NETHERLANDS PRESS OPINION

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25243, 23 July 1947, Page 7

NETHERLANDS PRESS OPINION

Dutch newspapers differ over the Indonesian situation. Liberal and Catholic newspapers support the Dutch “police action” and some Left Wing papers attack the “colonial war.” A Liberal paper, “Algemeen Handlsblad,” says: “The Dutch are acting in defence of the reformed construction of the Kingdom. It is not a campaign against Indonesia, but for a federal Indonesia without fear of Javanese hegemony.” The newspaper, "De Tijd” (Catholic) says: “It is police action, and nothing else, to free the people from fanatical tyrants.” It calls July 20 a day of mourning and the saddest day the

Netherlands has known since the liberation. The Socialist “Het Vrije Volk” says: “The Government is sticking to the Cheribon Agreement and will not exceed the limits of police action.” An independent Left Wing newspaper, “Het Parool,” compared the Dutch march to Jogjakarta with Hitler’s march to Vienna. “If the Dutch action succeeds we can be confronted with the material and political ruins of lost chances,” it says. The Communist “Waarheid” 'declares: “Beel and Jonkman command a colonial war” —referring to the Dutch Prime Minister, Dr. Beel, and the Minister of Overseas Territories.