Opinion

• Opinion

  Reading Goldstone: Breathe Deep and Get a Grip

  It’s getting a bit frightening watching the unfolding of the Israeli government’s campaign to discredit the Goldstone report on suspected Gaza war crimes. The spluttering, frantic rage, the contradictory arguments, the transparent drafting of Diaspora Jewish organizations to put their credibility on the line — it adds up to a demeaning performance that can only…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Time for an Embargo on Iran

  The time has come to prepare an oil embargo against Iran. In April, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that one option available to the United States, should Tehran refuse President Obama’s offer of engagement, is to pursue “crippling” sanctions. Although the Obama administration recently agreed to participate in a new round of talks…

  By Abraham Foxman Sep 16, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Demagoguery vs. Human Rights

  Normally I don’t feel the need to comment on Hugo Chavez’s rhetorical gestures. I’ve got my hands full responding to the ideologues and provocateurs in my own neck of the woods. But when the Venezuelan president comments on this past winter’s Israeli military operation in Gaza, on the same day that B’Tselem releases a major…

  By Jessica Montell Sep 16, 2009 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman A billionaire Gen Z influencer is reinventing philanthropy — with this South African rabbi’s help

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Is the Jerusalem terror attack the start of a third intifada? Not so fast

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  The Joys of Socialized Medicine

  Oddly, it was only after President Obama’s speech to the joint session of Congress that it dawned on me for the very first time that without Medicare these past years, I would by now be either bankrupt or dead. There are two reasons I’d never before thought of that. The lesser of the two is…

  By Leonard Fein Sep 16, 2009 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Goldstone Throws Down the Gauntlet

  Israel’s international isolation and vulnerability is several degrees deeper following the September 15 release of a United Nations war crimes report on the conduct of last winter’s Gaza war. How serious the damage will be depends in considerable measure on how Israel chooses to respond. Initial signs are not encouraging. The report offers a 575-page…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 16, 2009 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Doing Well, Doing Good

  In releasing ambitious guidelines to marry new ethical standards with the traditional laws of kashrut, the leaders of the Conservative movement are taking a bold step to align it with a Judaism that cares as much about social justice as it does about ritual practice. But the success of this endeavor depends on whether rank-and-file…

  Sep 16, 2009 | 3 min read
• Letters

  September 25, 2009

  With Ehud Olmert, What Could Have Been Your September 11 article “Hidden in Olmert Indictment Are Charges That He Swindled U.S. Jews” reported that pro-Israel organizations allegedly “unwittingly ponied up tens of thousands of dollars in false travel expenses for Olmert that he used as a personal travel fund for himself and for his friends…

  Sep 16, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Honoring the Office

  In the last few weeks, President Barack Obama has been assailed as never before, and there is good reason for all Americans to be concerned. Not about the name-calling, per se; name-calling, slander, outrageous characterization have been a part of American presidential politics since, well, George Washington. The much revered other tall, lanky president from…

  Sep 16, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  We Observe Anniversaries. God Laughs.

  The next few days feature a surprising string of important anniversaries in contemporary history. Here are a few of the key dates: September 15, 1959. Next Tuesday, for all you 20th-century history buffs (and you “Car 54, Where Are You?” fans) is the 50th anniversary of the day Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev landed at Idlewild,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 10, 2009 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  An Experiment That, for a Time, Did Not Fail

  “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end…” That song may be much on the lips (or, more likely, in the hearts) of veterans of Israel’s now nearly comatose kibbutz movement. It may seem a bit odd to be talking about the kibbutz movement, home to less than 2% of Israel’s people,…

  By Leonard Fein Sep 9, 2009 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Survival Is the Sweetest Revenge

  When I was 10, my father recommended a movie called “Where Eagles Dare,” the story of a few Allied soldiers who go behind enemy lines during World War II and wreak incredible havoc. When I asked if it was any good, my father just gave me a look. “Four guys kill like a thousand Nazis,”…

  By Rich Cohen Sep 9, 2009 | 4 min read