Jews are known for being mistrustful (don’t blame the victim — make our lives safer), but can also flip between being paranoid (paranoids may have enemies too) and totally naive. I say, neither is adequate. Trust must be won. Fact-check and don’t be too quick to distrust or believe anyone. Some people are reliable on some issues and not on others.
Khaled Abu Toameh, after a hiatus of years, is back as the Jerusalem Post as Arab affairs correspondent. Most Israeli Jews love his candor and criticalness about both Jewish and Arab Israel. He’s awarded the prestigious Daniel Pearl Award and is internationally widely acclaimed. He holds that he’s attacked for his criticism of Arab-Palestinian society but not so much by the PA. If the latter is true, his writing is no big deal, but somehow, others think it is. In any case, I wish him continued safety and good health.
Fact is that in his newest report, he explains that Abu Dis lies “south of Jerusalem.” Now, I live in the most southern part of Israel’s Capital, so I should know. What I know is that south of Jerusalem lies Beit Jalla (from where we were shot upon during the Second Intifada) and Beit Lechem (Bethlehem) — no Abu Dis. Abu Dis lies east of East Jerusalem which lies (no big surprise here) east of West Jerusalem. Look at the above map.
In a one-minute piece, there should not be such mistakes. But still, this seems immaterial. Not so the next strange thing.
He writes about the brother of a leading Gaza terrorist just killed by Israeli troops. This older brother is a “famous” professor astrophysics who worked briefly for NASA. (They probably thought: Gaza, NASA, it’s all the same thing. Just kidding.) At the death of his brother, he is quoted as being fascinated by science’ “real capacity to change history” (sic).
I don’t think that he was referring to SF’s time travel through which we theoretically could change facts before they would happen. Rather, he probably misspoke or was misquoted but meant to say: change our view on history, or: change the course of history.
In any case, the untruth that bothers me lies in what was omitted. I do not believe that interviewed at the death of his brother, the lecturer just talked about his profession and not of his feelings and ideas related to the untimely death of his sib.
I am all for giving more space to reporting reasonableness in Palestinian society, but not by pretending that negativity doesn’t exist. That is untruthful and unhelpful. Tell us that he hates Israel for killing his brother or how much he loved his younger brother or that politics never stood between them, or anything else that’s true and human. The silence about his loss is deafening and for me stands for falsity – sorry to say.
To be fair, he does mention that the professor’s 12-year-old son allegedly was killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip in 2008, and that at NASA, he was uneasy, daily being around colleagues could have developed the missile which hit his son. I add, then just imagine what he would feel about any Israeli who could have supported launching that rocket. (This must have been Operation Cast Lead at which Hamas boasted using women and children as human shields who were, they claimed, happy to die as martyrs. On the opening day of the war, children were killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes.)
And that is the problem with this kind of reporting, just saying that in Arab-Palestinian society, there is much reasonableness we should know about. I believe that, without reading that. But it doesn’t reassure me not to read that in the context of the widespread hatred. Moderation then comes even out better. But I get scared by when the negative backdrop is made invisible, or just represented by a token criticism.
We, the readers, need the truth and the whole truth. In that context, we can see others as similar to ourselves, as fully human too. Not by whitewashing, fancying up reality. Saying something realistic like: There were also, however, expressions of support for Israel and condemnations of Hamas as a terrorist organization doing Iran’s bidding in the Arabic-language social media, but “not many,” the Foreign Ministry found. In fact, write anything that doesn’t generalize “all Arabs.” Preferably, texts that make one think “What would I feel/want/say/do if were an Arab Gentile?” Text that generates empathy without throwing out reality.
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
