Bernie Sanders finds it only a matter of honesty to credit Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro for the things he did well (education for all). How come he can’t say one decent word about Israel’s PM, democratically elected Benjamin Netanyahu? Should we not ask this question?
The answer is that Jews are oppressed just like any other oppressed group but every oppression also has specific points about those targeted by it. Jews no exception.
Self-hate exists among all oppressed groups. Women who rather would be men (read: would love to not be oppressed), kids who just dream of being older (not seeing that their age is not the problem), etc.
But self-hatred among Jews is high as in no other oppressed group. That is because Jews need to care about everyone, not just themselves. We have a Divine mission to lead all of Humanity to Paradise on Earth. But when this backfires, because of anti-Semitism, Jews don’t only start just caring about themselves. Many Jews start hating being Jewish and even all Jews. But their anti-Semitism may be much fiercer than a self-hating woman’s sexism. They may team up with mass murderers and terrorists. They may actively disseminate anti-Semitic lies all over the globe.
Now, hear me well. There are gradations in Jewish self-hatred. There are huge gaps and differences between:
- The anti-Zionist Neturei Karta members who visit and hug people who want to kill all Israeli Jews, like Arafat, Chamas, and the Junta in Iran, and
- Someone like the chess genius Bobby Fischer, who hated Jews and could never stop speaking about this hatred (denying he was a Jew though both his parents were), and
- The main writers in Haaretz who give ammunition to anti-Semites and non-hating leftists, poisoning brains and discussions around the globe, and
- Leftist leaders like Sanders (who as a Jew, shamelessly leads foreign animosity against Israel and called Bibi Netanyahu “a reactionary racist” to a thunderous applause) and others who feel sorry for the self-inflicted hurts of Arab Palestinians but cannot empathize with the innocent Israelis who still need to be scared for their lives and send their kids, the dearest they have, to the army not knowing if they’d come out alive, and
- Believers in and admirers of Donald Trump who pretends to like Jews but only finds them useful and reliable servants, promising them safety no-one does, this way holding Jews hostage, enabled by a hostile world.
So, the short answer is: he says he’s proud to be a Jew but he clearly is not. He feels close to any oppressed group in the world except Israeli Jews. He won’t even speak at AIPAC. (To be fair, by now, almost all the Democratic candidates (sans Blumberg) have passed on speaking at AIPAC (because of Super Tuesday), but to be real, Sanders was the enthusiastic first and not because he’d be busy.) But he would pay a friendly visit to any anti-Semitic club that would invite him. ‘You see, they’re not anti-Semitic — they talk to me.’ Not understanding, that for those, he’s just a useful idiot in ridding the world of Jews or at least curtailing their safety, power, and esteem.
Sander’s anti-Semitism shows, so say others, endangers Jews the world over, and will make him not become US President because the American People will never elect an openly anti-Semite to office. And his opponent, Donald Trump, will make sure that it will be openly.
But, do read people who say the opposite of the above. I did read such a blog post after writing mine. I only found more arguments for what I thought already. Yes, Bernie is typically Jewish in that he cares about everyone. But he’s also typically Jewish in that he doesn’t care enough about his fellow Jews in Israel — see his ‘Israel-but’ pronouncements.
(Now I come to think of it, Bernie is often portrayed in an anti-Semitic way though that is not called out and I’m not sure he recognizes it. And I’m not even talking about that blatant example when a magazine scrutenized how Sanders’ acquired his ‘wealth’ but not how any of the other Democratic candidates made their money (he wrote a book and never spends anything on fun). When they say: ‘Nobody likes him,’ that’s a (negative) stereotype on Jews. As is when they say: ‘He’s all talk but never gets anything done.’ NB: Don’t confused this all with a Jew making a self-deprecating joke. Just like a brown or black African-American can say nigger in certain contexts.)
This all, not taking away an ounce of his merit to try to introduce more social decency into the US that is missed by never getting anything from the socialist perspective that Europe got in the past Century. Until now, being a worker in the US still feels as serving a slave-owner — guess why.
And that’s exactly the dilemma for a lot of US Jewish voters. How can they pass on these great ideas but how could they support an anti-Zionist?
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
