hanneke

hi Howard,
This url will need a bit of explaining, but is *very* interesting if you could take a minute to delve into it. It’s an infographic of the imaginary Frisia conflict, which looks eerily like the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It needs a bit of translation I’m afraid, but see “if you can make cheese of it” (figure it out) first: :-)

The Friesia – Netherlands Conflict

The idea goes like this:
(translated top left column)

Suppose that in the US a madman comes to power, and all persons with Friesian lineage are to be rounded up and murdered. An immense slaughter follows; and when the anti-Friesian junta finally falls, it is clear that the survivors don’t want to live in the States anymore. So a plan is hatched. The Friesians get their own state, and what is more logical than the land that according to old texts is Fries? In spite of Dutch opposition, the United Nations agree to the plan, and from all parts of the world, people with Friesian ancestors move to the new state, which is royally subsidized by America (1946). The Dutch protest, as they never did the Friesians any harm or had trouble with them. But in international public opinion, the compassion with the Friesians dominates.

There is a proposal: half of the Netherlands becomes Friesia, and in the other half, the original Dutch could stay and live (1948). The Dutch don’t agree to that, a war breaks out, which the Friesians win with the aid of the Americans. An even bigger part of Holland comes into Friesian hands. Millions of non-Friesian refugees flood the major Dutch cities and tensions rise, not in the least part because small groups of Dutch have started a guerilla war against the Friesians. Terrorism! – the Friesian spokespersons cry on CNN – they are killing innocent Friesians!

Meanwhile, the Dutch people are doubting their leadership. A military coup follows, and when the Netherlans try to buy weapons abroad, the young Friesian state, in a “preventative attack”, occupies the rest of the Netherlands, plus pieces of Germany and Belgium (1967). Scores of non-Friesians flee across the border to Germany and Belgium, where also coups follow to prevent the Friesians from taking power there as well. In the mean time, the Friesian army rules the occupied Dutch Territories with an iron fist, strangles its economy, and confiscates the best spots for settlements and special roads to them. Then a peace process gets under way, and the Netherlands get Limburg, a morsel of Brabant and one Zeeuwish island. These bits cannot lawfully carry the name of the Netherlands; it cannot have an army, and all its borders are guarded by Friesian troops.

hanneke

the growth of Friesia:

(1830 – separation of Belgium, start of modern map shape) The inset large map of Limburg is called the “Southern Maas Bank”. Old cole mines there are being used as smuggle routes across the border. (of course, in this scenario they AREN’T decommissioned and flooded in the 70ties :-)) The Dutch rocket, the Hazelhoff III, is a cool incrowd reference to the “Soldier of Orange”, an actual WWII war hero called Hazelhoff Roelfsema, everybody of true Dutch blood knows that :-) On the other side, there’s the Terneuzen Strip, heavily guarded by Friesia. No friendly drug tourism there anymore; no mussle fishing either, I wager.

Israel is about the same size as the Netherlands. The graphic is made by a design student, after the hypothetical conflict description he found in a book:

the Frisia-Netherlands conflict

The project is based on the book ‘Het zijn net mensen’ by Joris Luyendijk. This book is about objectivity or, to be more precise, the impossibility to be objective. On page 141 Luyendijk compares the Israël-Palestine conflict with the hypothetical Frisia- Netherlands conflict. The name Frisia is based on the Dutch northern province of Friesland. The purpose of this comparison is to explain the Palestinian view on the conflict. What would The Netherlands look like if the Dutch were conquered by the Frisians?

Because Israël is about the same size as The Netherlands, this textual comparison really came to life to me. I decided to visualize it by making a large infographic containing smaller graphics with background information. I translated the data accurately from the Middle-East to the situation of The Netherlands.

the graphic designer’s site: ruiterjanssen.nl