René van der Gijp thinks that Today Inside has had a very right-wing appearance lately, he reveals in the De Krantjes section. “The only thing that hasn’t been called yet? Our own people first!”
It is no secret that René van der Gijp, whether or not under the influence of his progressive wife Minouche, has difficulty with the populist sounds that sometimes sound in Today Inside. For example, he does not want to sit at the table next to Wierd Duk and that is why the Telegraaf journalist is only welcome on Gijp-free Wednesdays. Wierd is now also not coming to Curaçao.
‘Our own people first!’
René notices that topics such as asylum are increasingly discussed in VI. “Yes, we now mention issues such as asylum more often,” he says in the column The Newspapers.
Wilfred Genee sarcastically: “Do you think so?”
René: “I have that idea, haha. The only thing that has not yet been shouted at us is: ‘Our own people first!’ Haha. That’s the only thing that hasn’t been called yet, but that’s coming, I think!”
Wilfred: “Yes, I think so too.”
“Coming soon!”
‘Own people first’ is a well-known, historically charged political slogan from the nationalist and extreme right-wing corners. By saying that this is the only thing that has not yet been called, René sarcastically states that the program is only one step away from that radical, exclusionary rhetoric.
René: “That’s really coming. But in any case: what I always have a little bit, Wilfred, I don’t know how you look at it: if there are problems, they have to be solved, but we shouldn’t dehumanize them, asylum seekers. You shouldn’t do that.”
People with heart
We should continue to talk normally about asylum seekers, René believes. “They just remain people and they just remain people who also have a heart, have feelings and have children and family. We shouldn’t pretend that we are talking about animals, I think. I don’t like that.”
“And that is of course what many of those populists encourage. In principle, I think, and I don’t want to go on about it for too long, that the way Netanyahu has raged in Gaza is because he doesn’t see them as people. He sees them as animals. We shouldn’t turn them into asylum seekers. That doesn’t really make me happy.”
