Opinion

• Opinion

  After the Rage

  Anger is a powerful drug. It stiffens the spine and quickens the senses, hones our alertness to danger and spurs us to action when action is needed. What it doesn’t do, unfortunately, is guarantee clear thinking. Alas, anger is as likely to blur the mind as to sharpen it. That’s the paradox of rage: It’s…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  The Jewish Path to Success

  The news that Senator Joseph Lieberman had his two children on the campaign payroll as fundraisers with six-figure salaries raised some concerned eyebrows last month in the American Jewish community. Sure, Matt and Rebecca Lieberman are hard and effective workers, and since then have even taken a conspicuous pay cut — but couldn’t their father…

  By Adam Bellow Aug 1, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Passion for Censorship

  Mel Gibson’s forthcoming movie, “The Passion,” will dramatize the death of Jesus, portraying certain Jews of his day as morally culpable. It is already being denounced as antisemitic. From the anti-defamation groups, you expect this — scaring us is how they raise money. But when a painstakingly careful scholar such as Paula Fredriksen promises that…

  By David Klinghoffer Aug 1, 2003 | 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 ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• 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

• Letters

  August 1, 2003

  Accident Symptomatic Of Neglect in California I lived in the Santa Monica area for about five years, and it is a complete illusion that it is some kind of paradise (“Soul-Searching Follows Farmers’ Market Tragedy,” July 25). That is the lie that Santa Monicans like to tell themselves, but, as is the case in Los…

  Aug 1, 2003 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Carrying A Big Stick

  In June, Fatah power broker Marwan Barghouti wrote a note from his Israeli jail cell to Khaled Mashal, Hamas’s negotiator in Damascus, urging a cease-fire with Israel. Barghouti, who despite being on trial for the murder of 26 Israelis, passes for a “moderate” in the lethal caldron of Palestinian politics, observed that since the September…

  By Gil Troy Aug 1, 2003 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Where Is the Fence?

  The simmering dispute over Israel’s so-called West Bank separation fence includes more than enough hypocrisy to go around on all sides. The Sharon government, after two years of ideological obstructionism and bureaucratic foot-dragging, has finally yielded to overwhelming public opinion and begun an earnest effort to fence off Israel’s scandalously porous eastern frontier. Now come…

  Aug 1, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  This Time It’s Our War

  Few people thought more or knew more about war than Winston Churchill. “Let us learn our lessons,” he wrote on taking up arms. “Never believe any war will be smooth and easy or that anyone who embarks on that strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to…

  By Leonard Fein Jul 25, 2003 | 4 min read
• Letters

  July 25, 2003

  Call Presidential Bigotry By Name: Antisemitism The Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, has yet to grasp the central fact that should be guiding discussion about the antisemitism of American presidents: We are Jews in America (“Harry Truman, My Flawed Hero,” July 18.) Responding to the defamation of American Jews should be his first priority….

  Jul 25, 2003 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  The Survivors’ Legacy

  Wrenching though the process has been, some good may yet come from the debate that has split the Jewish community during the last year over the proper use of restored Jewish property from the Nazi era. If the lessons are learned and acted upon, the lives of survivors may yet be improved and the legacy…

  Jul 25, 2003 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Freeing Prisoners

  It’s a curious phenomenon in today’s Middle East debate that those who speak most passionately of peace are frequently the least willing to take the steps needed to bring it. Friends and defenders of Israel have mounted an international campaign in recent days to block the release of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons for involvement…

  Jul 25, 2003 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  A Bridge Forward

  This week marks the 400th issue of our sister publication, the Russian-language Forward. For us here at the Forward family of newspapers, it’s a moment of pride and celebration. We’d like to think, though, that the celebration and the pride are shared by Jews around New York and across America. From its modest beginnings in…

  Jul 25, 2003 | < 1 min read