Get up early on your free Saturday to occupy the A12. A group of Groningen residents took the train to The Hague to fight for the climate. They had not expected a water cannon. “I want the police to carry me off the highway like a princess.”
She has put on an old ski suit from her mother. Because blocking the highway in the cold shouldn’t be fun, thought Toos (22) from Groningen. She hadn’t counted on the sun and soon becomes very hot in the train that drives through a white world to The Hague. Together with 7 climate activists from Extinction Rebellion (XR), she left the main station of Groningen at 8.18 am.
Ezra (19) has already completed a journey: from Westerlee he cycled to Scheemda, where he took the train to Groningen, where he arrived just in time. He is happy to find like-minded people around him who, like him, feel the need to at least do something for the climate.
Long haired work shy scum
The group also consists of Maria (57), Mieke (64), Carolien (21), Amanda (30) and Ruben (21). And yes, they know how climate activists from XR are regularly dismissed: as long-haired work-shy scum, moreover inconsistent, because they also pollute the environment. Toos sighs. She can dream the commentary. She says: “Better an imperfect idealist than a narcissistic jerk.”
She just finished Wageningen University, where she studied forestry and nature conservation. “Nature conservation is the most important thing. We can come up with technological solutions, but they are of no use if there is no more nature. It’s about restoring ecosystems.”
On Insta I saw three women in soup dresses
She joined XR in Wageningen and was surrounded by young people. Quite a difference with XR in Groningen, she noticed when she returned there after graduating. “I saw three women in soup dresses on Insta. No problem of course, but a few peers would be nice.”
She was served at her beck and call, because with the arrest of 700 highway occupants of XR at the end of January, interest in the movement grew, also in Groningen and among young people. The blockade of the A12 in The Hague is a recurring action to persuade the government to stop the billions of euros in subsidies for the fossil fuel industry.
‘I don’t feel like an activist but a human being’
“The comparison with a fire is often made,” says Mieke. “The Netherlands extinguishes that fire with a bucket of water and three buckets of oil.” That worries her, she says. The same goes for Amanda. “I sometimes have sleepless nights because of my worries about the future of the earth,” she says. “The actions on the A12 are very specific. I don’t feel like an activist, I just feel like a person who is worried.” Carolien is also happy to be able to do something with her worries. “I want the police to carry me off the highway like a princess,” she says, theatrically and determinedly at the same time.
XR Groningen transfers in Amersfoort where a group of farmer activists has arrived in clogs. They will also go to The Hague to make their voices heard with activists from Farmers Defense Force and Samen voor Nederland and look forward to speeches by Geert Wilders and Thierry Baudet.
The difference in protesters is visible. One group carries inverted flags, the other group carries self-made banners.
Ezra: ‘I will stay as long as possible’
The contrast is also visible on the A12 where several thousand people gather. They see themselves confronted with police water cannons, while they blow bubbles, remain silent or start a protest song. “A water cannon? That’s bluff, that’s intimidation”, someone from XR shouts through a megaphone.
For five hours it remains with bluffing. Then the police are fed up. She again asks the demonstrators to leave and then deploys the water cannons. Carolien and Ezra are not about to let a little water scare them away. ,,I will stay as long as possible”, Ezra has always said.
‘I’ll be better prepared next time’
The two heroically let the water cannons come over them. Drenched, they allow themselves to be picked up by the police, are taken away in a van to the police station, to be released cold and tired at eight o’clock. Fellow XR rebels are waiting there, who provide warmth in the form of a meal, tea, a listening ear. Also for dry clothes and a place to stay.
Is this worth it to them? ,,Yes, of course”, says Carolien, even though she was only half carried away by the police. She looks forward to the next highway blockade. “Then I’ll be better prepared.”