Here’s my “homage” and goodbye to Wietse
However, he will live on in the heart of my feeling
The “Human” Wietse Potijk
“For the Success of Evil”
Doesn’t need anything else
Than good people do nothing
When good people do nothing else
take care of their family members,
practice their sport
watching television
Can evil forces undisturbed
practice their disastrous practices
The Evil Forces
will not be hindered
By the so-called silent majority
Martin Luther King
Dear refugee readers,
Just like you, I took note yesterday of the very sad news that Wietse Potijk, our loyal contributor of comments, articles and letters directed to minister and members of parliament against the inhumane aliens policy, suddenly died of an acute cardiac arrest.
“Unbelievable” went through my mind when I read the message
I suddenly felt cold and empty inside
Wietse is no more
The man who was so committed to his ideals
Day and night
Tireless
How often did he send me his reflections, comments and letters, which testified to a powerful and fundamentally deep anger and sadness that such a policy was possible in the Netherlands?
That disenfranchised people were messed around with, whose only “crime” was, that they fled from an unlivable and inhumane living situation in their own country, with great poverty as a future perspective
But Wietse was more
He didn’t just work for refugees
In Canada he had been part of the government for years and campaigned for the rights of Indians
Concerning the Middle East and Darfur, he was concerned about the injustice done to the Palestinians and the Sudanese civilian population respectively
The special thing about Wietse was that every injustice gripped him, regardless of who and in what situation
That is why Wietse mi can be called the “only righteous” who is spoken of in the Bible
In Yiddish, this is so aptly referred to as the simple “Man”
Yes, Wietse was a “Human”
I got to know him when, still hesitantly, I wrote my first article about the foreign policy of Minister Verdonk
Immediately he responded enthusiastically and added me to his very valuable email list
But for me he was more than a very passionate advocate for refugees and other disenfranchised persons
More than a “Human”
He was a friend to me
A word I don’t use lightly
“Dear friend” that’s what he called me
That’s how I felt too
How many times has he not sent me encouraging and appreciative emails
Or just proof of friendship
How many times has he, from his great heart, invoked the help of me and others in his struggle, from his great heart
Not words, but deeds, that was you, Wietse
Injustice was injustice
You didn’t talk about that
You did something about that
The Frisian resistance against injustice
Without wanting to do others short, it has a special place in my heart and I can say that Wietse was the pivot of it, among others.
Wietse, I’m going to finish
To me you were a special person, a Christian in the true sense of the Word
AND a humanist
We would always visit the Indians in Canada again, for whom you have so committed
It shouldn’t have been like this
Also I only got to meet you by e-mail and by phone, but never in person
But that doesn’t hinder
I am thankful to God that I got to know you during this life
You are now in a different, better world, where there is no war, injustice, hunger, suffering and human rights violations
Farewell, your struggle continues, dear Friend
I thank you for your attention
Astrid Essed
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