Geuzenprize for Pakpahan

Geuzenprize for Pakpahan

The Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union has announced that the
Netherlands' Stichting Geuzenverzet foundation awarded Muchtar
Pakpahan the prestigious Geuzenprize. Some background information
was published in a newspaper article, which needs some
clarification. The article states: "Geuzen was a leading opponent
of his nation's colonization policies and he had a fighting
spirit for the liberation of colonized races".

Some four centuries ago the Netherlands and Belgium were
occupied by the Spaniards. The Dutch resistance fought a long
struggle for independence, which is referred to as the 80 Years
War. The Spaniards occupied the major cities, which were in fact
fortresses with high and thick stone walls to protect them
against enemy attacks.

The resistance was organized into various groups, mainly
operating in the countryside between these cities. Individuals
were recruited from peasant families. The most famous group was
called the Geuzen, which consisted of the Bosgeuzen, who operated
on land and the Watergeuzen, who used barges as their
transportation.

The Geuzen's most heroic achievement was the seizure of the
city of Brielle, at that time a very important port not far from
Rotterdam. The resistance fighters used a cunning trick, through
which they entered the city without suffering major losses. This
stunning performance was the inspiration for many songs and poems
after the Netherlands gained its liberation from the Spaniards.
For the Dutch, the Geuzen symbolizes the struggle of the
suppressed against their rulers.

The list of previous winners of the Geuzenprize includes
playwright Vaclac Havel, the first democratically elected
president of Czechoslovakia and the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in
Buenos Aires, who for years now have been demonstrating
peacefully in an attempt to find out the truth behind what has
happened to their missing sons when Argentina was ruled by a
military junta and thousands of young men disappeared.

HANS POS

Jakarta