Why idyllic, left-wing, grassroots, Jewish-Palestinian reconciliation won’t work

Sadly

Dutch saying: There was a man, not so wise; he built his house on thin ice.

On paper, the idea sounds so nice to unite bereaved Palestinian Muslim and Jewish parents. Both sides cry. Both sides lost more than they gained. Let’s acknowledge each other’s hurts and make peace.

There are reasonable and loveable people on both sides. Look inside the Israeli health system, where everyone cooperates for the greater good. Yet, that does not undo the Jew-hatred that is the cause of it all.

Unfortunately, and counter-intuitively, it doesn’t work. And not because of unsurmountable mutual hatred. Rather, too much falsehood is built in.

Yes, the Germans and the Jews lost a lot and many in WW II, but you can’t equate perpetrators and victims. Why not? Because then you don’t deal with the cause. The cause was Antisemitism. Both sides can work jointly to end Jew-hatred—not to end mutual recrimination. Remember Trump’s infamous “on both sides” statement that propelled Joe Biden to run against him? It’s called false moral equivalence. You don’t unite like that.

Thinking in groups only and not seeing the individuality of each group member is racism. But to simply ignore the group identities and histories is unworkable wishful thinking, a dummy. Don’t be a dummy.

There are non-Jewish Israelis and even communities who fight in the IDF and border police and defend Israel against Anti-Zionists abroad.

After October 7, most Muslim Israelis have begun to identify foremost as Israelis and not Muslims or Palestinians. A real shift toward real unity.

But we Jews so much want Antisemitism to end that we’re ready to make peace with people who still hate us, want us dead. It won’t work.

If the joint policy is to ‘end the occupation,’ it means to return to what Abban Eban called Auschwitz borders, national suicide. Most Israeli Jews are done being slaughtered for baseless promises of peace. Don’t be naïve. That Jews can love all Muslims doesn’t mean it’s a mutual talent. You can attract many by saying we want to cleanse the West Bank of Jews; will you mourn with us? Guess why many of them want to be with you. The only workable joint policy is to end Jew-hatred. Just like President Sadat only needed to visit the Jewish State, and Israel forgave him. The other way around won’t work. No Israeli leader can visit Egypt. Use your brain.

Jews often flip between astonishment at the baseless Antisemitism and naively believing that some deeds by us made them hate us. They hate us not because of ‘the occupation’ (liberation), suffering, injustice, racism, Islamophobia, not even jealousy. It’s fed them with the mother’s milk.

It’s nicer when Jews and Palestinians embrace instead of killing each other. But it doesn’t impress the murderous terrorists. Almost all Middle-East-Muslim leaders consistently betray their constituents and work toward war and exterminating the Jews, instead of turning Jordan into a democratic Palestinian State or having a bi-national democratic Israel. As long as there is no peace partner, Jews should not fool themselves.

Regrettably, we’ve seen the way to Hell paved with our good intentions.

Even our funerals are not the same, nor are our bereavements. At Muslim funerals, hatred and anger dominate; at Jewish funerals, we see loss and sadness. Many Muslims are unrepented after their (would-be) murderers died in combat. Many Jews soul-search endlessly for what they could’ve done differently not to justify extermination but come up empty-handed. Muslims demand recognition of their victimhood, honor, and money. Jews just want peace and love. It’s just not the same, though we’re all human.

As my teacher and friend Harvey Jackins put it: When one person hits the other with a stick, both get hurt, but it makes a difference who wielded it.

Don’t falsely equate victimhood. Join to defeat Antisemitism.

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See, also, my newest book: From the River to the Sea, Israel Will Be Free.

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