Most Dutch people have no idea how their news is manipulated
For the third time in a year, the Mayor of Amsterdam failed to protect Jews. This time, the police came 30-45 minutes after the well-organized attacks started. Obviously, the Dutch security services failed terribly too.
The Dutch Press
Israel and Netanyahu are hated because of Chamas-TV in the Dutch news.
The world erupted in rage that Antisemites, just after the Kristallnacht commemoration that morning, attacked Israeli succor fans whose greatest sin is to be loud and proud Jews. The Dutch press is largely silent about it.
At 8 am, single Israeli news sites had more to report than all Dutch news sites combined, which mostly reported Israel’s reaction, in news flashes.
The most anti-Jewish newspaper, the elitist NRC had the chutzpa to headline: ‘Tensions between Israeli soccer fans and pro-Palestinian activists—riot police jumped in.’ The text is behind a paywall so that non-subscribers cannot see their despicable ‘reporting.’ The same trick as employed by the anti-Zionist Haaretz in English.
The foreign section of the largest Dutch newspaper explained only the next morning: ‘After the game Ajax-Maccabi Tel Aviv, riots and violence broke out in the center of Amsterdam. Israeli fans were reportedly [sic] harassed and chased.’ Pictures of Israeli fans driven or thrown into the canals were widely available, but who says that they were not doctored? Temperature of the Amsterdam canal water last night was under 14°C (57°F).
A popular Dutch news site opened its reporting updated at the end of the next morning like this: ‘Israel is sending two planes to Amsterdam due to concerns about a “very violent” incident in Amsterdam, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last night. The reason is unrest surrounding the match between Ajax and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.’
They dismiss the video clips because they are not ‘independently verified,’ something they never say about the fake pictures that come out of Gaza.
A respectable working-class daily at midday has this paragraph: ‘There are more videos like this, as well as videos of aggressive Israeli football fans. Still, even now it is impossible to say with certainty what is real and what may have been staged.’ Such misleading is as bad as incitement.
This is conform with the always anti-Jewish reporting by the national news carriers ANP and NOS. The former now even spoke of ‘disquiet’ in Amsterdam ‘after a soccer match between Ajax and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv.’ Its lengthy report does not mention ‘Palestinian’ at all.
Not one Dutch headline fingered the known Jew-hating perpetrators.
The English-Jewish Press
The serious English-Jewish news outlets outside of the Netherlands had no trouble with extensively reporting the facts and the context:
Israel sends planes to Amsterdam to rescue Israeli soccer fans under assault by street mobs
A very modern pogrom – coming to a stadium near you?
Arabs Lynch Israelis and Jews in Amsterdam, Dozens Wounded, Several Missing
Israel decries ‘pogrom’ in Amsterdam as soccer fans come under attack by rioters
‘We were ambushed’: Three missing in Amsterdam pogrom, potential hostage situation
***
In the Netherlands, you can call people a sexist or racist, but it’s taboo to call someone an Antisemite. It’s treated as if you equate them with Hitler. Leading politicians have begun calling such attacks by their name.
The main, outspoken allies of Jews in the Low Country are presently the King, the Lower House of Parliament, POW news, and the silent majority.
I pray especially for the missing, that they will show up soon, unharmed, and won’t be tortured, raped, maimed, or murdered.
***
When Iran threatens us, I don’t cry. We are protected. When Trump was elected, I was shocked, but I didn’t cry. But a pogrom in Amsterdam …
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