The Hague, Netherlands— 25 July 2018 —Ambassador Fernando Arias of Spain takes office today as the new Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), becoming the fourth person to hold this office since the Organisation was established in 1997. He succeeds Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü of Turkey, who completed his second term as Director-General on 24 July 2018.

On the picture Mr. Luc Devoldere (Ons Erfdeel), Ambassador Maryem van den Heuvel (Embassy Kingdom of the Netherlands in Brussels), Flemish prime-minister Geert Bourgois, Natasja Duhem (deputy General Representative of the Flemish Government in the Netherlands), Dirk Verlee (Flemish Economic Representative in the Netherlands and Mr. Jan Peumans (chairman of the Flemish Parliament).

 

By Roy Lie Atjam.

 

The Hague, on 6 July 2018, the Flemish General Delegation in the Netherlands hosted a National Day reception at De Sociëteit De Witte. This is an official holiday in Flanders – the northern Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, including those in Brussels who consider themselves  Flemings.

The holiday is officially celebrated on 11July, to commemorate a historic victory of Flemish civil militias on a French knight’s army, near the town Kortrijk, in 1302. This has prevented the complete incorporation of Flanders into France.

 

Furthermore, the Flemish General Delegation is an autonomous part of the Belgian Embassy in The Hague. The delegation is fully competent in dealing with matters pertaining to culture, education, economy and so on.

Following the introduction and welcome by Mr. Axel Buyse, coordinator and  General Delegation/Representative of the  Flemish Government in the Netherlands, the following personalities delivered their remarks:  Mr. Luc Devoldere, director of the Flemish-Dutch cultural foundation ‘OnsErfdeel’, Ms. Gerdien Verschoor, director of the Codart Foundation (network for directors and curators of museums worldwide that have Flemish and Dutch Old Masters, Mr. Jan Peumans, President of the Flemish Parliament (Brussels) and Mr. Geert Bourgeois, Prime Minister of the Flemish Government (Brussels).

 

The screening of a video by the Trade Office (Flanders Investment and Trade) was also part of the program.

Live Jazz music animated the celebration.

——————————– Photography is a courtesy of the General Representative Bureau of the Government of Flanders.  

 

 

Reception aboard INS Tarangini Indian Navy’s first Sail Training Ship  Amsterdam – July 3, 2018 – INS Tarangini, the sail training ship of Indian Navy being commanded by Cdr Rahul Mehtais on a 7-month long voyage of Europe arrived Amsterdam on June 28. The ship will visit 15 ports in 13 countries, covering a distance of more than 15,000 nautical mile. The INS Tarangini was docked in Amsterdam from June 28-July 6 and will be docked at Harlingen from August 4 to 6. The Ambassador of India, H.E. Mr. Venu Rajamony,  hosted a reception aboard INS Tarangini on July 3. The reception was attended by representatives from Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Royal Netherlands Navy, SAIL Amsterdam, Amsterdam Municipality, Indian & Dutch business community.  

The Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury,  visited green houses complex in the Netherlands, together with H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Ambassador of Bangladesh and his spouse Dr. Dilruba Nasrin. 20 July 2018, The Hague: The Honourable Speaker of Bangladesh National Parliament, Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury,  made a tour to the Westland in the Netherlands on 18 July 2018 to gain insights on Dutch greenhouse technology. Dr. Chowdhury was in the Netherlands as one of the invited guests of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to join their 20th-anniversary celebrations. During her visit to the Westland, Dr. Chowdhury not only witnessed the innovative insights of Dutch greenhouse concepts, also came to know aspects of Dutch agricultural prowess. During her visit to world famous Ter Laak Orchids, an innovative enterprise of orchids, and the World Horticulture Center, the Speaker witnessed how research, innovation, and creativity are tied up in every step of what they have been doing in this mega greenhouse complex in the Netherlands.

The Ter Laak Orchids, which was awarded “International Grower of the Year 2018” and the World Horticultural Center, are together a unique amalgamation of research, demonstration, and education. The center is a collaboration between education, government, research, and business. Dr. Chowdhury , as a follow up to the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the Netherlands in November 2015, advised the Embassy of Bangladesh to remain engaged with the Dutch government and assured her necessary consultation with  the Agriculture Minister Ms. Matia Chowdhury for further collaboration with the Netherlands in piloting Green House technology in Bangladesh befitting to our weather and culture.

Conferral of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Rays upon Mrs. Elizabeth van der Wind, former staff member of the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands On Thursday 21 June, at 17:30 hours, Mrs. Elizabeth van der Wind, former staff member of the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands, received in the name of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Rays during a special ceremony at the residence of the Ambassador of Japan, Mr. Hiroshi Inomata. With this decoration, the Japanese government recognises her exceptional contribution to the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands.   By Sheila Turabaz On the 21^st of June 2018, Mrs. Elizabeth Van der Wind-Hamill, former staff member of the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands, was awarded the prestigious Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Rays at a conferment ceremony hosted by the Ambassador of Japan to the Netherlands H.E. Mr. Hiroshi Inomata. The Order of the Sacred Treasure called Zuihosho (瑞宝章) in Japanese, is bestowed upon women and men in recognition of their exceptional achievements in various fields in civil or military service. His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan conferred this decoration, presented by H.E. Mr. Inomata, to recognize Mrs. Van der Wind-Hamill’s significant contribution to promoting Dutch-Japanese relations during her 33 years of service for the Embassy of Japan. Mrs. Van der Wind-Hamill’s friends, family, (former) colleagues and prominent figures of the Japanese community gathered at Ambassador Inomata’s residence in The Hague to celebrate this occasion. Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mr. Dries Van Agt, who served as an Ambassador of the European Union to Japan in the 1980s, also attended the ceremony. During the ceremony, the Ambassador spoke of Mrs. Van der Wind-Hamill’s accomplishments in the past decades, particularly mentioning her valuable contribution to the promotion of Dutch-Japanese relations as well as her personal qualities that made her a valuable staff member: “She started working at the Embassy in 1980 as a clerk at the Department of Cultural Affairs, Press and Information. Proficient in English, French, and Dutch, she soon turned out to be a true asset.

During her days at the Embassy she was involved in quite a few high-profile events, such as the visit of Their Imperial Majesties Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in 2000. That year marked 400 years of relations between the Netherlands and Japan and various festive activities were organized with her help throughout the year. In such an intensive year, she also contributed much to the public communications of the Embassy, which certainly laid the basis for a new bilateral relationship between Japan and the Netherlands. (…) In the meantime, she was promoted from clerk to senior clerk in recognition of her long and outstanding service to the Embassy. (…) One of the skills that she excels at, and I think that the amount of people gathered here today is proof of that, is her ability to connect people with each other. In her years at the Embassy she forged a strong network among economic, academic, cultural and other circles, which shows how dedicated she was. In this way, she was a catalyst for the promotion and development of other Japan-related organizations in the Netherlands in cooperation with the Embassy. ”

Mrs.Van der Wind-Hamill – dressed elegantly in black but now adorned with a star-shaped badge consisting of 20 white enameled rays and with a central frame of rubies – could not contain her excitement, smiling continuously throughout the ceremony. Her acceptance speech was an expression of humility and gratitude to all the people with whom she has worked with over the years: “(…) Let me take you back to January 4^th 1980. (…)In those early pre-computer years, the pace was slow, the staff was small and all was relatively quiet on the ‘eastern’ front. These were the ‘learning’ years and among my teachers were Willem van Gulik and Jaap Rost Onnes. They were and are the very best. For your support and friendship I owe you both a debt of gratitude that I can never repay. (…) In my 33 years at the Embassy of Japan I saw the coronation of a new emperor, an historically meaningful state visit to this country by Their Imperial Majesties and the establishment of what I view to see as the jewel in the crown of Japanese-Dutch relations – Japan Museum Siebold Huis in Leiden where it is my good fortune to work. I watched as the Japanese language and culture were embraced by an ever-increasing number of enthusiastic Dutch students and saw Japanese cuisine change the eating habits of the average Dutchman. (…) If I have contributed in any way to promoting Japanese-Dutch relations it was not without your help and that of so many others. Each and every one of you in this room has contributed in one way or another so it belongs – in part to all of you.” After the ceremony’s conclusion, family and friends of Mrs. Elizabeth Van der Wind-Hamill as well as other Japan enthusiasts mingled at the reception and  were treated with some of the finest Japanese sushi at the reception.    

H.E. Aviv Shir-On, Ambassador of Israel and H.E. Hector Horacio Salvador, Ambassador of Argentina. By John Dunkelgrün. No name in the world evokes the agony and the suffering as a result of racial and religious discrimination more than that of Anne Frank, the 16 year old Jewish girl that after more than two years of hiding from the Nazi’s was deported, together with her family, to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp and murdered.

Her very name is iconic from Japan to Argentina, from California to New Zealand, in the struggle against all sorts of discrimination. Every year millions of visitors from around the globe visit her hiding place, the “Anne Frank Huis” in Amsterdam. It is run by the Anne Frank Stichting, an organization devoted to teaching about the Holocaust and generally about discrimination. It teaches teachers and disseminates course material. Its aim is to keep the memory alive of Anne Frank and of the horrors that killed her and to make people aware of the dangers of discrimination in any form.

To further this goal, the Anne Frank Stichting has been instrumental at the establishment ten years ago of the Centro Ana Frank in Buenos Aires. This center has broadly the same goals as the Amsterdam organization and has reached thousands with its programmes. One of its activities is an annual visit to the Anne Frank Huis by a group of young people selected after an essay writing competition to which many hundreds enter every year. This year the Argentinean Ambassador, H.E. Horacio Salvador, and Sra. Jane Berger de Salvador invited the group of winners to a special event at the Residence. The group was led by the President of the Centro, Sr. Hector Shalom and the coordinator of its educational programmes, Rabbi Silvina Chemen.

The programme started with the very emotional testimonies by Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp of The Hague and his wife Mrs. Sira Soetendorp. Rabbi Soetendorp told Mrs. Sira Soetendorp that when he was a little baby a Gestapo squad entered his parents’ house and would have taken them away if not for the officer in charge who, after seeing him as a baby, said: “What a pity he is a Jewish baby”. His father replied that he was glad it was a Jewish baby because he would always know that his father was not a murderer. Thereupon the officer swore and shouted while taking his men out of this “stinking Jewish hole” and vowing to come back to arrest them the next day. In this way, he gave them the possibility to flee. Rabbi Soetendorp said that if the heart of a single man could be moved to save a baby, there was still hope for humanity, even in the very worst of times. It was reminiscent of the Talmudic saying that “He who saves a single life is as of he has saved the whole world”.

After a musical interlude, a short film was shown made from a play “La Ventana del Arbol y Ana Frank“, the window of the tree and Anne Frank. In it, the lovely Actress Zoe Hochbaum who was present plays Anne Frank writing and rereading her diary, philosophizing about the world and its many injustices. Again the play, the movie, effectively and emotionally warn us about the dangers of prejudice, discrimination, and alienation. The event was concluded by a reception in the lush gardens of the Residence, where the guests, among which were many ambassadors, the delegation from the Centro Ana Frank and the Anne Frank Stichting and rabbis from The Hague and Amsterdam were treated to Argentinean specialties and superb wines. Hats off to Ambassador Salvador and his Embassy team for hosting this annual delegation and helping to further the efforts of these wonderful and regrettably very necessary organizations. ————— Photography by John Dunkelgrün and GNS BW.