Do away with stale ideas about ‘the Israeli-Arab vote’

Elinor (Jewish) and Salma (Muslim) become friends on the Israeli TV show “Master Chef” source: Mako

First of all, “Israeli-Arab” is code for the 2 million Muslims Israelis. There is no intention to include the word for the 4 million Israeli Jews from Arab-speaking countries.

Arab lawmakers in the Arab parties seem to spend most of their public time competing for who’ll look like the greatest anti-Zionist. But not all Israeli Muslims like that. Many want their representatives (Arab or not) join the government and improve the lives of everyone. Even a quarter of all Israeli Arabs see Bibi Netanyahu as the most suitable PM (recent poll). And he doesn’t exclude them from a ministerial post (election stunt).

Not all US Blacks live “in the inner cities.” Not all Muslims in Israel live isolated in Arab villages. Most of them work side-by-side with Jews, for starters. Stop the racist stereotypes. They are unbecoming and untrue.

Yes, there are many Israeli Jews who’d prefer to live in a country with only Jews with all non-Jews being tourists.

However, the situation is much like the religious Jew who told me that he’s a capitalist. He said: You can’t just refrain totally from being humane if you’re a religious Jew.

Same here: Many Jews could like to have the country for ourselves but getting there conflicts with many of our realizations about the good life:

* It would deny or fail to acknowledge and appreciate that much of the houses and other buildings in present Israel were (and are) built by Muslims.

* In Israel, many a life was saved and many a sick was guided back to health by Gentiles working in the health industry and many an old person was nursed lovingly and humbly by a non-Jewish caregiver.

* Most bus lines would stop operating without their Arab drivers.

* It ignores that Muslims living here for 2-8 generations (and not much more — that’s true) are human and have feelings and rights too. If you deny that, you, first of all, hurt your own human image.

* Hate it or love it but some of our brightest are Muslim Israelis.

* Let’s stop the spin that holds that Palestinian Muslims are the Jews’ (and everyone’s) underdog. Painting them all as pathetic is racist too.

Yes, non-radical Muslims in wars killed, maimed, and threatened a lot of Jews but we don’t believe in collective punishment. We’re allowed to be suspicious and expect respect but not to reject out of hand, “them” all.

Yes, Jews should live apart from Gentiles and not marry them but that’s not the same as disrespecting them or kicking them out of the country.

And let’s not forget the many Israeli Jews who’ll vote for the Arab block. Like this group of academics. This doesn’t include the ultra-left lying anti-Zionist hate mongering Jews who’re more against Jews than for Arabs.

BTW: The law gives us a few weeks to return an item we purchased if we are sorry buying it — no questions asked. But after voting, no amount of regret helps to let us vote differently. How come?

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