Now, here’s an outrageous Middle East Peace Plan (MEPP)

No reasonableness or nuance

When I read this extremist rejection of whatever-peace-plan-Trump-has-in-store, I thought: I can go wilder. Much wilder.

I don’t want the content to be taken too seriously. Rather, it should work as any brainstorming, for inspiration. Among the junk, there could lie hidden some golden nuggets, pearls of wisdom. Either stated explicitly or popping up in your mind when you read my outburst.

When you attempt to brainstorm yourself, don’t try to be a proper left-winger, proper right-winger or proper anything. Just let the thoughts burst forth. Yes, it will reveal a lot about what you know and feel, but you won’t be held accountable – this time.

It will be interesting to see such a rant from someone who starts with “There are no differences between people and any differences between groups of people should be ignored as irrelevant. All schools should teach love, non-violence and anti-bullying. No tolerance for any bigotry inside any religion. All politicians and media bosses must pass periodic lie detector tests on integrity. People of different groups should meet at mixed neighborhoods, work, school, playing sports and music, reads each other’s literature and history and learn about each other all the time.” (This is too naive for me, but it would be interesting to see what a person with such hopes would come up with.)

Anyway, here’s my try at it.

Jordan should return to Palestine and renamed Arab Palestine. Israel should be asked to lease it to anyone calling himself Palestinian-Arab.

An international peacekeepers’ army should occupy it, remove all tribal leaders and the fake “royal family,” return their assets to the people and send them to far-away corners of the earth. Arab Palestinians must get full democratic rights and a majority Palestinian democratic regime.

Militarily, it should look like Japan or Germany after WW II.

Its every school must teach democracy, tolerance, Jewish history, the history of Jew hatred including the Holocaust and Jewish wisdom. Also should be taught how Judaism, Christianity and Islam are similar and how they differ. Respect for differences, minorities and compromise are taught. Germans will teach on TV, social media, in universities and in all schools how to discard anti-Jewish sentiments and repent on a national level for Jew hatred. Anyone proven to still be teaching martyrdom to any child gets the death penalty and so does anyone praising them. (I’m against capital punishment but such tirades override any principles.)

Anyone still living in “Palestinian refugee camps” is deported to Arab Palestine to live there freely and with full civilian rights and receives financial support for a good financial start.

Leaders of the PA, Chamas, Chezbolla, Iran and ISIS should get life in jail until they are ready to teach the region and the world proper relationships with the Jews and democracy.

Egypt gets the same educational change as Arab Palestine.

Egyptian Parliamentarians who refuse to visit Israel and Yad vaShem should step down or receive the death penalty.

Gaza is returned to Egypt. Its citizens are treated as those still living in “Palestinian refugee camps” (see above). The Sinai is returned to Israel.

Lebanon is freed of any and all Chezbollah weaponry.

Iran‘s and Turkey‘s rulers are removed and freedom of the press, democracy and wealth are restored to the Iranian people.

The Kurds, Druze and Yazidis get their own independent States.

Any government trashing or threatening Israel gets removed from the UN and receives international trade sanctions. Same for any State that did not outlaw BDS or scaring Jews.

The UN will insist that all member states teach in their curriculums that Zionism is to Jews what Feminism is to women.

Israel gets back the Temple Mount, Arab Israelis get generous government help if they want to resettle in Arab Palestine.

It will start teaching in all schools that Jews always had friends and enemies, the history of them and how to distinguish them. Haaretz is prevented from spreading and inciting any more hatred against Zionists.

(In case you think the above is not fair or balanced, it is, though, since Israel gave and gave for decades and got little if anything in return.)

Muslims with Jewish roots are encouraged to review Judaism. Those with Jewish and Arab roots are encouraged to request dual citizenship. And so are Arab Muslim and Arab Christian Zionists. Any allies with the Jewish State will receive honorary citizenship, as I advocated before.

The Jewish State is temporarily split up in a theocracy in the East, with Jerusalem as its capital and a democracy in the West, with Tel Aviv as its capital, as I’ve explained before.

East Israel, West Israel and Arab Palestine will form a confederation.

***

Reading this, did you see or think of any workable interesting new plans for the Middle East? Looking forward to reading wilder new thoughts about the Mideast from you. (Not just reworded stale dreams.)

About the Author

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. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 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, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * 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 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. * 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