Three years in the making, Trump’s Deal of the Century is not what we were promised. Many were disappointed and are now complaining.
Before, many wondered how one could make a Deal with the Palestinians if they’re not at the table. How can that be fair? Now, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggests that the Arab Palestinian leadership comes up “with a counteroffer.” This shows what Trump’s Peace Plan is all about.
It’s merely a better presentation of Israel’s needs. It merely breaks the all-inclusive mantra outside of Israel that Israel just needs to allow for an Arab Palestinian State at the West Bank of the Jordan River and all will be fine.
So, the Deal of the Century is not a deal at all. It’s neither a peace plan. It is rather, telling the world the legitimate needs of the Jewish State. And that the Arab Palestinian People can have all they want, a State and prosperity, if they’d “only” overthrow their Jew-hatred and autocratic corrupt leaders.
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On top of this, there is a ME lack of democracy (no real elections, freedom of the press, equality for the law, human rights, etc.), all around Israel.
On the one hand, that gives temporary relief where the regime is more-or-less friendly to Israel but the population would like to kill all Jews today still (Jordan, Egypt, PA). On the other hand, it is an outright economic disaster where the regime and the population both would like to kill all Jews today still (Gaza, Syria) and where the regime would like to kill all Jews today still but the population would not (Lebanon, Iran). It’s a mess.
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But secondly, it gives the false impression that in the near future, an Arab Palestinian State would be possible on the West Bank. Netanyahu knows that there is no Arab Palestinian willingness to come even close to meet any of the conditions for such statehood, so he happily signed on to it.
However, by incorporating this nonsense, the narrative became unreal and dangerous. It keeps everyone fruitlessly talking about the “Occupation” and a third (on top of Gaza and Jordan) Arab Palestinian State.
Jews outside of Israel and Gentile leaders there who are friends of Israel, not inhibited by too much ME knowledge, for decades, have been harping on a Two-State Solution. Two Sates, living side-by-side in peace, security, and prosperity. While the problems are not at all the West Bank and not a need for an Arab Palestinian State. The problem is a centuries-old hatred for Jews which is not defeated like Nazism and old Christianity in WW II.
It’s not a deal or plan of the century. It’s partly useful in presenting Israel’s needs. But it is not perfect in that. It’s merely a stepping stone for better Israeli PR but not for 100 years to come. Maybe for five years.
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Yet, thirdly, it played with the Israeli mind, which has a memory as a goldfish. Left and right here had already agreed that an Arab Palestinian State on the West Bank was not viable and that (the real) population figures show that locally, Jews are becoming increasingly more numerous than the Muslims. Therefore, the new consensus was to annex most of the West Bank and give the Muslims living there a path to citizenship.
With bombastic and euphoric celebrations, the overdone reception of Trump’s narrative has overridden this what-to-do-next idea. Bad stuff.
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Last but not least, the staging of the Deal of the Century was a PR stunt, two Stay Out of Jail Free cards for the political leaders of Israel and the US.
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And this is all there is. Better PR for Israel, Bibi and the Donald. Keeping the false impression that a new Arab Palestinian State were possible and to bring bliss. And stopping Israel from annexing most of the West Bank.
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Meanwhile, as part of its ongoing disinformation about the lack of peace in the Middle East, the former Palestinian Post now falsely reports that Israeli-Arab cities laugh and joke about the Trump plan to transfer them to a future Arab Palestinian State. Rather, really they are furious about it
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
