2017 Jerusalem gay parade reporting shows homophobia — but also improvements

The 2017 Jerusalem GLBTQIA Parade was a great success in numbers. Again, some rabbis no doubt unintentionally (some “wisely” seem to have held back reporting enraging things until after the march) really helped to make its number of participants swell greatly. The police had expected 4,000 marchers. The actual figure varied from report to report, between 12,000 (Jerusalem online) to 22,000 (Times of Israel). The media did not only report some antipathy – unfortunately, also reporting itself showed some signs of hostility. And don’t assume automatically that the progressive press was the least biased.

The one-quire English weekend Haaretz (my delivery guy brought me the wrong paper) had a small report at page 2, and an opinion piece at 5 and 7. The whole top- part of the front page was (of course) reserved for trashing the PM. To be fair, the paper did have a front-page picture-free article on the penultimate ruling before retirement of the first Arab to sit in the Israeli High Court condemning same-sex’ discrimination in surrogacy. (That article continued on page 4, with a picture of … a Jewish professor weighing in. Racism is by far not absent in the Left. Also, the whole paper also had one token picture of a woman; all the other portrays were of men (12) or groups of people (21) – in which sometimes women too (9). Sexism is never far behind racism.) Not in the paper Haaretz but on its website, a Conservative rabbi explained why he would march too. This is worse than silly, because instead of bragging that the Conservative movement is way ahead of Orthodoxy, a more humble apology for over four decades of oppression would have been more opportune.

The four-quires Jerusalem Post of course had a color picture at the top of the front page. In the caption it also mentioned, thanks to broad security measures, the widely reported enormous knife that police found on a counter-demonstrator. (Haaretz did not mention it.)

Surprisingly, Arutz 7, which never had much trouble giving the floor to anyone and everyone who saw reason to trash homosexuals (here the most recent assault), now had three positive stories: about the President, about Lapid and a lengthy rabbinic opinion piece that the Torah forbids hurting [gay] people.

I found a video of this year’s march that looks like a faithful reflection.

The sentence in one report that members of the GLBTQIA community still suffer from discrimination is the understatement of the year.

Homophobia is a real disease. Just like anti-Semitism, anyone can have it. This depends largely on people’s personal history.

Someone may be extremely religious or traditional, but if their mother came out as lesbian quite some time again, chances are that this person condemns any animosity towards gays.
Another may be very liberal of progressive, but for some reason only knows gays from a distance but just hates them.
The bug can be found in someone who is a Reform Jew who suddenly quotes the Bible to justify and sanctify their homophobia.
It can be absent in someone who’s a racist and a sexist and a snob but happens to understand that GLBTQs need intimacy just like they need it.
Someone may make terrible jokes but when confronted say sorry and do their best to be gay-friendly from then on.
Another may be extremely well-mannered and friendly but suddenly blurt out that they hate the despicable gays.

A hater may be:

A woman (though generally women are more friendly),
An academic (though they are supposed to have more grip on primitive emotions),
A modern, not so old person (though older people tend to be more set in their likes and dislikes),
Someone who is heavily oppressed themselves (though you would have hoped that they would recognize oppression on others), or
Someone living free lifestyle (though you would think that they would keep far from all overprincipledness).

So you can only distinguish friend from foe by asking or confronting them. There is no reliable telltale sign if someone is against or with homosexuals. Rabbi Boteach holds that familiarity sorts out most people.

In any case, experience teaches that if a hostile person is someone who loved a homosexual when they told them, and they haven’t hurt them (cheated on them), eventually they’ll come around, generally. Even if their first reaction is terrible, most people straighten themselves out over time. Such is the power of love.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1