Kritiek van Fia Hamid-Walker en Annemarie Toebosch op het onderzoek naar de koloniale oorlog in Indonesië (video’s)

Video message by Fia Hamid-Walker for the Dutch researchers that are taking part in the Dutch government-sponsored study on violence in Indonesia (1945-1949.) Her video message was shown during the round table discussion that was held at NIOD, Amsterdam on Thursday, January 31, 2019. Fia talks about the political aspect of history education, the ongoing impact of colonial attitudes, and questions the exclusion of critical voices, such as those of Francisca Pattipilohy and Jeffry Pondaag. Fia is an Javanese-Indonesian living in Melbourne and active as a political campaigner and international development practitioner and one of the signatories of the open letter that was sent to the Dutch government in November 2017.

Questions and comments for NIOD by Dr. Annemarie Toebosch, Head Dutch and Flemish Studies, University of Michigan Among others: “Where is colonialism as starting point in this study? For a national genocide center, 350 years of rape, torture, exploitation, and slavery should be the beginning, the middle and the end of your research.” “Here is NIOD, in a glaring case of double standard, signing its name under a study that in its very conception has a cultural relativistic view of human rights violations. Because ’45-’49 is not the story of ’45-’49. It’s the story of 350 years of oppression and human rights violations. How do I explain NIOD in a human rights curriculum?”