Recently, love for the Jews and Israel has much increased in the Netherlands

The Dutch only must change some laws and learn to demonstrate for Jews

Let’s begin with a rough historical overview before looking at the present.

History

In the Middle Ages, there were some Jews in the Low Countries, but they were either all killed or driven out. My Dutch history teacher didn’t know.

When Holland started its 80-year War of Independence against Spain, it needed money to arm, feed, and pay soldiers. The Jews fleeing Spain (!) and Portugal were willing to loan the Dutch ruling class large sums to get rid of the too-costly Spanish occupation. In exchange, Jews slowly were allowed back in and live in Holland but under a system of Apartheid.

After some time, Ashkenazic Jews were admitted too when the Spanish-Portuguese Jews promised to be their financial guarantors.

To flatter the Gentiles, Jews praised them for giving them a safe haven, but living as second-rate Dutch citizens was not safe. It was safe in comparison to the East only, where Jews were not just oppressed but also murdered.

The Dutch never prided themselves on being tolerant (or anything). It’s what the non-Dutch say about the Netherlands.

Jews were not allowed to live in the City of Utrecht until royal intervention in 1789, while before, they were not even allowed to lodge there.

Civil rights and legal equality for the Jews in the Netherlands only began under the French occupation (Napoleon). Unfortunately, that also meant no more schools in Yiddish and the start of the great assimilation.

Officially, discrimination against Jews was over. Yet, it would take another century before Jews were allowed into universities, and even after WW II, and until today, Jew-hatred among the wealthy was sky-high.

Of course, there were always exceptions, even in the worst places.

Officially, the Dutch Royal Family was always pro-Jewish, though that too was with ups and downs. The ruling Queen Wilhelmina during WW II was a down, but the present King Willem-Alexander recently has apologized for that and shared that he sometimes can’t sleep from this!

Blatant, open hatred for Jews was always the exception in the Netherlands. The Dutch don’t like noise.

During the Nazi occupation, 90+% of all persecuted Jews were murdered! A small minority of the Dutch worked actively against the Nazis, but a large majority of civil servants executed the razzias and deportations beyond German expectations. The present PM Rutte recently apologized for that.

During the Yom Kippur War, the Dutch government was pro-Israel. Yet, to be safe, its Minister of Defense sent Israel weapons without telling the PM.

After the Six-Day War, Israel became the bad guy. The Dutch never really dealt with their Holocaust history, complicity, and guilt.

In the years of rebuilding the country after the War, ‘guest laborers’ were imported from Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Morocco. They were ‘housed’ under sub-human conditions and employed for starvation wages but later allowed to bring over their families. They had with them Antisemitism, and this served the Allochthone Dutch in two ways. When there was a scandal about Jew-hatred, past or present, they could blame the immigrants. And secondly, they could hate them, pointing out that they were uncivil and evil for hating Jews, without being accused of being racist to them.

Meanwhile, the general news service ANP and the TV news (NOS) were absolutely anti-Israel and also clearly Antisemitic, and still today. Muslim migrants and their offspring no longer need to watch their native TV stations to maintain their Antisemitism. This still goes on today.

Now

The Netherlands became openly unsafe for Jews already 30 years ago. Whole Muslim neighborhoods became off-limits for Jews. Turkish and Moroccan youth groups terrorized the streets, making it unsafe for Jews, but the authorities and Autochthone Dutch Gentiles ignored it.

Yet, the proud and loud and scary united demonstration by Muslim and Autochthone Jew-haters days before the election and after October 7, so shocked most of the Dutch that a record one-quarter voted for Wilders!

The Second Chamber of Parliament decided with 147 against 3 (Muslim Party) that “From the River to the Sea” can no longer be said in its Chamber. When uttered, it will also be removed from the minutes.

Parliament is pressuring the administration to criminalize “From the River to the Sea” and flags from Chamas and ISIS. The government has not yet moved on this, but the PM has refused to condemn Israel in any way, even when the news portrayed it as cruel and hateful. (His ambition to become head of NATO made that recently, he’s done some lecturing Israel to fit in.)

By far, most of the Dutch are shocked about the recent incidents of blatant Jew-hatred. Unfortunately, they just don’t demonstrate. I don’t know why because they do demonstrate against racism. Even my friends don’t.

These blatant incidents vary. Some of them are absolutely scandalous, like disrupting the opening of the Holocaust Museum and more. Then the authorities say it’s not so bad. Some incidents are minimal, and journalists (except for the ANP and NOS) blow them up like genocide was committed. All-in-all, Dutch Jews feel unsafe now, but an unpopular truth is that this isn’t a new feeling or fact. Dutch Synagogues and Jewish schools are under heavy protection for decades already. Not for nothing, most Dutch Jews already live in Israel; and not just the Zionist or religious.

My conclusion: A scary hidden animosity against Jews has always plagued the Netherlands. Yet, the un-Dutch, extremely blatant Antisemitic outbursts since October 7 have polarized Dutch society and sickened most of the Dutch. Not most journalists, not the Marxists, and not many Muslims, but even the Woke parties in Parliament are shocked and angry.

Never before, during, or after WW II have Dutch Gentiles shown such overwhelming empathy, love, and solidarity with Jews. Only, they won’t demonstrate against Jew-hatred. I asked all my friends to march in vain.

I felt compelled to counter some of the utter nonsense being published.

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