Revolutionary Anti-Racist Actie

The Revolutionaire Anti-Racistische Actie (abbreviation: RaRa ) was a Dutch anti- apartheid activist group in the late 1980s / early 1990s, which was classified as a "violent political activist group" by the former Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst . At that time the RaRa was one of the most important terrorist organizations in the Netherlands.

aims

The RaRa aimed to persuade companies to withdraw from South Africa by attacking facilities. The imperialist system, which maintains the apartheid regime in South Africa due to political and economic interests , could be weakened and with it the apartheid regime.

The arson attacks on the macro supermarkets belonging to Steenkohlen Handelsvereiniging (SHV) (today: SHV Holdings ) caused the management of SHV to give up their business activities in South Africa. After the first three attacks, the damage to the SHV from the arson attacks amounted to around 137 million guilders (around 62 million euros). The SHV insurance no longer wanted to bear the risks and the government only promised increased protection for the supermarkets. This was not enough for the management and so the SHV withdrew from South Africa on business in 1988.

structure

The organizational structure and the names of the members are unknown. On April 11, 1988, eight alleged members were arrested and charged in Amsterdam . Only one, René Roemersma , was ever convicted of offenses related to the group. In the African media he was also named as the alleged leader of the RaRa.

attacks

The RaRa confessed to the following attacks, in which only property damage and no personal injury resulted:

• September 17, 1985: Arson attack on a Makro supermarket in Duivendrecht , total damage: 49 million guilders
• July 9, 1986: Arson attack on Koninklijke Emballage Industrie van Leer BV in Amstelveen , total damage: 750,000 guilders
• December 18, 1986: Arson attack on a Makro supermarket in Duiven , total damage: 49 million guilders
• January 10, 1987: Arson attack on a Makro supermarket in Nuth , total damage: 39 million guilders
• June 19, 1987: Arson attack on a Shell petrol station in Nieuwegein , total damage: 39,000 guilders
• June 26, 1987: Arson attack on a Shell petrol station in Alphen aan den Rijn , total damage: 550,000 guilders
• November 13, 1991: Bomb attack on the house of State Secretary Aad Kosto and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior (BZK)

Individual evidence

1. Jump up ↑ John Tamerus, Peter Horsten, Edwin van den Bogert: Terrorisme ontrafeld , Kluwer, 2007, p. 71
2. ↑ ^{a b} E.R. Muller, U. Rosenthal, R. de Wijk: Terrorisme: studies over terrorisme en terrorismebestrijding , Kluwer, 2008 ISBN 978-90-13-05251-0
3. ↑ Alex Peter Schmid, Albert J. Jongman, AJ Jongman: Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, and Literature , Transaction Publ; April 30, 2005, ISBN 1-4128-0469-8 , p. 625
4. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times articles: Black & Decker, Dutch firm pulling out of South Africa , 20th January 1987 ( Memento of the original dated November 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Cees Banning, Jos Verlaan: Veranderde tijden - Terugblick op de harde acties van toen , NRC Handelsblad Zaterdag & Cetera , (from August 16, 2008, pp. 6-7)
6. ↑ New African, Issues 244-255, IC Magazines Ltd., 1988, p 40

literature

• F. Hoekstra: In dienst van de BVD. Espionage en contraspionage in Nederland. 2004. ISBN 90-8506-023-0
• Hans Krikke: Dagboek van een RaRa terrorist. Nijmegen 1996

Web links

• RaRa Communiqués (Dutch)
• Het dossier RaRa (1985-1993) (Dutch)
• De Telegraaf, 15 Aug 2008, "Duyvendak in harde kern RaRa" (Dutch)