Wacky deals with Chamas and Chezbollah show how dangerous they are
The world’s most famous Hebrew word is Shalom. Our Sages say that nothing can harbor more blessing than peace. Peace can be peace of mind, peace in the family and with neighbors, peace in the community, the neighborhood, the city, the country, and the whole world.
And in Jewish Law, there is almost nothing more important than saving a human life from (possibly) immediate mortal danger.
Yet, our Sages also say that if someone sets out to kill you, you kill them first. That, too, shows that Judaism believes in the sanctity of human life.
Anti-Jewish innuendo often makes journalists claim that Israel seeks revenge while it’s just establishing deterrence—the old canard of the revengeful G^d of the Old Testament against the forgiving Spirit of the New Testament. But Christian history has given Jews very little peace.
Now, the press says Iran seeks retaliation, but it only attacks Israeli cities and towns from the world’s oldest hatred and to show it still has power.
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The Iranian People has always been proudly pro-Jewish and pro-Israel. Its ruthless, violent, and murderous junta is as much their enemy as ours. There is no contradiction between the interests of both Nations.
The Iranian regime would never agree to a deal that lets Israelis live and Iranians be free. It would be the end of everything they worked so hard for: Holocaust II, oppressive Islam, and feeling important.
While Iran thought to deceive Trump with futile talks while preparing nine nuclear weapons, it actually was the deceived party. The US and Israel did not ‘lose trust in the Iranian negotiators.’ Realists don’t expect terrorists to spare civilians (a war crime) and become pacifists. That’s what terrorists (think they) live for. Don’t assume crocodiles will become vegan
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Israeli sources have let on that we won’t be finished bombing Iran’s offensive arsenal and potential for weeks to come. Hopefully, that will also pave the way for the Iranian People to liberate itself.
Western leaders who now call for de-escalation would never have done so in 1944 at D-Day. They don’t want Iran to triumph. Rather, their ancient, unaware animosity against the Jews just finds it hard to let Israel win.
Not any better are those who use false moral equivalence as if both parties are aggressors (or victims), as in ‘both parties …’ or as in ‘tit for tat’ (as if taking out terrorists is the same as attacking civilians you hate), or guiltlessness or actorless causality, as in ‘Again, hostilities broke out.’
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Chezbollah began to aid Iran, but then the Lebanese government stopped them. They just mightily lost to Israel, and if they want to stay part of the Lebanese coalition, they better obey the majority that doesn’t hate Jews.
Syria just began building a new image of peaceful and benign leadership. Are they serious? No one knows. It could now not risk ending that hope.
Watch how all of Iran’s sworn ‘allies’ (Russia, China) do nothing. They learned from the Six-Day War. You only lose big time by joining losers. June 1967 taught Jordan and Egypt that when the Jews are on the menu, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Now, Yemen has tried to join but was beaten back immediately. The Houthi’s leader might even be dead.
The world’s fake pro-Palestinian terror lovers have largely shut up since it is not yet possible to portray Iran as the innocent genocide victim of Israel.
The US supports our actions without restraint (so far). That would be the least it could do after it dethroned the Shah, Iran’s pro-Israel Monarch.
As if peaceful and reasonable, Trump says he prefers talks to end the hostilities. Europe demanding diplomacy is the old bastion of Jew-hatred unable to stomach that the People of the Scroll will win. There was no peaceful, diplomatic compromise to end Hitler’s rule. No Jew-hater ever gives up voluntarily. They won’t accept any deal that doesn’t involve the annihilation of the Jews. And the Jews will not agree to be exterminated.
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A major goal of the campaign against Iran is not just to do America’s and the other Arab States’ dirty work but also to restore our deterrence, which the October 7, 2023 bloodbath destroyed. Don’t mess with Israel. The Lion of Judah is not escalating anything but putting our enemies in their place.
When only war can bring peace closer, Jews will vote for war.
In the end, so many nations will find out how much fun Jews are (if you don’t try to kill them), how smart we are, and how profitable peace is.
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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. *
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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