In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
On Serving Justice for Hair-raising Racism
The current controversy swirling around shock-jock Don Imus’s crude description of the Rutgers University women’s basketball players as “nappy-headed hos” recalls an incident from another time when tightly curled hair — this time on the head of a Jewish music professor — played a dramatic, though ultimately minor, role in the struggle against segregation. This…
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Letters April 20, 2007
New Envoy Will Leave Politics at Water’s Edge An April 13 (“Controversial Envoy to Belgium Vows More Campaign Giving”) article reports that Sam Fox “is vowing to continue donating to political candidates during his time in Brussels…. This decision… could prove contentious for Mr. Fox, given the tradition that ambassadors leave politics at the water’s…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Sports This year’s biggest World Cup upset came from its most Jew-ish team
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Fast Forward Years after a boycott fight, Ben & Jerry’s Israel debuts a flavor celebrating Israeli resilience
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Fast Forward Mamdani calls AIPAC ‘monsters’ in rally ahead of NY primaries
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Fast Forward Jewish groups push back against Trump’s Iran deal — but more quietly so far than in 2015
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News Who is Gadi Eisenkot, the Israeli politician who could dethrone Netanyahu?