A sticker adorns the window of restaurant Waku Waku in Utrecht on Tuesday morning. “This building is closed by order of the mayor,” it reads. Shortly before that, municipal employees taped him up under the watchful eye of the police. The locks of the restaurant have also been replaced. A group of sympathizers has gathered in front of the door.
The reason: Waku Waku has been the center of the corona resistance since Monday evening. A motley crew gathers here, stretching from vegan left to Forum right. What connects them is the mistrust of the government – and more specifically of the corona pass.
‘This entrepreneur stands for his principles,’ says 54-year-old Jeff van Sprew from Utrecht. “I’m here to show my support. I hope that other entrepreneurs will draw hope from this, that they will also dare to stand up against the coronapas. Because this is a sliding scale, a slippery slope. I have heard rumors that from December you will no longer enter the Albert Heijn without a corona pass.’
‘I am horrified that this is only now being made mandatory,’ says Coco Bosma (31) from Utrecht. “It’s too bizarre that you have to take a vaccine to get into a restaurant.” She is friends with the owner of Waku Waku and here to support him.
unethical
Waku Waku is one of the dozens of Dutch catering establishments that on principle refuse to check the corona pass. Two weeks ago, the vegan restaurant reported in a Facebook post that it stands for “freedom, inclusivity, diversity, love and connection.”
The corona pass, the restaurant wrote, ‘is at odds with these core values. The fact that the government is using the hospitality industry to increase vaccination coverage is unethical and wrong.’ At Waku Waku they would therefore not check guests.
The municipality got wind of it and entered into discussions with the entrepreneur. He confirmed on Thursday 23 September – two days before the introduction of the corona pass – that it would not cooperate. “There was an intimidating tone towards the enforcers present,” the municipality noted in a press release on Monday evening.
On Saturday evening, enforcers visited the case again. They found that Waku Waku indeed did not scan guest QR codes and made an official report of this. On Monday, Mayor Sharon Dijksma decided to close the restaurant, ‘in accordance with the agreed line in the Security Council’, according to the municipality.
hero status
Owner Floris Beukers decided to ignore the municipality. Even after he received the order to close at around 6.30 pm, he continued to receive guests at Waku Waku, of course without scanning their corona pass.
With that, he was quickly hoisted onto the shield by certain corona skeptics. Calls appeared on social media in the course of the evening to come to Utrecht and support him. Several dozen sympathizers responded.
This is how a spontaneous mini-demonstration with well-known features was created on the Vredenburg. Omroep Ongehoord Nederland filmed. Other attendees, including a woman wearing a yellow vest with “Independent Press” on it, broadcast the meeting live on the Internet. And Tinus Koops of the Netherlands in Revolt, who already received community service because he wished the previous mayor of Utrecht ‘a brick in his neck’, also trudged around.
Love
Self-proclaimed freedom idealist Mordechaï Krispijn of Viruswaarheid, the club of Willem Engel, led the protest. He called on those present to sit down when the police arrived. Arm in arm. Until 11 o’clock. “After that we all get up, applaud and then walk away.”
He urged the protesters not to resist, ‘because that’s what they want. They film it and use it against you. Do not show any form of resistance. And if you think you can’t, please go home. That really ruins the party. I would do them every now and then… But don’t do it. Stay in love.’
When a string of police cars parked on the sidewalk across the street just after ten o’clock, the demonstrators sat down. Consultation followed, after which Krispijn told those present that Beukers could close his case himself, after which everyone would go home. And so it went. Most had left by midnight.
Megaphone
Thus, the closure of Waku Waku was not averted. The municipality replaced the locks on Tuesday morning. Since then, a letter from the mayor has been hanging on the door. “In order to prevent a further increase in infections, I cannot accept that you ignore the prescribed measures,” it reads.
That did not mean the end of the protests. From the doorway, the restaurant sold drinks to a few hundred sympathizers from Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the restaurant said it was a ‘symbolic’ opening. ‘This does not compensate for the turnover, but it is a signal that the owners want to convey: that they will not succumb to this policy. We hope that people will continue to come here every day.’
Mayor Dijksma of Utrecht has meanwhile indicated that ‘the restaurant is and will remain closed’.
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