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Moshe-Mordechai van Zuiden
Psychology, Medicine, Science, Politics, Oppression, Integrity, Philosophy, Jews -- For those who like their news and truths frank and sharp

On why the Dutch do nothing, and Germans actively protect Jews

Something is rotten in the state of the Netherlands

Warning: Don’t expect me to solve the puzzle, or you’ll be disappointed. I found two dozen pieces, but the total jigsaw image is still unclear. That’s why this post is headed “On why the Dutch …” and not “Why the Dutch …”

One close Dutch friend of me proofread this post and became very upset with it. But another replied: “It really touches me what you write in your article. And that’s why I think it’s true. It’s even worse than I thought, but I recognize everything you write! It’s not easy to be confronted with this.”

Most of the below clips have an option for a running English translation.

When we talk about rotten teeth, we will ignore people who never had a hole in a tooth. There are exceptions to Gentile-Dutch passivity in the face of Antisemitism. We will only mention them in this paragraph.

Some 80% of Germans will protect Jews with their own bodies. They understand that an attack on Jews is their failure, not just bad luck on the Jews. They will never again let it happen.

The Germans understood something Israeli Jews learned too. When we were facing numerous Arab armies out to wipe us off the face of the earth, we were outgunned and doomed. How did we win each of the wars? We fought anyway. We had to. That’s what the Germans do. They will fight for Jews tooth and nail anyway, no buts, no ifs. Allies forever.

The Dutch like calm. They were upset about the Hamas Simchat Torah carnage, but their national news media are dominated by Jew-haters, so, quickly, they get to hear that Jews are not that clean themselves, Palestinians suffer too and worse, for 75 years, where two fight, two are guilty, and other neutralizing maneuvers. With a new neologism, it’s called jamarisme (yesbutism). Yes, the Jews have been massacred, but …

The Dutch PM and King are rock-solid allies of Jews, but on the ground, nothing happens. Already for 40 years, it’s unsafe for recognizable Jews to be in public in the Low Countries. No one does a thing. No one.

Growing up there, I didn’t know I felt unsafe. How does a fish know what’s water? Only when I went to Israel for 40 days, when I was 16, suddenly, I felt so so safe. Only then, I understood that in The Netherlands, I did not.

The Left (they love the Palestinians-though they never met one—but can’t get along with their Jewish neighbor) is too busy defending the artificial underdog, the Palestinian People against the have-its (Antisemitic dog whistle), the Jews. The Right is too busy being racist against Muslims. The o so reasonable Middle will just tell you the truth lies in the middle. And the Evangelicals sometimes do something but are way too busy worrying about their dwindling numbers and showing the superiority of their love for the Jews, so they won’t try to win over the rest of the public for Israel.

I should give an honorary mention of the intellectual Israel-liars. Here above a clip where the Dutch professor explains away Zionism and lies that the UK invited the Jews to Palestine. Facts are optional.

An extra ‘argument’ that pushes the Dutch to be ‘neutral’ is an age-old tradition of trying to keep everyone happy. Then you can trade and make a profit from all. They don’t see that being ‘neutral’ in the face of evil is evil.

Also most of my best friends do nothing. They love me, but they’re not Jews. They think it’s not elegant if you run to do something. They think that Jews exaggerate. The Dutch must stay calm and therefore passive. They are then reasonable and balanced, and by extension, you are an extremist. “On both sides, innocent people get hurt.” Another beauty is “The circle of violence should be stopped.” The false moral equivalence, masking that Hamas aims at civilians and the IDF tries not to hurt civilians; that Muslim Antisemitism makes two states impossible. To get things clearer for myself, often, I substitute Hitler/Nazis for Palestinian freedom fighters and Jews for Israel. Would it help in that classical setting to “call upon both Peoples to respect human rights”? Totally ridiculous, no?

Even when neo-Nazis and Hamas march together, the Dutch watch but won’t lift a finger. Not no one. Almost no one. Two years ago, there was a national demonstration for solidarity with the Jews; three people.

And then there are the workers and women (together, they are almost everybody) who feel too stupid, unimportant, and powerless.

They’ll cry you a river but won’t get you out of one.

Dairies from WW II show that the Dutch did felt terrible about the Nazis attacking, removing, and murdering Jews, but 95% did nothing but feel bad about it. That’s also Christian culture: It’s more important what you feel than what you do. When you’d be drowning (a Dutch example if there ever was one), onlookers would shout How terrible, but not rescue you. They’ll cry you a river but won’t get you out of one. The following Jewish secret is foreign to them: First, we will do, then, we will consider the details.

When Muslims entered the Netherlands in the Sixties to do the dirty work for pocket money, they also brought their Antisemitism with them. In fact, they radicalized to keep their identity, not to assimilate. While Turkish Gentiles in Turkey were warm and friendly to Jews and mostly secular, Turkish immigrants in the Low Countries became more religious and … unfriendly to Jews. Same thing for Jews from Morocco. (Also, when secular Jews leave Israel, often they become members of a synagogue to stay connected to their People.) The Dutch never dealt with Nazi-collaboration and passivity in WW II. So, when Muslims came in with open Antisemitism, that was a ‘win-win.’ The autochthone Dutch could blame them for being Jew-haters (not the pristine Dutch) and use it as yet another excuse to be racist and supremacist to them. Not so in Germany. When Syrian refugees en masse immigrated to Germany, they were told they needed to learn German and unlearn Antisemitism. Otherwise, they were not welcome.

And so, the Netherlands is getting less and less safe for Jews, while Germany is the safest and warmest place in Europe. It pains me to no end. It would have been easier if the Dutch were bad people—but they’re not. They are nice, regular, mild, friendly people, who just can’t get it together.

It’s painful when family, friends, and (social) media personalities whom you appreciated suddenly turn on you. They ‘know’ the Jews are not OK.

The Dutch have a culture with high norms of morality and responsibility. No use. Once, a physician spoke on Dutch TV about the harm of smoking. He brought down smoking from 70% to 20% or so. But when you explain that Jew-hatred needs their action, nothing happens. They’re not heroes. Compared to the Frisians, they’re cowards. The Dutch motto is: ‘Better shy than dead.’ Frisians say: ‘Better dead than slave.’ It makes a difference. In WW II, 75% of Dutch Jews were murdered. In Neighboring Belgium 27%. Still, the Dutch care, don’t hate Jews, but won’t help, whatever you say.

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
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