It could be their middle-class background. or it could be the style they learned in their professional training. Or both. But too many serious journalists are too good and naive. The result is that they help evil lying politicians spread their wicked made-up stories.
Every day, sometimes every few minutes, Trump comes with new or recycled lies. This is how he gets free publicity. Many journalists take the bait, even after five years. They are upset. They report it as if it’s something worthwhile to investigate or report and be angry about. Simply ignore the twaddle and no harm is done! Or write, the President volunteered another myth today. Dog bites man. It’s not news.
The same but in opposite direction happens in Israel. The Jewish State, everything very often shows the world upside-down.
Netanyahu is daily, sometimes hourly, criticized by all kind of people who just ly and ly and ly. They know that they are lying but are still some kind of ‘idealists.’ They want to get rid of Bibi and this is the only path they find open to them. The constant slander is taken up by the press all day long because that’s democracy, no? And they just report all the lies.
I believe that there is another reason for journalists being such willful vectors for all these untruths. They don’t really understand the issues. And they have no mentors to ask and no time to reflect. So they surve the public with information, so important in democracies, but almost all, lies.
About Trump, no examples are really needed. While in office, he’s been registered speaking an untruth almost 20,000 time. But I’ll give you one. He left COVID-19 measures up to the Governors. When folks die in greater numbers, the Governor was too weak. When the economy collapses in a State, the Governor was too tough. Whatever they lose, Trump wins.
With Netanyahu it goes like this. When he decides lockdown, the liars come out telling everyone it’s too early (killing the economy–Bibi?!) AND too late (killing off the population–Bibi?). When he doesn’t take tough measures, the liars say that he’s letting people die for the economy AND that he’s favoring certain groups and therefore treating them with kid gloves (while you can’t give orders that the public will not accept). When the public doesn’t listen to the government, the liars say: See how no one respects Bibi anymore, but they were the ones who caused that.
A women charged with sexually abusing 70+ girls has written at every turn ‘allegedly.’ Sure, they all made it up … But with Bibi, no allegedly is used.
A journalist with proper knowledge and awareness (and with a boss who supports good reporting) will not bring cheap attacks. Not by Trump and not by the anti-Bibi liars. The ‘right of the public to know’ means the right of the public to not be lied to. And when the journalist can’t know if it’s true, they need to say: show me the proofs. Your anger will not cut it.
And in cases of Monday morning quarterback talk, a journalist should say: criticism on hindsight is easy. Where’s your proof that he could’ve known better? When the liars are just repeating what ‘everyone’ says, journalists should say: Show me independent proof. ‘Everyone knows’ is no proof.
The bottom line with complaints is, if they’re not acknowledged by the other side, Why should we believe you? It’s your word against his word.
I’ll give you the clearest example yet. Netanyahu now tries to buy 5 million coronavirus vaccination units from the first firm that claims to have a good one. Says ‘a specialist,’ he should have bought it in spring. Seriously? Presently, there are literally dozens of different potential vaccines being tested in trials. He should have bought from each of them 5 million units?
OK, one more example. Top health officials complain that politicians don’t do as they tell them. But that’s called democracy. Army leaders who talk like that may be fired. Are they planning a coup? But such complaints from health officials are quoted verbatim as if they could have any validity.
Let’s not even go into criticisms by foreign leaders who double-crossed him, who portray Bibi as power-hungry and stopping at almost nothing. Two dog whistles to anti-Semites. It’s always those who claim that it’s not fair when their ‘fair’ criticism is called-out as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic.
Not passing on to the public every criticism uttered is not censorship.
And the above is yet another analysis that I see nowhere else reported.
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
