Government throws endangered women under the bus

After abandoning Muslim communities’ safety, women are next

Claiming men need protection against false accusations, it wants a more ‘balanced’ law than protecting women against dangerous family members.

I was falsely accused of being violent and experienced firsthand, I had no leg to stand on in Israeli law. Yet, I never ever protested this unfairness as I understand that violent women falsely accusing men of being dangerous are a tiny minority. And even if not, every year in Israel, dozens of men murder women (once) close to them, and the reverse does not happen.

Women are still not enough protected. There is no comparison with the situation of men, no matter how unfair it is for the couple of abused men who fall between the cracks. And, fortunately, or unfortunately, the Right has no patent on sexism. All coalitions have failed to ratify the Istanbul Convention, yet another way the State forsakes women every day.

Some say an almost equal number of men and women complain to the police against a ‘violent’ spouse, yet all victims of family murder are women. How come? Three causes. 1. Violent women kill their spouses emotionally (no small feat but still not murder). 2. Violent men cherry-pick spouses who are intimidatable, who would always doubt themselves rather than find fault where it belongs. 3. Many violent spouses falsely counter-complain, and at times, ahead of their victims. A. The lying men don’t deserve more protection. These cold-hearted types have plenty of underserved credibility over ‘their hysterical, confused, crazy’ wives already. B. Offering violent men a way out, endangers the women at risk.

Not every man (and woman) who fails to see what we deal with is a villain. Many people (rabbis) are simply too naïve to grasp the impending danger. Though they are not wicked, they gravely are part of the problem.

In every political party are ‘feminist’ men. They should be brave enough to break with party discipline for women, though. Courage is the challenge.

This move of postponing more protection tools for judges and police to help endangered women shows the government’s supremacist audacity. It’s not just after vulnerable minorities (Muslims, LGBTQAI+, activists), but against every oppressed group including when they are a majority, like women (and blue-color workers, unionists—just wait for it).

To be fair, Israel fights a generations-long war of survival against millennia of genocide, and sexism is in every nation. So, don’t abuse this complaint to falsely paint Israel and Jews as worse than others. In fact, our many people and groups who stand with women in danger show our excellence.

First, it obfuscated Muslims’ rights, but I’m no Muslim so I didn’t protest.

Then, it obfuscated women’s rights, but I’m no woman so I didn’t protest.

Then, it obfuscated LGBTQIA+’ rights, but I’m no Gay so I didn’t protest.

Then, it obfuscated activists’ rights, but there was no one left to protest.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, an almost daily blog contributor to the Times of Israel, and previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. 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. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. He doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit about what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and education contribute to his visions. * If you don't know the Dutch, get an American peek behind the scenes here: https://youtu.be/QMPp6h6r72M * To find less-recent posts on subject XXX among his over 1600 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, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. Yet, 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 who don't deserve that. 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), 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. * His most influential teachers (chronologically) 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. * 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. 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, anti-elitism, anti-bigotry and supremacy, for Zionism, Intersectionality, and 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. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to 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. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. * 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, empowering therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids non-violently. 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 being a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. He lives with his library in Jerusalem. Feel free to contact him. * His writing has been made possible by a (second-generation) Holocaust survivors' allowance 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