The Dutch are so frank that others often misinterpret it as rude
Een Nederlandse vertaling men kan here vinden (site of Dutch translation).
We might each be free, either to sigh hopelessly and feel bad that Jews-hatred seems indestructible, or to be grateful for yet another opportunity to widely spread some sound antidotal ideas against the oldest hatred.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying anything negative about people with a low IQ. But the emeritus professor has been so stupid to talk about Jews and Israel while he knows nothing about them. And the result is shocking. His clarification of his words shows that he doesn’t know 101 about us.
Although he sounds like an anti-Semite, even more so in his clarifications, I would say that you can’t call an ignoramus a racist. He lacks any common sense here. If some opinion or idea isn’t serious enough, you can’t trash it. If it’s trash a priori, there is nothing to trash. If it’s bad enough, it’s nil.
His statements on Jews and Israel resemble this: “As long as dinosaurs were around, smaller animals were in constant danger. As long as tall people exist, small people will live in fear.” This is such nonsense that you don’t know where to start dismantling it. Same as with his words on Jews.
I reword this famous Dutch thinker, born in 1942 into a Christian family: “Idealistic people, motivated by truly moral beliefs and principles from secular or religious movements, can do terrible damage when they get political power. Look at the Jews in the West Bank. They do things Jews in Europe never did. This resembles Christians who were persecuted 2,000 years ago, but once their religion became a state religion, they started oppressing others terribly.” Let me give a quick list of what’s wrong here:
- Does he have any clue what happens in the West Bank? Any Jew who is violent there, violates the law, goes against Israeli law.
- Does he even know in what kind of an evil neighborhood lies Israel, and how moral and sweet most Jews, the IDF, are, against all odds?
- Does he even know that Israel is a democratic secular state with an almost complete separation between religion and state, better than the Netherlands? Here workers get vacation days on their (In the Netherlands, non-Jewish entitlement is still going strong.)
- Does he not at least know that Jews are a People with a rich culture, part of which are a lifestyle and religion called Judaism? Maybe high time that he himself separates between our nation and our religion? (Doesn’t he realize that it’s a wicked chutzpah for a Gentile to begin explaining Judaism, as he has done, reminiscent of replacement theology, religious misappropriation, and cultural genocide? Ask us!)
- Dozens of peoples acquired national independence after WWII. Doesn’t he know it’s problematic to cherry-pick (on) the Jews?
- Does he even know that anti-Semitism is alive and well, both in the Netherlands and in global politics, leaving Israel more vulnerable than powerful? (And, ‘Jewish power’ is a dog whistle of Jews-haters. Haaretz, the Dutch TV news, and the national press lie about Israel.)
- How does a European dare to normalize the Jews? Doesn’t he know that Jews are exceptions to almost all laws of history? Does he feel no shame, caution, or humility from the fiasco of the Dutch vis-à-vis the Jews in WWII, that could stop him from talking flippantly about Jews? (No need to kiss our feet but why not show a little respect?)
- How does he dare to equate millennia of Christian state terrorism with a few criminal acts in Israel? This is the purest form of anti-Semitism, trivializing Europe’s bloody past, and besmirching Zionism.
- Doesn’t he see that you commit evil when you ponder ‘the good’ about having kept Jews (Blacks, children, women, etc.) powerless?
- He says that many Jews inside and outside of Israel agree with him. If many women agree with your sexist statements they’re still sexist.
- He says he’s kosher because his favorite author is Hannah Arendt. He doesn’t know many see her as an anti-Jewish fraud? Doesn’t he know Jews-haters often say: “Some of my best friends are Jewish”?
- So, he’s not in favor of Jews-hatred. But doesn’t he know that the real big power of anti-Semitism comes from the many useful idiots who cannot distinguish between Jews and the libels about them?
If I were his friend, I’d demand an apology. But I don’t know him. It is clear to me that he has crafted a theory and uses Jews merely as an illustration. My request: leave us out of it. I just feel used, a mere prop in his theory.
More seriously is that this has caused a storm among Dutch Jews, but the regular newspapers are not interested. It seems little has improved or was learned from the war-time betrayal. The Jews are still on their own there.
***
Happy Israeli Independence Day, for Muslim readers: Ramadan kareem!
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. Of the 15 (!) books he has in mind, the next two are about homosexuality in Judaism and new rabbinics. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2600 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 that also may contain updates to Times of Israel posts, to which one may subscribe, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. *
He's getting ready to publicize books on: "Free Will, "Judaism and Homosexuality, "His parents in the Holocaust, "Judaism, "A New Torah Translation and "A New Hebrew Grammar, "Co-Counseling, "Vegan Facts, "Immortality, and more. *
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 agrees that in a post-truth world, that's irrelevant, but then this is for the record. 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. His posts are spell, grammar, and style polished by AI, but all written by himself. *
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
