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
As antisemitism skyrockets, both the left and the right have abandoned U.S. Jews
I pride myself on being an unapologetic Jew. Donning a black knit yarmulke on my head, with white tassels known as tzizit flowing from the corners of my shirt, I walk through New York City with a confidence my Holocaust-survivor grandparents could never know. But now, as a 20-year-old college student living in New York…
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Opinion You don’t have to support Israel’s decisions, but please show empathy for your fellow Jews
On our drive home from Jerusalem, my kids and I head East towards the Judean Desert. On a normal day, it’s about a 20-minute drive, but if we take a short cut, we can make it home in 18 minutes. As we drive down the large six-lane Sderot Haim Barlev, we can make a right…
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Opinion WATCH: Israel’s Jon Stewart takes on John Oliver’s viral video
Satirist Lior Schleien has been described as Israel’s Jon Stewart. For more than a decade, he hosted Gav HaUma (literally, the back of the nation), a show mocking Israeli politicians and society, and before that Schleien was a staff writer on Israel’s Saturday Night Live equivalent— Eretz Nehederet. Last week, on his HBO show “Last…
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Opinion The Israel-Hamas ceasefire should have come sooner — and could have if Biden had acted
As of this writing, Israel and Hamas appear headed for a ceasefire. For the White House, should the ceasefire take effect as expected at 7 p.m. Eastern time and hold, it may seem like a victory for its favored quiet and “arm around Israel” approach. In fact, though, this episode demonstrated the inadequacy of a…
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Opinion Your kids’ questions on Israeli-Palestinian violence, answered
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hard to understand — here's a guide to getting started
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Opinion To achieve ‘coexistence,’ Palestinian healthcare workers in Israel cannot show up as their full selves
“The healthcare system is the embodiment of co-existence and shared life!” the Israeli Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein wrote in an internal letter addressed to the country’s health sector employees last Thursday. We received this letter while watching our TVs anxiously, refreshing news outlets and social media on our smartphones, trying to get the latest…
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Opinion To uphold its founding promise, Israel must treat its Arab citizens as truly equal
The current cycle of violence between Israel and the Palestinians dispels two major illusions. The first regards the impact of the Abraham Accords of September 2020, which normalized relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. In announcing the Accords, President Donald Trump boldly declared that “(a)fter decades of division and conflict, we…
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Opinion What I witnessed as a first responder to the Karlin-Stolin synagogue after their bleachers collapsed
The day before Shavuot, I had just returned home after spending time in Ashkelon, Sderot, and the Gaza periphery region, where I was assisting people who have been under constant rocket attack for the past two weeks as a first responder with United Hatzalah. I had spent my time treating the injured, evacuating buildings that…
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Opinion What can we do to help the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Stay out of it
On Sunday night a new front opened up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict: John Oliver’s mouth. The comedian, whose commentary segments on his “Last Week Tonight” HBO series often out-report reporters, this time slammed Israel in its week-long battle against Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza. “Multiple children have been killed this week…
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Opinion Trying to be an optimist in bad times
This is a terribly distressing time in Israel and Palestine. There is so much pain. The lack of empathy that each side feels for the other is the basic pathology of this crazy holy broken place. Palestinians cheer as Israeli life is disrupted by Hamas rockets. On the first night of the rockets I was…
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Opinion INTERVIEW: ‘The wound is much deeper than before’ — Mohammad Darawshe on Arab-Jewish violence
While far too much in the latest escalation between Israel and Gaza militants is tragically familiar, the new and in many ways most frightening aspect is the internal Arab-Jewish violence plaguing Israel’s so-called mixed cities that many have worried could spiral into a civil war. Arab rioters have torched synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses. Mobs of…
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Culture Ashkenazi Jews, there’s 1,000 years of history you’ve been missing
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Fast Forward Hegseth says ‘no more beardos’ in the military. What about religious exemptions?
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News Hundreds of Northwestern students can’t register for class because they won’t watch an antisemitism training video. Here’s what’s in it.
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Fast Forward The ADL doesn’t speak for New York Jews’ concerns, says Zohran Mamdani
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