Opinion

• Opinion

  Democracy and Peace In the Middle East

  Those who have been wondering when the worldwide march of democracy would finally reach the Middle East got the beginnings of an answer this week. In a scene reminiscent of the velvet revolutions that swept Eastern Europe more than a decade ago, the people of Lebanon took to the streets last Monday to protest Syrian…

  4 min read
• Opinion

  If It’s Saturday, This Must Be America

  Of the Ten Commandments, the Fourth — Sabbath observance — had until recently received less respect than any of the other nine, among Jews and Christians alike. One joker has called it “the Rodney Dangerfield of the Decalogue.” America, however, is due for a Sabbath revival, and there is evidence in the culture that one…

  By David Klinghoffer Mar 4, 2005 | 3 min read
• Letters

  March 4, 2005

  ‘Tug of War’ at Y.U. An Imagined Conflict The February 18 Viewpoint news analysis column posits that Yeshiva University President Richard “Joel stands at the center of a theological tug of war” between left and right at the university (“Y.U. Chief’s Quiet Gambit Creates Space for Change”). The Forward, however, omits reference to two innovative…

  Mar 4, 2005 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman American Jews can’t agree about anything — except Iran

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry Trump’s new Gaza plan marks a radical break from Israeli policy — can it succeed?

  

• Emily Tamkin Is Mamdani bad or good for Jews? Here’s how to tell

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  The ‘Availability’ Of Aptitude

  In 1873, Edward Clark, a Harvard physician, suggested that young women who engaged in “heavy mental activity” would wreck their reproductive system. “The results are monstrous brains and puny bodies… . The brain cannot take more than its share without injury to other organs.” What calls this to mind just now, obviously, is the flap…

  By Leonard Fein Feb 25, 2005 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Bush’s New Tone

  Beyond the specifics of what was said and done, there was an enormous symbolic importance in President Bush’s decision to visit Europe this week as the first major act of his second term. After presiding during his first term over a perilous fraying of the Atlantic alliance, Bush appears to have recognized the urgency of…

  Feb 25, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Same Old Same-old

  One of the oddest features of Middle East debate in this country is its near-total detachment from the realities of the Middle East itself. Whatever happens over there, the players here can be trusted to continue reading from the script they learned years ago. In reality, Israel votes to begin dismantling settlements and withdrawing from…

  Feb 25, 2005 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Looking Beyond Israel’s Withdrawal From Gaza…

  The Book of Judges records the death of Samson in Gaza. Bound to the columns of a Philistine temple, Samson brought the house down on himself and its occupants, crying, “Let me die with the Philistines.” In recent days, Samsonian recklessness and despair have again resurfaced in Gaza. Meet Yigal Kaminetsky, rabbi of the Gush…

  By Lloyd Green Feb 25, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Looking Beyond Israel’s Withdrawal From Gaza…

  The headlines from the Middle East these days are full of optimism. Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have been all smiles since this month’s summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, and Sunday’s Israeli Cabinet approval of the Gaza disengagement plan is being taken as a major step toward finally ending the conflict. The…

  By Amitai Etzioni Feb 25, 2005 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  …And the Debate It Sparked Among American Jewish Advocates

  Last year, Prime Minister Sharon put forward a plan to withdraw Jewish settlements from Gaza and the northern West Bank. His plan was approved by his government and was supported by nearly three-quarters of Israel’s citizens. It subsequently won the endorsement of the Bush administration, and clearly has the support of the great majority of…

  By Eric Yoffie Feb 25, 2005 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  …And the Debate It Sparked Among American Jewish Advocates

  Among his activities, uninformed criticism of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations appears to be one of Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s most frequent (“Confront the Extremists in Our Midst,” February 11). In his latest missive, his ignorance of the Presidents Conference’s statements of support for Israel’s policies, including for its disengagement plan, has…

  By James Tisch Feb 25, 2005 | 3 min read
• Letters

  February 25, 2005

  David Irving Responds In her gripping February 14 opinion article, Deborah Lipstadt shows that one reason she did not speak for three months during the British High Court trial of my libel action against her — a reticence that has puzzled many observers hitherto — was evidently because she was asleep (“60 Years Later, Dresden…

  Feb 25, 2005 | 5 min read