Paradise won’t be here yet
There must be fifty ways to leave your war scene.
A Few Introductory Points
It’s only the first phase. I’m not convinced that Chamas will actually disarm and end its tyranny over Gaza or that Barghouti will not be freed.
Much of Trump’s 20-point plan is unclear. Terrorists who lay down their weapons get amnesty. What happens when they won’t disarm? What would happen when they return to terror? Why do the IDF soldiers and Netanyahu get Amnesty International and not international amnesty?
Kind of ironic that we should believe that he who is busy ruining the US democratic republic should head the endeavor to end Palestinian tyranny.
Some of my friends have expressed deep skepticism if this agreement will work out. Maybe I’m in a good position to answer that because I predicted that such an accord wouldn’t happen. I was wrong. Below you’ll read how much I think still needs to be done, but I believe there are so many players interested in its long-term success that it will be heeded and defended.
It seems that most reporters covering the Middle East aren’t religious and or Jews, but I’m still sad that no one acknowledges that coming Tuesday, October 14, 2025, in Israel, is Simchat Torah, and in the Diaspora, the Feast of the Eighth Day of Assembly, and thus, on the Jewish calendar, will be this year’s commemoration of the October 7, 2023, Chamas pogrom.
This means the following. In 2023, Simchat Torah in Jerusalem was very happy since we had no idea yet what was happening. In 2024, Simchat Torah was challenging because it was exactly a year after the pogrom, and all the kidnapped were still not home. And now, in 2025, Simchat Torah in Jerusalem will be easier with the last hostages released hours before.
Those Who Hope to Profit
I learned from my Mizrachic friends that many will be our ‘friends’ when and as long as they stand to gain from that, only for their self-interest. That’s OK too. Where is written that political friends need to be selfless?
Trump—wants the Nobel Prize, wants real estate in Gaza, wants to be king
Sisi—Egypt hosted the talks: prestige, leader of Africa and Muslim States
Qatar—played a leading role in the negotiations
Turkey—a Chamas ally, co-hosted the talks, prestige
Gazans—beginning of rebuilding, promise of democracy
Israel—no more Gaza wars, deterrence for other attackers, new friends
Netanyahu—kept promise to end Chamas (all said it was impossible)
Abraham Accords States—new ones will join, making tons of money
Zionist groups—can point out where nations need to improve, no genocide
Antisemitism watch—perfect documentation of October 7.
Israel’s Remaining Enemies and Fronts
It ain’t over yet.
Chamas—will continue around the world to fight anything Jewish/Israeli
And so will dozens of other anti-Jewish terror groups
The (inter)national media—will stay hostile to Zionism/Jews/good feelings
UN, IRC, AI, PWB, etc.—will continue to be obsessed with and target Israel
Chuthis, Yemen—are still in a winning mood
Iran—is trying to rearm against Israel, the West, and the region
Russia, North Korea, China, and India are supporting Iran
Chezbollah—is not disarmed yet
Lebanon—not calm yet
Jordan—the population is still extremely hostile to Jews and Palestinians
Egypt—the population is still extremely hostile to Jews
Turkey—Erdogan’s ego just got bigger still, still hungry for Jerusalem
Qatar—played a double role for decades; where will it go now?
West Bank—still full of active terror groups, no democracy (Abbas)
Gaza—not yet demilitarized; IDF still needs to watch for hostile activity
Syria—will it get a real democracy and safety for Kurds, Druze, Bedouin?
The West—a broad Western-Muslim-Nazi-Left-wing anti-Jewish coalition
Spain, Ireland, South Africa, Brazil, etc.—the hatred will continue
In a post-truth world, rage re Israel’s ‘occupation’ and ‘genocide’ will stay
Locally and globally, children, the next generation, still learn to hate Jews
I will not be safe walking the streets of Amsterdam.
Israel Internally
There’s still a lot to deal with. We’ve got our work cut out in front of us.
Funerals of the murdered
Shock at the state of the survivors
Recovery of the wounded soldiers and their families
Deep disappointment that ending the war doesn’t mean paradise on earth
Blame game (October 7)
Attacking the leaders
Blaming the victim
Trials for the October 7 terrorists
Slander and huge egos to win elections
Trials Netanyahu
Succession of Netanyahu
Now it’s safer, fuller mourning
De-stressing
Rebuilding economically
Army and National Service for all (chareidi, Muslim)
Judicial reform
Persecuting possible war crimes
Religious reform, conversions, secular marriage
Secular-religious divide
To absorb new aliyah waves
Winning the Eurovision Song Festival
Rebuilding tourism
Longstanding and new poverty
Minority stresses
Sh’meeta is coming up
But also, celebrating who we are.
***
The medicine against the multifaceted social illness of Antisemitism stays: ahavat cheenam: random acts of kindness, as many times a day as we can.
You may find more controversial writings on Amazon or my own blog.
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 agrees that in a post-truth world, that’s irrelevant, but then this is for the record. 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