We are very happy to note that another contribution has been made for the relief and assistance to persons persecuted in South Africa for their opposition to the policies of apartheid and to their families. I am referring to the contribution of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which has decided to provide for an amount of 100,000 Dutch Guilders ($28,000) in the budget of 1966.35
I wish to convey on this occasion our most sincere appreciation to the Netherlands Government for their generous gesture of concern for the victims of racist oppression in South Africa. The decision of the Netherlands was particularly significant, as a majority of the Whites in South Africa belong to the Dutch stock.
I might also say that this gesture, coming from a former colonial Power, was heartening as reflecting a healthy change in moral attitudes not only in the Netherlands but in the world generally.
Today, we read a despatch from The Hague in the New York Times that the contribution of the Netherlands was welcomed with great joy almost unanimously in that country as a new effort by the Government to dispel the misunderstanding abroad that it supported the South African Government.
We also see a despatch from Johannesburg that the gesture by the Netherlands aroused the anger of the South African racists.
Yesterday, the Foreign Minister of the South African regime told the racist Parliament in Cape Town that a formal protest had been made to the Netherlands "expressing the resentment of the Government and the nation"; the "nation," of course, is the Whites and the Government the fascist clique they have put in power.
The so-called Foreign Minister also said that South Africa was canceling negotiations for additional landing rights for the K. L. M. airlines and the planned visit of the South African naval chief of staff to Dutch shipyards.
It is reported that a so-called "spontaneous" demonstration is being organized against the Netherlands embassy in Pretoria.
All this, may I say, is merely because the Netherlands Government has made a contribution to provide legal defence for people accused in courts and for relief to their families.
We know not only that people in South Africa are subjected to the most arbitrary and inhuman laws, but half of those prosecuted by the Government have been acquitted by the Courts because there was no shred of evidence against them. This was precisely because of the efforts of the Defence and Aid Fund which arranged for lawyers to defend the accused.
It is strange, after all that we have seen, that it is South Africa which threatens sanctions against the Netherlands, a member of the Security Council and, in fact, the President of the Security Council during this month, not the Great Powers who impose sanctions against the racist regime in South Africa.
I call on the Powers, particularly the United Kingdom, the United States and France, to look at this spoiled child of the so-called Western and Christian civilization which exists in Pretoria. You have coddled it long enough and it has only become more and more ruthless and inhuman. You who claim to stand for human rights and fundamental freedoms - will you take this latest challenge in silence? Will you or will you not support the Netherlands by warning the racists in Pretoria and contributing to Defence and Aid? Will you or will you not take decisive action as recommended by the Special Committee to end this shame and scandal of the regime in Pretoria for which you hold no small responsibility?
We will watch with great concern - not only because of our desire for a peaceful solution but also because of our concern for the integrity of the ideals professed by your countries.
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