On 21st March, Willem Meijs, the husband of my dear friend Sue Blackwell, passed away in a hospice in the Dutch town of Hoorn. Six days later I made my first foreign trip since having a liver transplant 18 months ago to pay my respects to Willem. A decade ago I had broken off my holiday in Normandy to go to their wedding. The time seemed to pass too quickly.
Willem was first and foremost an activist in the wider Palestine solidarity movement and a fighter for the oppressed and downtrodden of this world. Sue, who initiated the academic boycott in Britain, found a partner who shared her passion for justice. Willem was also great company.
Willem was the heart and soul of our alternative choir at the Albert Hall some years ago when an alternative performance was given to the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra at the Proms. For the first time ever Radio 3 took the Proms off air rather than allow its listeners to hear peoples’ outrage at the visit of Israel’s musical ambassadors.
At the reception held afterwards I said a few words and read out a tribute from Debbie Fink, a member of Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods, who was unable to be at the funeral. Also below is a tribute from Naomi Wimborne-Iddrissi, who was also unable to attend.
Hij is getrouwd met (Niet openbaar).
Zij zijn getrouwd op 15 augustus 2007, hij was toen 66 jaar oud.
grootouders
ouders
broers/zussen
kinderen
Willem Johannes Meijs | ||||||||||||||||||
2007 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (Niet openbaar) | ||||||||||||||||||
De getoonde gegevens hebben geen bronnen.