Opinion

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  Letter | Why haven’t the U.N. and Jordan stepped up to vaccinate Palestinians?

  To the editors, I do not criticize you for publishing an op-ed advocating and pushing Israel to step up and help vaccinate the Palestinians on the West Bank. (“Yes, Israel should vaccinate all Palestinians. Here’s why.”) After all, who else would care to? The assumption that Israel should vaccinate Palestinians is based solely on the…

  By Toby Stuart

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  A Jewish thing happened on the way to our NYC mayoral forum

  This is an adaptation of our weekly Shabbat newsletter, sent by our editor-in-chief on Friday afternoons. Sign up here to get the Forward’s free newsletters delivered to your inbox. And click here for a PDF of stories to savor over Shabbat and Sunday that you can download and print. Andrew Yang had a “Jewish gentleman”…

  By Jodi Rudoren Mar 12, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why are the Ultra-Orthodox treated like extremists when we vote?

  Finally! The Ultra-Orthodox bloc has been defeated! Well, no one put it quite that way — at least not publicly — in January, when a lawsuit brought by the NAACP in the upstate community of East Ramapo was successful, and federal appeals court ruled that the voting method that had elected a majority Orthodox Jewish…

  Mar 11, 2021 | 3 min read

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• 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 Netanyahu’s new Gaza plan is a disaster. But it contains a tiny kernel of wisdom

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Letters

  Letter | Actually, the PA turned down Israeli help with vaccinations

  To the editors, The Forward published an op-ed by Sari Bashi, a lawyer and research director at an Arab advocacy organization, that ignored reality while expounding the reasons why Israel should vaccinate all Palestinians. (“Yes, Israel should vaccinate all Palestinians. Here’s why.”) Her claim is based on the Geneva Convention’s Law of Occupation, which requires…

  By Conrad Nadell Mar 11, 2021 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Kathryn Garcia: Jewish New Yorkers want results, not political platitudes

  In this moment of crisis, we can’t afford for our next mayor to need on-the-job training. With the economic fallout from the pandemic, a bungled vaccine rollout and hate crimes on the rise, too much is at stake. That’s why we need a leader that will get to work. I’m prepared. I am the only…

  By Kathryn Garcia Mar 10, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The ICC probe of war crimes against Palestinians will deepen rifts between American Jews

  Last Wednesday, the International Criminal Court announced it was opening an investigation into alleged crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories. It was a significant development in a process that has seen countries clash over whether those territories even fall within the ICC’s jurisdiction. Fatou Bensouda, the court’s outgoing chief prosecutor, succeeded in convincing the…

  By Abe Silberstein Mar 10, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Letters

  Letter | No, Israel does not need to vaccinate Palestinians

  Dear editor: I strongly disagree with Sari Bashi’s op-ed in these pages describing of Israel’s vaccination program. Inoculations are being given to all citizens and residents of Israel, whether they are Jews or non-Jews. This includes Arabs living in eastern Jerusalem, many of whom are not Israeli citizens. It also includes Israelis who are living…

  By Toby F. Block Mar 8, 2021 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  To escape endless elections, Israel needs a new generation of ‘naïve’ leaders

  What do the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the climate crisis have in common? The answer is troubling: neither of these existential issues is on the political agenda of the current election campaign in Israel. Israeli voters have left the climate crisis to the good care of foreign leaders. And they’ve let their own leaders sweep the…

  By Avi Gil Mar 8, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Letters

  Letter | For converts to have a voice, the Knesset must be reformed

  To the editors: Rabbi Seth Farber was absolutely correct when he said that “To Israel, converts are still just a political football.” Israel was certainly aware, even before Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union in significant numbers, that many of the people entering Israel, completely legitimately under the Law of Return, were not…

  By Toby F. Block Mar 8, 2021 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Yes, Israel should vaccinate all Palestinians. Here’s why.

  Editor’s Note: Israel’s vaccination program for its citizens and residents does not discriminate based on ethnicity; Arab-Israelis and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are eligible along with Jews, as we reported in this Feb. 16 article, There is debate over Israel’s responsibility to vaccinate Palestinians under the Geneva Convention and the Oslo Accords, as we…

  By Sari Bashi Mar 8, 2021 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  A year into COVID, we must send kids back to shul

  On the first night of Hanukkah, I went to downtown D.C. to witness the menorah lighting on the National Mall with my four kids. I’ve never been one for such Jewish spectacles. I’ve never even been much of a synagogue-goer. But I’ve long known that when it comes to building their Jewish identity, my kids…

  By Bethany Mandel Mar 7, 2021 | 4 min read