Opinion

• Opinion

  Across the Atlantic

  International summitry is a vexing mixture of overblown pomp and hard-nosed horse-trading, not always in equal measures, and observers must take care to separate substance from symbolism. And yet there are moments when the magnitude of the event speaks for itself, and the symbolism becomes the substance. The current round of summitry is such a…

  3 min read
• Opinion

  A Judicious Punt

  The United States Supreme Court seems to have left just about everybody feeling grumpy following its narrowly cast ruling this week upholding the current wording of the Pledge of Allegiance. And that’s probably just as well. This was a case that nobody could win, and that’s how the court left it — for now, at…

  Jun 18, 2004 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  A Century After Herzl, Vienna Reimagines Zion

  At the turn of the last century, a wave of culture washed over Vienna, carrying Central European society into modernity. The contribution of Austrian Jewry to this heritage was significant, from enlightenment to liberalism to art nouveau. It was in this milieu that the modern Jewish state was envisioned by Theodor Herzl, the 100th anniversary…

  By Thomas Klestil Jun 18, 2004 | 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Out of Egypt… and Into Gaza

  In army staff colleges all over the world, the Egyptian-Israeli military agreement in the Sinai Peninsula is taught as the way two veteran belligerents that are tired of war but still don’t trust each other can best manage their cold peace. The solution is simple, if not ideal: They demilitarize the large, empty desert that…

  By Yossi Alpher Jun 18, 2004 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Coalition Of the Eager

  We have long since learned to swallow hard as the Israelis persist in policies that are ill-conceived and ill-executed, policies that threaten the entire Zionist enterprise. There are so many of these that we try to ignore and even justify — targeted killings, “collateral damage,” a fence that is in part a wall and that…

  By Leonard Fein Jun 11, 2004 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Reagan

  Ronald Reagan was an outsize figure on the world stage in his day, and remains so even now, a decade and a half after he passed from the public eye. That much is clear from the national outpouring of emotion that greeted his death last week. Reagan was a people’s president. He personalized the presidency,…

  Jun 11, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Sharon Makes His Move

  The Israeli Cabinet vote last Sunday ratifying Prime Minister Sharon’s Gaza disengagement initiative appears likely to prove a watershed. Just about everybody but the most diehard skeptics now agrees that Sharon means business. He really intends to get out of Gaza and at least part of the West Bank. His willingness to roll over opponents…

  Jun 11, 2004 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  The Greatness of Reagan’s Modesty

  The weekend that Ronald Reagan died was a fine occasion to reflect on the often forgotten and misunderstood virtue of modesty. The word now is habitually linked with women’s clothing —– how short the skirt, how revealing the neckline — as some of us in the Seattle area were reminded this past Sunday by “Pure…

  By David Klinghoffer Jun 11, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Push Progress via Peace Process

  If ever there was the illusion in Europe that Islamist terrorism would never cross into European territory, the March bombings in Madrid forever put an end to this way of thinking. The very existence of Western democracies — never mind participation in the American alliance in Iraq — is reason enough for Islamist extremism to…

  By Georg Dick, and Joscha Schmierer, and Martin Eberts Jun 11, 2004 | 4 min read
• Letters

  June 11, 2004

  Vilna Community Calls For Help With Chabad A June 4 article on the Lithuanian chief rabbinate misses the most important point of the current crisis (“Rabbinical Turf Fight in Lithuania Spills From Shul Onto Front Pages”). This is not just a turf fight between two rabbis, nor is it solely a struggle between Chabad and…

  Jun 11, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Shake Our Conflict With A Firm Hand

  A diplomatic round table on President Bush’s plan for regional reform President Bush is not the first to try his hand at changing the annoying nature of our region by adding to it a positively sounding prefix, as is the case with the “Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative” he was set to unveil…

  By Uri Dromi Jun 11, 2004 | 4 min read