Opinion

• Opinion

  The Case for Bush: Safety in Freedom

  Every member of an ethnic, racial or religious minority in the United States understands the power and value of freedom and democracy. Americans understand that the right to vote ensures the equality of every person; democracy is a powerful force that commands respect for the rights of others and insists on the application of the…

  By Kenneth Bialkin

  3 min read
• Opinion

  The Case for Kerry: Strength Through Respect

  I am a Washington lawyer who moved to Israel 20 years ago and has since lived in Jerusalem roughly half of the year. As you might well guess, I care deeply about the security of Israel. I am a member of Likud, the party of Prime Minister Sharon. Like a majority of Likud and unlike…

  By Bruce Terris Oct 22, 2004 | 5 min read
• Letters

  October 22, 2004

  Outreach to Emigrés I read with great interest the first installment of the Forward’s series on Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union (“After 25 Years, Soviet Emigrés Still Strangers,” October 15). I look forward to reading the final two articles in this series. I hope that they strike a more balanced picture of the…

  Oct 22, 2004 | 6 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

  Bad for the U.S., Bad for Israel

  It doesn’t really matter, and surely comes as no surprise, that substantial majorities in England, France, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Spain and Australia think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that they prefer John Kerry to George Bush. In Mexico, 83% of the respondents to a rather remarkable poll say that our…

  By Leonard Fein Oct 22, 2004 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  No Time for Dithering

  American Jews have a long tradition, going back to the early days of the Republic, of laying aside their differences in times of crisis and speaking out with one voice to defend their brethren in other lands. That tradition has become an 11th commandment in the half-century since the birth of the sovereign State of…

  Oct 22, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Hugging Hezbollah

  With relations between the Jewish and Presbyterian religious communities at their lowest point in decades, it’s hard to imagine what could have possessed the Presbyterian Church (USA) to decide this was the right time for a good-will visit with the leadership of Hezbollah. A 24-member delegation from the church met last Sunday in Lebanon with…

  Oct 22, 2004 | 2 min read
• Letters

  October 15, 2004

  Our Invisible Poor Of course the leaders of Jewish organizations are amazed that there is such a thing as poor Jews in the United States — they only deal with other rich Jews (“Nearly a Million Living in Poor Jewish Households,” October 8). Poor Jews, like the poor of the United States in general, are…

  Oct 15, 2004 | 6 min read
• Opinion

  Withdrawal From Peace

  Think the contemplated Israeli withdrawal from Gaza is the first step in a revived peace process, a step that will be followed by Israel’s withdrawal from the bulk of the West Bank? Then read what Prime Minister Sharon himself has to say on the subject: “It is very possible that after the evacuation [disengagement], there…

  By Leonard Fein Oct 15, 2004 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Tax Season

  Sometimes the biggest ideas spring full-blown from a great mind — think of Freud, say, or Keynes — and the truth, once stated, suddenly alters our understanding of reality. Other ideas, like racial equality, bubble up from below, building strength until leaders emerge who can force the issue onto the public agenda. And then there…

  Oct 15, 2004 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Joy of Texts

  There is a moment, for those who indulge, of explosive, triumphant joy, at times approaching ecstasy, during the festival of Simchat Torah, which fell October 7. It’s the moment when the reader chants the last few lines of Deuteronomy, completing the annual cycle of public Torah reading, and then begins again with “In the beginning.”…

  Oct 15, 2004 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Voting Against Our Own Interests

  Everyone knows that the Jewish vote skews to the left. Among national religious groups, only black Protestants are more securely in the pocket of the Democratic Party. But did you know that Jews, unlike blacks, are actually becoming more liberal over time? That startling fact is reported in a new survey from the Pew Forum…

  By David Klinghoffer Oct 15, 2004 | 3 min read