So many loose “details” were leaked before and fought about US President Donald Trump’s secret plan that did not sound truthful. But the new comprehensive plan now revealed sounds totally real to me. And dangerously flawed. The US has denied that this is the real plan, but it is so different from everything that was leaked before, and as similar to every idiocy by Kushner (“With a little reasonableness from both sides much can be achieved.”), that I believe this to be “it.”
And this is why it will fail:
- It is built on the faulty assumption that Palestinians will settle for a small state instead of everything. They have been saying for 120 years All or Nothing. There is no indication or reason that they will depart from that.
- It is built on the faulty assumption that Arab Palestinian leaders are interested in money for their People. They have only been interested in money for their people. Popular prosperity was never important to them. Their rule is based on hatred for Jews, not on profit for their People.
- It is built on the faulty assumption that Israel needs to compromise again, as if we are so senile that we do not remember that we have compromised for decades and received nothing in return. Land for Peace has always turned out merely Land for Pleas.
- It is built on the faulty assumption that the core conflict is between local Muslims and Jews. Not true. There is only hatred of Muslims against Jews and mistreatment of Arab States against Arab Palestinians. As long a Palestinians do not get civil rights in Jordan and Lebanon, nothing is solved. Hamas has nothing to win by signing this, so it won’t.
- It is built on the faulty assumption that the PA and Hamas would ever cooperate. Like all violent groups, Hamas dreams of overthrowing the PA in the West Bank, and how would they be able to give up on that pipedream?
- The obligation on the terrorists to disarm is laughable. And the whole idea of a “demilitarized” Arab Palestinian State without it is totally fake. And why in the world would the Junta in Gaza and its ilk disarm?! And the border crossings with the outside world will be under Arab Palestinian control. That in itself is so dangerous that you cannot understand how anyone can be so stupid to put that in. The PA and Hamas must sign to agree to a demilitarized country, but they are free to import all the weapons in the world?! The idea that the new state would not be run by self-serving ruthless terrorists is also ridiculous.
- There is no obligation in the new state for education against centuries-old anti-Semitism, though this is the basic problem. This makes the whole plan symptomatic — without treating the underlying disease.
- There are no provisions for if a party would sign but not abide by the agreement — and of course the PA and Hamas would not. They never did.
- The idea that Israel would uproot 110 settlement (10x Gush Katif) to make space for a violent Arab Palestinian state is so laughable if it weren’t so sad that anyone could think that Israel would ever agree to that. We don’t have the will, money, or space to re-house them.
- Netanyahu will enthusiastically embrace the plan, just as he happily embraced the Two-State Solution, knowing that it would never be implemented and why fight against something evil, bad, dangerous and stupid that never is going to happen?
- The agreement should say but doesn’t: all the deal or no deal, so that Israel is not forced to compromise and compromise its security again, while the other side again doesn’t deliver.
- A 30-meter high highway will connect the two geographic parts of the new state and underground, Gaza will provide the West Bank with desalinated water. Never mind that the PA doesn’t even want to provide Hamas with electricity.
- The new state should pay Israel for the protection by the IDF and pay Jerusalem its municipality tax and electricity use for East Jerusalem. And if it won’t, it don’t. Already now, forced by Israel, but secretly, the PA helps Israel — or else. But the new state will pay voluntarily? LOL.
- The idea that the international community would shut the financial tabs if the parties don’t sign shows two things:
- The whole talk of Trump supporting and respecting Israel’s democracy is fake. As so many have warned, as I did, and here too. They will not allow us to veto it for it being dangerous and unacceptable.
- This is made by naive Westerners who do not know the Middle East. As soon as the Arab states threaten to close the money flow to the PA, it will shout that they endanger the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Arab rulers will have to pay if they don’t want to be overrun by their populations. Besides, Iran and Kuwait will pay anyway.
I do not understand at all why Netanyahu wanted this to be published after the elections only. It would have sky-rocketed the votes for him.
This is my plan:
- Chase away the “King” of Jordan and give that state to the Arab Palestinian People. Its name, of course: Transjordan.
- Give Gaza to Egypt.
- Return the whole West Bank to Israel.
- Chase away Hezbollah and return the whole of the Lebanon to the Lebanese People.
- Have the whole region learn what are Jews and why they must be respected and protected.
All problems solved. Cheaper, easier, quicker, sounder.
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