“You are very sorry for me, but as soon as you have to make yourself feel discomfort, you just tell me.” When her youth trauma came up, Rinke Verkerk felt “abandoned” again, this time by the bystanders. In that anger she recognized that she was also short of herself, “with a girl from my village we all knew that her grandfather had abused her.”
Since then she has seen sharper how looking away travels. She recognizes that pattern in Gaza. “Palestinians have the position of children in child abuse,” she explains. Where she used to be pro-Israel, she now sees that the Netherlands supports Israel in the genocide: “Because those who remain neutral in systems of violence supports the ruler. And we do more: we actively responsible for it.”
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- Presentation:
- Pieter van der Wielen
- Editorial and production:
- Merel van Waalwijk van Doorn
- Mixage:
- Audio chef
- Music:
- Rufus van Baardwijk
- Photo:
- NRC