Senior White House adviser and peace plan architect Jared Kushner gave an interview to Al Jazeera. His ideas have nothing to do with this universe.
1. He wants to bring prosperity and security to the Muslim Palestinians. The only insecurity they suffer is from the Palestinian military police and the lack of democracy in the areas they live in.
2. He wants to create a million jobs for Gaza and the West Bank. According to the (I think inflated) figures from there (really!), there are 5 million inhabitants there with an average of 5 children per family. The highest unemployment rate is in Gaza: 50%. That means 700,000 families with maximally 2 parents of whom 50% tops are without a job. That is 2 times 700,000 divided by 2 is maximally 700,000 unemployed — at most and probably far less. Most of the figures are inflated and not every mother of five or pensioner will be interested in working a job. What are 250,000 unemployed going to do with 1,000,000 job openings? Absurd.
3. He says that in the past, Arab countries have promised a lot of money but seldom followed through on their promises because there was no clear plan which led to much money going to waste. The real reason, of course, is that all these countries are dictatorships that don’t care about their own population, let alone about another people.
4. He says that striving for peace has never worked because it was not clear what a good future that would bring. Therefore, he’s doing it differently now. He’s first launching plans to show what a bright financial future is possible and then there will be motivation to realize that. However, doing things differently doesn’t guarantee success if you fail again to address the real problem: hatred against the Jews. People are willing to live in poverty (even blow themselves to pieces) for their “ideals.” Money will not erase such “idealism.” The regular person in the Arab Palestinian street might be interested in prosperity, but he’s not talking to them. He’s talking to the dictators. They don’t care.
5. He says that much money has been thrown at the problem but it has not trickled down to most people. He seems completely unaware that if you give the junta in Gaza and other dictators money, they are going to spend it on themselves, their Swiss bank accounts and weapons. When the people would revolt, they’ll say: but we need to fight the enemy who causes all our poverty. No plan can solve this unless you replace the dictators. But he’s talking to the dictators. Laughable if it weren’t so sad.
6. He says that he doesn’t understand the PA leadership not being interested in giving the people a better life. But then it comes: he hopes that they will soon realize that there is a lot of good in the plan and they will come around. He’d confuse a stubborn mule with a goodish lap dog.
7. He says that this is not Money for Peace as was Land for Peace. He doesn’t know even the simple meaning. Land for Peace meant: give the PA land and they’ll allow for peace. It also means: they’re not interested in peace. Money for Peace then means: give the PA money and they’ll allow for peace. But Kushner explains that the money and the peace form one plan. So he takes it as win-win: the Palestinian Muslim leaders are getting money and peace. He can’t understand their indifference.
8. Says (correctly) that hatred for Israel has been a unifying factor in the Arab world in the last 70 years which is used to run away from their own problems in running their states. (Though their hatred for Jews and anti-Zionism is obviously older than 70 years.) But then he jumps to: improving the running of the Arab lands will give peace. That’s a tad too fast. Elimination of regional Jew-hatred will give peace — only.
9. He says that both sides say that the other is not interested in peace at a “question” that Rabin was killed by an Israeli showing that Israel is not interested in peace. That’s unforgivable.
He fits the Trump team very well as yet another self-styled expert who has not the foggiest idea of what is going on. He talks like: none of the physicists have been able to get safe nuclear energy in your living room so now it’s our turn as laymen to try something totally different. Trash.
The main problem is not that Kushner is stupid or uninformed. We Jews went through a lot for thousands of years and still we simply cannot imagine such a lack of good will and such an abundance of hatred.
As I blogged before: the giant elephant in the room is that Israel gets nil.
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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