Who likes the Jews?

Famously, Tom Lehrer sings:

Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics

And the Catholics hate the Protestants

And the Hindus hate the Moslems

And everybody hates the Jews

At The JTA, Charles Dunst eloquently suggests that Putin likes the Jews because of his political philosophy. I respectfully disagree. Let me explain why people and Peoples (in no particular order, without claiming to be comprehensive) love the Jews.

People

First of all, there are individual people who like the Jews because of their personal history. Much like Racism is learned early in life, so is hatred for Jews. If one is so lucky to have this countered in one’s youth and so smart to also not believe any of the endemic hatred for Jews later in life, one will stay a friend of the Jews all lifelong.

These people are exceptional individuals. That’s not because it’s so hard to love the Jews – it’s because it’s so hard to escape anti-Semitism’s messages and keep an open mind about Jews. And an open mind is enough. Jews are like all people: get to know them, got to love them.

World leaders who have it if for the Jews stand out (Trump, Putin, Harper, Thatcher, etc.) but individuals fond of Jews one finds in all circles. They can always recount that growing up, they knew Jews and liked or admired them. Such sentiments often run in their families.

Seldom if ever, Gentiles like Jews from their philosophies. People who are irritated by Jews may be Right-wing or Left-wing, religious or secular. If they like Jews, it’s informed by early learning. From this follows that if people hate Jews, it’s also from early-in-life-learned bigotry. (Which is not to say that one can’t repent, but why would one?)

Of course there are exceptions. So where the Communists in the Netherlands and French clearly fighting Nazi Germany (and are still in solidarity with Israel) because they were Communists (no denial of that), but Communist Parties in other countries were sometimes less friendly to Jews – let’s put it like that. So, worldview can dictate solidarity with the Jews, but not necessarily so.

Peoples

And then there are complete Peoples (capital) that predominantly like the Jews. We could point at specific characteristics of them. (I’m sure that many of them belong to more than one of these categories.)

There are Stateless Peoples. The Frisians, the Druze, the Armenians, the Yazidis. I don’t know why they like us but obviously, they do.

Then there are Peoples who seem to like Jews because of their religion. The US, the Frisians (again), Guatemala. They feel close to Jews and honor Jews. They feel gratitude for the Jewish roots of their worldview and see Jews both as their father and their smart little brother.

Then there are the Peoples that repented. The German People will not allow Jews to feel unsafe in Germany. It’s been a painful process for them to get there but their solidarity with Jews and Israel is now massive, time-proven and indestructible. They will also make sure that migrants who want to live in Germany unlearn Jews’ hatred. (And they don’t do blaming migrants for anti-Semitism while secretly nurturing their own animosity as we may see in other European countries.) Bulgaria from May 1943 onward also completely defended its Jews against the Nazis.

Then there are Nations who steadfastly are with Israel because they got to know (and partly consist of) the majestic Jews who fled Spain (Annoosim), like the Peoples of Honduras, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau. Or they consider themselves part of the Lost Tribes, like in Togo. They know for centuries that Jews are a high-minded fantastic People and nothing can persuade them to think differently.

Last but not least, there are the Peoples who luckily had stayed clear of anti-Semitism like in China, the Philippines, Korea. If European Jews would have known, they wouldn’t have tried (in vain) to flee from the Nazis to North America.

There are many more individuals and Nations that I didn’t mention here. I just wanted to highlight the causes from friends of Jews and Israel. Even when their media bring Arab Palestinian propaganda every day, these people and Peoples are not confused. We do have true friends.

Individual and collective enemies of the Jews have no excuse, just like thieves. One may come from a dynasty of thieves, from a dishonest culture or have learned young that stealing opens many doors in life (pun intended), but one can never claim that thievery runs in one’s blood and one has to be dishonest. Everyone can repent, and therefore should.

Especially Germans show that hateful Arab Palestinians have no excuse.

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