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Tadek Solarz wrote that the Volkskrant had reported the day before that Greta Thunberg had joined the French student protests and that the NOS had emphasized that the majority of the protests were peaceful. On X, he had seen footage of a woman trying to defend her store against looters and of a shopkeeper who was assaulted and kicked in the back. According to Solarz, those images could symbolize a distressed France and broader unrest. He stated that the tone and image choices of the Volkskrant and the NOS gave violence a different place in the story than the images he saw on X, which focused on victims. The criticism that X algorithms amplify certain messages and thus distort the perception of reality, he believed, also applied to the selection made by newsrooms. Solarz wrote that the woman and her looted store could have been front-page news and that her fear could have become the face of the protests. #journalistiek #mediatheorie #protesten (translated)

Joost Jansen wrote that he had Chat prepare a speech for Rob Jetten in response to serious riots in Amsterdam. The proposed text stated that violence against society was unacceptable, while demonstrating and expressing criticism were part of democracy. The speech proposed three measures: maintaining the rule of law, supporting victims and affected entrepreneurs, and investigating the causes of social tensions. The text also stated that researching those causes was no excuse for violence. The recovery of trust, according to the speech, would depend on consistent action and rules that applied to everyone. #Amsterdam #democratie #veiligheid (translated)

Isa Yusibov wrote that October 17, 2003, was a day of conflicting feelings for him: he wished it had never happened, but he was also proud of it. He was 14 years old at the time and said his family had considered him an adult since then. The day after the presidential elections in Azerbaijan, in which his father played an important role according to him, Yusibov claimed to be one of the first victims of the repression against the pro-Western opposition. He wrote that he was beaten, humiliated, and spat on in front of about 300 to 400 students. Afterwards, he received his school file and was informed that he was no longer welcome because his father was considered a state enemy. Yusibov said that on his way to the exit, he made eye contact with teachers who had treated him kindly before the elections. Several teachers reportedly gestured for him to leave quickly. He wrote that the experience made him proud of his father and convinced him that the dictatorship would continue. A month later, his family reportedly fled to the Netherlands. The event compelled him to focus on geopolitics. Yusibov argued that the power transition surrounding Aliyev was a consensus among the West, Putin, Erdogan, and Iran. According to him, the West, led by Bush, had betrayed the democrats in Azerbaijan in favor of authoritarian stability. He also wrote that great power interests dictated politics in the Caucasus and that this situation had not changed 23 years later. Yusibov stated that his experiences had taught him how difficult it was to stand up for democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. He wrote that he had seen the first signs of undermining democratic principles in the Netherlands as well, by parties that he believed targeted democracy. He referred to a previous interview with NRC and said he would not allow the Netherlands to become a country where the government disregarded fundamental rights. #Democratie #Mensenrechten #Geopolitiek (translated)

Parents Menno and Jennifer live in constant fear after the horrific abuse of their 7-year-old daughter by an unknown man, while they are involved in a heavy legal battle that makes them experience a cry for recognition and change. #misbruik #kindermishandeling #slachtoffers (translated)

Monique X-Influencer 🇳🇱 ✌️ wrote that leftist feminists, humanists, intellectuals, politicians, columnists, authors, artists, and journalists, according to her, were silent about what she called the genocide in Nigeria. She stated that Muslims were the perpetrators there and black Christians and atheists were the victims. According to her, there was no attention given to the issue because no Jews could be blamed for it, and black people were only of interest to the left if they could be used for a photo. She accused the left of hypocrisy. #Feminisme #Mensrechten #Politiek (translated)

Sander Sassen wrote that Rob Jetten's call for all possible support for Ukraine amounted, in his view, to prolonging a war of attrition. He argued that the front line barely moved, that the Russian economy had adapted, and that Western munitions stocks and political support were finite. According to Sassen, diplomatic solutions were wrongly dismissed as a sign of weakness. Sassen referred to Ukrainian estimates of more than 1.5 million Russian dead and wounded and to Western analyses, including those from CSIS, which he claimed spoke of hundreds of thousands of casualties and over one hundred thousand deaths in Ukraine. He argued that the war constituted a demographic disaster for both countries and that further pressure from sanctions and weapons would result in more casualties. Negotiations, according to Sassen, were not capitulation but the way to end the war. He claimed that a full Ukrainian recapture of the borders of 1991 was militarily unrealistic without direct NATO intervention, risking a war with Russia. He advocated for territorial compromises, likely along the current front line, security guarantees for the remaining Ukraine, and an end to mobilization. He noted that Ukrainian men were forcibly taken off the streets in this process. Sassen acknowledged that such compromises would feel unjust and could reward aggression, but argued that they were better than continuing the current bloodshed. He accused Jetten and like-minded individuals of blocking serious diplomacy and urged the Prime Minister to immediately pursue a diplomatic solution. #Oorlog #Diplomatie #Vrede (translated)

Bart Nijman wrote that he saw signals everywhere that reminded him of a period in history he had studied in school. Although he believed that history would not repeat itself exactly or be predicted in advance, he saw patterns and practices in the current moralism, activism, and antisemitism that frightened him. He wrote that it should be prevented that descendants would later have to justify themselves to victims for the actions of their grandparents. At the same time, he stated that excuses were being sought to dismiss warning signals. Nijman said he was left with a bitter feeling from a piece by Rob Fransman. https://t.co/l6LTc1XoPm #geschiedenis #activisme #antisemitisme (translated)

The author wrote that an official memorial service took place in Brussels that day for the shot police officer Nordine El Talbi. They also expressed support for his family, girlfriend, and friends. According to the author, El Talbi had become a victim of a failing, lax, and soft security policy. https://t.co/pMkfjTapo4 #herdenking #veiligheid #politie #BE (translated)