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14 May 2003
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Nederlandstalig
Bilderberg
Secret three-day summit to start tomorrow in Versailles
The Dutch in this article has been translated into Enlish by Idde Lijnse.

By Daan de Wit
Tomorrow the annual Bilderberg conference will be held in Versailles. The summit will last three days. This according to bilderberg.org, the website that for years has been reporting what the regular media has failed to provide to its viewers and readers. As usual, all the major (Dutch) media refused to report about it this year. Or is it not that important when about 130 of the most important individuals in the world meet each other to discuss policy matters? 'International financiers and political leaders from Europe and North America will be conducting public business behind closed doors at the palatial resort. Banker David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger and high officials of the government and congressional leaders will par ticipate, all pledging absolute secrecy', writes Bilderberg watcher James Tucker Jr.

DeepJournal interviewed Tucker years ago for our documentary about the secret society Skull & Bones. The Bilderberg group and Skull & Bones have a connection in the sense that they both withdraw from public attention, while their members have a direct influence on democracy through the positions they occupy. Tucker's motivation stems directly from his astonishment and indignation about the fact that the regular press remain silent about the Bilderberg meetings. 'Journalist prostitutes', he called them in the interview. While showing us the photos of Bilderberg founder Prince Bernhard and participant Queen Beatrix, he draws a parallel with a meeting of famous sports figures or actors. There the press is omnipresent in large numbers. But where are they when 150 of the most important movers and shakers in the world put their heads together?, he asked at the time. The answer is given by Kenneth Clark: the Bilderbergers prefer to have no spectators around.

Journalism neglecting its duty
Clark is a former member of the English government. Last March 24th he wrote: '[...] I am afraid it is not open to the public. The whole point of the meetings is that they are informal and relaxed exchanges of views between politicians and businessmen, who can talk to each other without being on the record or reported publicly'. Whereas we here at DeepJournal were still operating under the assumption that we chose our representatives to look after our issues in all sincerity. Voters are not welcome to the Bilderberg meetings. 'Some of the people are very well known and, if they were talking in public, they would have to speak in the language of a press release, which does inhibit the flow of argument'. The aforementioned Dutch press ignore their duty every year and thus show respect for the arguments in the cited letter. The Greet Hofmans affair is of futile significance compared to this, as we already wrote in the first part of this series.

Talking about Iraq
James Tucker writes about the meeting that starts tomorrow: 'Members of the Rothschild family from Europe and Britain will attend, along with high government officials. Jim Hoagland will attend for the Washington Post and keep his pledge of secrecy. Publisher Donald Graham normally attends although he missed last years session in Chantilly, Va. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and NBC, CBS and ABC have also been represented at Bilderberg meetings, binding themselves to a promise of secrecy. Taxpayers will pay the travel cost for U.S. officials and lawmakers.It is against federal law for administration officials to hold secret meetings with non-officials to plan public policy. American officials will again ignore this law. Central to the agenda will be planning post-war Iraq. France and Germany had extensive business relationships with pre-war Iraq and opposed the U.S. invasion. But what to do with Iraq's oil will be debated.'

Priers not welcome
'By noon on Wednesday, May 14, the Trianon Palace Hotel will be emptied of all non-Bilderberg guests. Employees of short duration will be sent home. Employees who remain will have been sternly told they will befired and blacklisted if they reveal anything about what transpires. They will be told not to speak to a Bilderberg participant unless spoken to and never look one in the eye', Tucker writes.
During the interview that we had with Tucker in Washington D.C., he talked about how he had once climbed over a fence at a Bilderberg meeting and was able to walk around for quite some time because he had overalls on and pretended to be a gardener. A fellow journalist of his who did the same thing in order to report on a meeting at the Bohemian Grove (an informal summit held annually near San Francisco), was spotted by his boss who was not very amused by his scoop. The story was not published.

Not the entire press is asleep
These days they are more wary of the possibility of annoying press-mosquitos (although most mosquitos are inside and therefore don't bite). Tucker: 'In the early afternoon on Wednesday, armed guards will begin patrolling the grounds and barriers placed at the entrance - removed only for personnel and Bilderberg staff. Bilderberg's private security of plainclothesmen will be in evidence. The advance staff will arrive with portfolios for each Bilderberg participant showing who is attending and listing the agenda. Both uniformed guards and private security will be shown photographs of American Free Press reporter Jim Tucker and possibly others from Europe and Britain who have become "regular" at Bilderberg meetings in recent years. Reporters have been held in jail for hours for asking questions outside Bilderberg gates. In Sintra, Portugal, guards boasted of sharpshooters on high rocks who could kill trespassers at night. So far, it is not known for ce rtain that shots have been fired.'

No press pass for DeepJournal
It probably wouldn't make any sense for DeepJournal to arrange for a press pass at the administrative office of the Bilderberg group. Nevertheless, Bilderberg.org has published the address:
'[...]
Maja Banck-Polderman (Executive Secretary)
PO Box 3017
2301 DA Leiden
The Netherlands
Phone +31 71 5280 521
Fax +31 71 5280 522'.

Update as of January 6th, 2004: See also this nothing-to-worry-about broadcast of VPRO's Andere Tijden about Bilderberg.

Update 2005: Bilderberg 2005. Subjects dealt with. List of participants. Photos.
DeepJournal
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