 17th. of November. When we comply, he offered to find a new location on his territory. If we don’t, he said that the he will do it himself and send us the bill.
We are negotiating in order to keep communicating with all people concerned and to maintain the spirit and soul of our struggle, to make a life again as survivors of the Schiphol Fire and for recognition and justice of migrants’ rights in general. You may read our reflection in our letter (in Dutch) we delivered at 9 AM today. [See below]

We propose to temporarily deconstruct the monument:
-    the eleven wooden pillars stay where they are
-    the painting on canvas has been taken off the fence and stored inside the prison complex, according to some of the guards
-    the aluminium tree can travel too, but we must decide where to
-    the three living trees (Tilia Cordata), the indigenous ritual community tree, will be offered to the community of Haarlemmermeer

This proposal has been presented on Monday morning to the Mayor after consulting with as many people as we could.
On Monday we hope to reach an agreement with the Mayor on a good way to deal with the situation, based on the shared sense of the need to create a permanent monument and a joint commemoration next year. We have reached a mutual understanding of each others position in the meeting with the mayor last Friday. However, there was no direct representation of the survivors in this meeting. That is why we have been  consulting survivors and artists and activists by phone and E-mail and will discuss the outcome in the assemblee of the survivors on Tuesday evening in Rotterdam. That is on the evening before the court session on Fritass.
We hope to be able convince the Mayor and his advisers that a process of democratic decision making that has evolved in the last three years, requires peace of mind and a minimum of time to reach a satisfactory outcome.

In the live program of M2M Radio last Friday we talked a lot about Fritass and about the news brought by NOVA on TV: new technical research on the footage of the security cameras strongly indicates that the fire did NOT start in the cell of Ahmed Isa, who has been convicted to three years in prison. The fire started in the technical installation outside the cells, which is exactly what many survivors have testified on many occasions for the last three years. This new piece of truth is a relief and a liberation for the survivors and may well lead to a reopening of the investigation by the Security Board and by the Prosecutors of the Ministry of Justice as well. The lawyer Nico Steijnen who is pressing criminal charges of cruel and inhuman treatment against the then responsible ministers Donner and Verdonk, has demanded the immediate dismissal of all charges against Ahmed Isa. And to stop torturing Fritass and all other survivors by withholding evidence, justice and proper medical care.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strassbourg is now considering admitting the request to deal with this case after receiving the documents last month.

We regret the turmoil all this causes for the survivors.
We are confident that we can deal with this, like we have so far dealt with everything since the fire.
If living is moving, than a living monument can be moving too.

We are here
To make a life again
Together as one

We are everywhere.

Last Friday delegation of the Dutch organizers of the commemoration (Jo, Jeanne, Jos, Ramon and Emilie) had a meeting with the Mayor of the Commune Haarlemmermeer, Theo Weterings.

He gave us this letter, explaining that the monument had to go. PDF

And the commander of the KMAR complained about the difficult situation we had brought him in.

And then Jo reacted. Saying: (Dutch)

We talked a bit more and then we promised to send our answers in a letter by Monday morning. After consulting with the survivors and artists who must be considered owners of the monujment at Schiphol Oost.

This is what we wrote back to the Mayor: