Opinion

• Opinion

  Fear of Facts

  Earlier this month, just in time for Holocaust Remembrance Day, the British government’s education department released a study reporting that classroom teachers were quietly ignoring the mandatory Holocaust education curriculum, fearful of offending their students’ cultural norms. According to the BBC, “some schools avoid teaching the Holocaust and other controversial” — yes, “controversial” — “history…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  Gunfire

  This week’s horrific carnage on the campus of Virginia Tech has rekindled the perennial American debate on gun laws. The apparent shooter, a troubled youth, was able to walk into a store in Virginia and purchase a handgun over the counter, no questions asked. The same thing is possible in dozens of other states around…

  Apr 20, 2007 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Respond to Riyadh by Convening ‘Consultations’

  The smoke has cleared from last month’s Arab summit in Riyadh. The Arab peace initiative, originally ratified in 2002, has been reconfirmed without change. Saudi Arabia, newly-emergent as leader of the Arab world, refused to soften the refugee clause as Israel requested; nor did Saudi King Abdullah invite himself to Jerusalem to present his case,…

  By Yossi Alpher Apr 13, 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

  The Restitution Law of Unintended Consequences

  In late 2005, the Knesset passed Israel’s first Nazi-era restitution law. The legislation was the work of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee for the Location and Restitution of Assets of Holocaust Victims, which had been set up by Knesset member Colette Avital after reports that Israeli institutions held bank accounts and real estate belonging to Jews…

  By Marilyn Henry Apr 13, 2007 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Take Claims About Dead Sea Scrolls With a Grain of Salt

  Once again, controversy is brewing over the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. After widely publicized showings in Seattle and in other cities, the largest Scrolls exhibit ever is scheduled to open soon at the San Diego Natural History Museum. A sophisticated media campaign has accompanied all the current exhibits, aimed at convincing the public of the…

  By Norman Golb Apr 13, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Servant of Delusion and Master of Mistruth

  What has Ehud Olmert been smoking? In a recent interview, when asked about his low approval ratings among the Israeli public, Olmert replied: “My first year in government reminds me of the first year of [Ariel] Sharon and the first two years of Bill Clinton in the White House. Both of them moved dramatically up,…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 13, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Are We Being Served?

  The latest reading on productivity in the American economy offers cause for worry. A front-page headline in The Wall Street Journal from March 31 tells us this: “Productivity Lull Might Signal Growth Is Easing.” The term “productivity” is a measure of how much individuals produce per hour, on the average. The way in which we…

  By Gus Tyler Apr 13, 2007 | 2 min read
• Letters

  April 13, 2007

  Fundraiser Did Well By Miami Foundation I would like to set the record straight with respect to Stephen Herbits and Herb Juli, and their participation in the gay and lesbian community in Miami (“Backroom Battler for Rumsfeld and Bronfman Finds Himself Centerstage in High-stakes Struggle,” March 30). As a longtime community activist and original counsel…

  Apr 13, 2007 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Next Shoah: Will We Know?

  Sixty-two years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, the terrible events that have come to be known as the Holocaust loom larger than ever in the world’s collective imagination. Despite the passage of time and the disappearance of the surviving eyewitnesses, the Nazis’ mechanized attempt to exterminate the Jewish people stands out as an open…

  Apr 13, 2007 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Arab Minority’s Vision Is Foremost About Opportunity

  This past December, Israeli Arab academics, legal experts and community leaders came together to release “The Future Vision of the Palestinian Arabs in Israel.” The document, of which I was a co-author, represented the community’s views on the legal, political and socioeconomic status that we have held as distinct minority citizens of Israel. The report…

  By Yousef Jabareen Apr 13, 2007 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Forward at 110

  1897, the year the Forward was born, was a year of wrenching, epochal change in America and around the world. For Jews especially, this was the year that the 20th century truly dawned. It was a moment of millennial beginnings that were destined to transform history. It was the perfect time for a new journal…

  Apr 7, 2007 | 6 min read