For most Jews outside of Israel, it’s scary to say their truth

You can’t just say your truth. Especially not when it points out Jew-hatred.

In fact, for many Jews, it’s so scary outside Israel to say what they really know and think, that the only Jews who speak are those who pretend not to be scared, who may scream and yell, and lack space for nuance.

Don’t blame the victim.

Also many friends of Jews can’t hear what we have to say. Just like many friendly men still cannot listen to feminist women. You must nuance yourself until you’re not saying anything anymore, or you must shut up.

There are exceptions. There always have been exceptions.

And the simple people get it. The silent majority. They vote for Israel.

Not the Woke. Not the ‘peace activists.’ Not the rich and ‘educated.’

They will tell us how they and their vision are superior. So sad.

***

This bold speech I wrote for a Dutch MP to say today in Parliament:

Can honest, warm-hearted people who have nothing against Jews think or say Antisemitic things? Well, certainly. This could happen because they have always been presented with anti-Jewish things and are not aware of it. Or because they have been systematically lied to.

Last Tuesday, at the initiative of Labor/GreenLeft (member Timmermans), a majority of the House was–rightly so–in favor of a debate on the recent interference attempts by Russia and China via fake news in Dutch politics and, in particular, regarding the upcoming European elections.

Maar dinsdag was er ook een meerderheid in deze Kamer om Nederland zich te laten bemoeien met de Israëlische politiek. Dat is een beetje raar niet? Wat gij niet wilt dat u geschiedt, doet dat ook een ander niet, toch? Israël is een parlementaire democratie met alle mensenrechten en vrijheden waar wij in Nederland ook van genieten. Wat geeft ons het recht tot inmengingen, laat staan betutteling? Laat staan het afvallen van een bondgenoot die strijdt om te overleven.

But that Tuesday, there also was a majority in this Chamber in favor of discussing how the Netherlands should interfere in Israeli politics. That’s a bit strange, isn’t it? What you don’t want to happen to you, don’t do that to someone else either, right? Israel is a parliamentary democracy with all the human rights and freedoms that we enjoy in the Netherlands. What would give us the right to interfere, let alone patronize the Jewish State? Let alone push away a dear friend of ours fighting for its survival.

Here, too, we have fake news, but now not by Russia or China. There is no genocide in Gaza. There is no hunger in Gaza. No residents flee their homes. On the contrary:

● The IDF is showing unprecedented caution to spare civilian lives. Collateral mortality in Afghanistan was seven civilians for each terrorist, but in Gaza it was below 1 for 1, unprecedented in any war, and especially in urban warfare. To date, 17,000 terrorists have been killed or captured by the IDF. While it tries to spare the civilians, Hamas is consciously trying to get them killed. That is a hard truth even the liars know of. NB: A large portion of the “child victims” are not babies but teenagers with Sten guns.

● There is plenty to eat. That took a while because Israel, unfortunately, had to check all aid convoys for weapons.

● If there is any medical shortage, it is because Hamas preferred to build rockets and tunnels rather than hospitals. Israel is even building field hospitals in Gaza.

● The people of Gaza continue to be rescued by the IDF from being human shields for the terrorists. Safe Israeli tent camps await them, with food.

● Suspecting the center-right government of Israel (Minister Gantz is just as left-wing as our colleague Timmermans, and he is the number two in the Netanyahu-led administration) of war crimes, and even genocide, is the world upside down. Hamas and its supporters openly advocate in word and deed for the killing of all Jews, but Israel commits genocide?

Even the International Court of Justice in The Hague recently determined that Israel is NOT committing genocide, although that, too, has simply been left out by the media. YouTube clearly reveals that the Court ruled that the lawful or unlawful killing of tens of thousands in a population of two million (2%) cannot be classified as genocide. Or literally: “[I]n order for acts to fall within the scope of Article 2 of the Convention [against Genocide], the intent must be to destroy at least a substantial part of a particular group. This is demanded by the very nature of the crime of genocide since the object and purpose of the Convention as a whole is to prevent the intentional destruction of groups [and so,] the part targeted must be significant enough to have an impact on the group as a whole.”

The Court did state [point 50, which is also completely suppressed by the press]: “In its Order of 26 January 2024, the Court expressed its grave concern over the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and called for their immediate and unconditional release. The Court finds it deeply troubling that many of these hostages remain in captivity and reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release.”

The only thing that befits the government and us is to fully support Israel. Uncritical because when criticism is needed, Israelis don’t need us.

It was repeated in this Chamber last Tuesday: “Don’t you understand our anger?” Anger does not automatically translate into destructiveness and genocide. Neither 1% of the destruction at the University of Amsterdam and the incomparable mass murders and rapes by Hamas on October 7 can be justified by anger. Do you think Israeli Jews who have been fighting off a Holocaust II in the Middle East for more than a century are not angry? But when have they ever en masse raped and murdered innocent civilians and been cheered on for that by large parts of the Jewish population around the world? To justify acting on anger is a form of incitement and must stop immediately in this Chamber.

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In related news, today, the Dutch four-party coalition to form a new government published the main policy points it will commit to. Half a paragraph relates to Israel: “The Netherlands will support the State of Israel’s right to exist in security. We will investigate when would be an appropriate time to move our embassy to Jerusalem so it may further the solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and our diplomatic interests.” [The free translation is mine.]

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For more information about the Hamas War, see my newest book.

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