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Zwarte Piet

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  • #152
    RobYourBuilder
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,541 ✭✭✭RobYourBuilder


    Hundreds of soft toys representing Zwarte Piet, or Sinterklaas’s helper, have been tied to lamp posts in Rotterdam as part of a campaign by local party Leefbaar Rotterdam to keep the December 5 tradition unchanged.

    The dolls have a sign around their necks stating ‘we want to stay’. The campaign comes a day after Gouda announced ‘cheese Piets’ would accompany Sinterklaas during the televised arrival next month.

    Efforts are being made in some parts of the country to reduce what anti-Zwarte Piet campaigners say are racist elements in the portrayal of Piet – in particular the use of black face make-up.

    ‘The discussion about an innocent children’s party has to stop,’ said party spokesman Anton Molenaar. ‘We fear that a number of hyper-correct people are somewhat confused because they have forgotten 15 million Dutch people simply want to celebrate Sint and Piet.’

    Leefbaar Rotterdam is the biggest party on Rotterdam city council and runs the city together with the Liberal Democrats and the Christian Democrats.

    http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/10/zwarte_piet_dolls_tied_to_lamp.php/


  • #153
    RobYourBuilder
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,541 ✭✭✭RobYourBuilder


    Sixty people were arrested in Gouda on Saturday after clashes between pro and anti Zwarte Piet demonstrators at the welcoming ceremony for Sinterklaas, news agency ANP reported.   City mayor Milo Schoenmaker told a news conference on Saturday afternoon he was disappointed about the incidents but was unable to say if those arrested were for or against Zwarte Piet. Anti-campaigners had said they would demonstrate against the presence of white people in black face make-up at the parade. They had been told to confine their activities to two locations, but according to Nos television, some insisted on forcing their way to the city centre square. One father with young children was caught up in the trouble, Schoenmaker said. He declined to say how many police had been deployed in the city. Sinterklaas’s arrival passed off peacefully from the point of view of the young audience, Schoenmaker said. Although Sinterklaas was accompanied by mostly Piets in blackface make up, several Piets in different make up, including a clown and a white Piet were spotted by reporters.

    http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/11/sixty-arrested-in-anti-piet-protests-as-sinterklaas-arrives-in-gouda.php/

    Fighting over a traditional childrens character. Jesus wept.


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