Dear Left-winger!
Good that you care and good that you work for a better world for all! However, one part of the job has been long ignored. There seems to be a sort of consensus under the Left that Right-wingers ARE (per definition) racists. Their Racism would be one proof of why they are on the wrong side of history. Really?
Maybe it’s too easy for anti-Racism fighters just to huddle with the Left. (And it’s not that Left-wingers do not need to work on blotting out Racism from their lives. Their superiority feelings (they know so well what is right and wrong) makes them most obnoxious and easier spreaders of Racism.) It’s also too easy to only try to convert middle of the road people who are not really motivated to be activists.
How about convincing Right-wingers to drop Racism? Impossible? That’s not my experience! Yes, one needs to come well prepared. Yes, one needs to be willing to go where no one has gone before and learn on the job – make mistakes and adjust your course. You can’t know everything for success before you start moving, but you can prepare yourself and come inspired. I’ll give you some pointers:
- Prioritize the decent Right-winger. You don’t need to endanger yourself and go to violent fringe groups like Neo-Nazis.
- Anti-Racism activism is not meant to have Whites feel comfortable with like-minded people while trashing the other Whites. Rather, our job is to take responsibility to try to convert almost all White people to stand up against Racism.
- Say: Do you mean that such and such (Arabs, Blacks, Chinese) are less human than us? That implies that they do not know right from wrong, have no free will and are innocent no matter what they do. Is that what you want to say? I’d rather say that one of them showing to have had free will is enough to indict others of that group that do not act OK and not trash any of the others.
- Ask: What do you hate most about “them”? Have you ever been called the same by others? You should try to clean up your act and clear your name and you won’t need to take your uneasiness out on others.
- Ask: Do you remember seeing loved ones saying or doing something racist while you were thinking that that was not OK?
- Ask: Do you remember one time that you or a loved one of yours refused to fully cooperate with Racism?
- Ask: What would you do if you were an Arab / Black / Chinese yourself?
- Don’t fight their Right-wing political identification. Rather say: Racism blots the reputation of the Right and sullies your good name and what you stand for.
- Ask: Do you ever feel terribly lonely? This might come from – as a baby or toddler – seeing your White loved ones act out Racism and feeling so confused and ashamed that you emotionally abandoned them. You see: you are a born anti-racist. Just to proclaim that you’re proud to be a racist does not really help, does it? You can regain your warm connection with all people, including Whites, by going against Racism all the time so that that you can stop feeling so guilty and lonely. You have every right to be proud of and loved for exactly who you are.
Of course, before you start working on others, go though these points yourself, so that you don’t expect from them what you’ve not been prepared to face yourself.
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