Opinion

• Opinion

  Art Restitution Goes on Trial

  A lawsuit over ownership of 14 paintings by Russian artist Kazimir Malevich is currently pending in federal court in Washington. The case is complex, but this much seems certain: The court’s ruling will strongly influence whether American courts remain open to claims for Nazi-looted artworks being held by European museums. A major issue in the…

  By Marilyn Henry

  4 min read
• Opinion

  The Pope Has Given Catholics a Choice

  A statement that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI issued on July 7 has rightfully received a tremendous amount of attention from Jewish and interfaith organizations. Through the “Apostolic Letter in the Form of Motu Proprio” and a subsequent letter to the bishops of the Church, the pope has shifted the liturgical options for Catholics worldwide,…

  By Michael Barclay Jul 18, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Charity Is an Individual Responsibility

  Among Jews and Christians, there is much confusion about the Bible’s preferred course for addressing the needs of poor Americans, the dominant assumption being that support for the impoverished is a public responsibility. Recently, the issue came up in the Seattle suburb where I live. Our local weekly newspaper reported that a tent city for…

  By David Klinghoffer Jul 18, 2007 | 4 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  In the Words of Shimon Peres

  The speech was, as it was intended to be, uplifting, hence just right for a nation desperately seeking an energizing transfusion. It was shorter on the clever formulations that have distinguished Shimon Peres’s talks in the past and it was in part diffuse, but again the new president returned to its central motif: Our best…

  By Leonard Fein Jul 18, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Sweden Discovers God

  Sweden has long had the reputation of being a super-secular nation. Less than 3% of the population attends church. But, within the last few days, it seems that God has made His presence known in Sweden. It all began when a Swedish hotel guest checked into his room and found that the room was outfitted…

  By Gus Tyler Jul 17, 2007 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Wall Street vs. Main Street

  As if it were still celebrating Independence Day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to an all-time high on July 12. The Wall Street Journal reports the 284 point surge as “the biggest one day gain in four years.” This leap took place at a time when the economy is wrestling with some nasty problems,…

  By Gus Tyler Jul 15, 2007 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  July 13, 2007

  Revisit History of Kielce The Kielce Pogrom of July 4, 1946, was initiated by policemen and soldiers and later joined by civilians, not the other way around (“Preserve Memory of Shoah By Maintaining Memorials,” July 6). The culpable inaction of police and army commanders, notably state security’s Major Wladyslaw Sobczynski, increased the number of casualties….

  Jul 13, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Surgeon General Used as Political Tool

  Former Surgeon General Richard A. Carbona told a Congressional panel that top administration officials repeatedly tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports because of political considerations, according to The New York Times, There were important public health concerns on which he was silenced. He was not allowed to voice his opinion on subjects…

  By Gus Tyler Jul 12, 2007 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  It’s Time To Strip Public Unions Of Their Monopoly Power

  This past term, in Davenport v. Washington Educational Association, a unanimous Supreme Court rebuffed a union claim that its rights to freedom of speech were violated by a Washington state referendum which provided that unions could not use mandatory “agency shop fees” to influence elections or to operate political committees unless those payouts were “affirmatively…

  By Richard Epstein Jul 11, 2007 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Open Your Hearts and Your Pockets for Sderot

  Since Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, Sderot has been a besieged city. Just one mile from the strip, its citizens have suffered an endless barrage of Qassam rockets, effectively becoming human shields for the rest of Israel. It is, to be sure, a heroic stance, but the people of Sderot are fed up…

  By Uri Dromi Jul 11, 2007 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Ten-Point Plan for Fostering Arab Democracy

  Of all the Bush administration’s failings in Iraq, the one neither officially acknowledged by the United States nor properly assessed by the international community is the fiasco of democratization. True, the administration appears to have abandoned its drive to democratize the Arab Middle East; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice no longer lectures Egyptian audiences about…

  By Yossi Alpher Jul 11, 2007 | 3 min read