Haaretz is an Israeli daily that for years on end does irreparable damage to the Jewish State and that is exactly its aim.
Haaretz (Hebrew for: the land – this means nothing; we have a morning paper that’s called the Evening) makes no secret of its anti-Zionism. And as everyone but the leader of the British Labour Party by now can know, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism.
Israel now stops BDS activists and sympathizers at its borders. They have no business entering the Jewish state. But why is Haaretz allowed to spew continually slander, lies and incitement about Jews in Israel? (Because lying they are. There are no honest big anti-Semites, I found.)
Because they are Jewish? Not so. No one cares if a BDSer is Jewish or not, when stopped at the border. What counts is their hatred.
Because they publish different versions in Hebrew and English? That may be of influence. Its Hebrew paper is reasonable, its English internet site is not. This way, they get a respectability inside the country that is undeserved. And outside of Israel, it gets respectability because it’s written from Israel, Jews themselves say so and outside, few know the real situation here. It turns respectable people into anti-Semites. Its anti-Israel Internet pieces in English can only be read by whom pays for it, so that they reach the motivated anti-Zionists, hidden from everyone else.
Because it presents itself as serious? That also could play a role. It has always lots of excellent archeological and scientific pieces, especially those that would make fundamentalist Bible-thumpers squirm.
Because of freedom of the press? That’s a tough one. Our laws make it hard to silence journalists — and they should. But agitation, hatred and libel should not fall under such protection. Just like anti-democrats should not be allowed to be on the ballot. Those who use democracy to fight democracy itself should not be entitled to democratic privileges.
Besides, Haaretz on Israel does not report the news but creates it.
Don’t confuse Haaretz with what I call Israel’s Loony Left. The latter are IMHO idealistic idiots, but the former are clearly self-hating Jews. There is a giant difference, though Israel’s far-right doesn’t think so.
Besides, Haaretz does not report the news on Israel but rather creates it.
Pity that Israel lacks an English left-wing daily. TOI, I see as mostly central.
Let me suggest that there is another reason, possibly more important than all of the above together. Same reason why hasbara has such poor government support. Haaretz generates and stirs up anti-Semitism in the whole world. This makes Jews outside of Israel feel unsafe and move to the Jewish State. That’s a clear motive for Israel. Haaretz bolsters aliyah.
I’m a Zionist but I’m not happy with the last point. I want publications like Haaretz to be shut down. It will then probably start publishing from London or Teheran but that’s OK. It will have lost much of its undeserved credit for being Israeli and become clearly a voice of the enemy – which it is. Like Chamas TV and any other form of hate speech. So please, outlaw Haaretz and any other anti-Semitic publication.
In my experience s relationship counselor, when I would be tough on a tough client, the timid partner would get afraid that I would be tough on both of them. I won’t. Same thing here for all Israeli news outlets. I’m not pleading to close down any other one, including those that I dislike, that manipulate the reader, print falsehoods without corrections, eject slurs against certain politicians, or Arab papers being anti-Zionistic, etc. I’m not railing here against unreasonableness, dishonesty, slander, etc. I don’t want a certain political view silenced. I only want an end to the daily unrestrained spreading of Jew hatred by one exceptional Israeli Jewish paper that frankly puts all other media and journalists to shame.
It’s not clear to me if many countries would do such a thing of closing down an anti-Jewish paper. But Israel takes the lead in many ways, so why not here? Listen to how antipathetic Europe is about people in public or at work wearing religious symbols while we Israelis don’t get excited about them at all. Look at how much trouble good-meaning people have with racial profiling while it works well for our security.
The same democracy that will not allow racist parties should also ban anti-Semitic publications. Particularly, when they stir up the whole world.
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
