Take the negotiations on Gaza and Ukraine, for example. Between nuclear powers India and Pakistan, there was no war after all. And in the Netherlands everything is calm anyway. Or is it?

Fireworks can be fun. Last year, the Dutch spent a record 280 million euros on fireworks – most of it illegal. With that enormous pile of money, you could also make studying completely free for all TU/e students. And with that much fireworks, you can ruin a lot.

Several people were killed, and medical first aid stations had to treat 1,239 victims. Despite the massive deployment of police and fire services, the system creaked and groaned. At 12:30 a.m., an NL-Alert was sent out with the message that emergency line 112 was extremely busy and should only be called in life-threatening situations. Just blown off a finger? Try the out-of-hours GP service first.

There were 361 car fires and 228 house fires. The monumental Vondelkerk in Amsterdam – according to architect Cuypers his finest work – burned down. Emergency services were systematically targeted with heavy fireworks, and police vehicles were destroyed. The mayor of Nijmegen called it a night of horror; The Hague fire brigade described it as a “war zone.” 

Not for the 800,000 asthma patients, by the way – they stayed indoors, because fireworks account for 5 percent of the Netherlands’ annual fine particulate emissions. The highest concentration of PM2.5 was measured in Eindhoven, incidentally.

I imagine this must be bewildering for non-Dutch students and staff, especially those from conflict regions: during Christmas we call for peace, only to deliberately violate it here at home a few days later.

Well, “we”: according to market research firm IPSOS, only thirteen percent of people actually set off fireworks, while 62 percent support a ban on consumer fireworks. A major glimmer of hope: politicians have already decided to do just that. As NRC put it, setting off your own fireworks used to be a fine tradition – on to a new one. So that during the next Christmas break, we can sincerely wish each other a happy and peaceful 2026.

Pieter Pauw is assistant professor in the Technology, Innovation and Society group. The views expressed in this column are his own.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.