Opinion

• Opinion

  Israel’s fourth elections are a sign of democratic health – and resistance to Bibi

  The news of Israel’s upcoming election, its fourth in less than two years, has been cast as a sign of dysfunction and instability in the country’s political system. It is taken for granted in the West that these are necessarily bad things, at least, if the amusing messages of sympathy from Americans to their Israeli…

  By Abe Silberstein

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Open Letter | Brandeis University Press is silencing debate

  Read a response to this letter from Brandeis University Press here. We are a group of scholars whose research is connected to American Jewish history and experience. All of us have read the preface that Professor Marc Dollinger submitted to Brandeis University Press this fall. We hold a variety of perspectives about its claims and…

  By Ari Y. Kelman, and Beth S. Wenger, and Cheryl Greenberg, and Deborah Dash Moore, and Eric L. Goldstein, and Lila Corwin Berman, and Riv-Ellen Prell, and Shaul Magid, and Tony Michels Dec 23, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Roundtable | What from 2020 are you taking into the new year with you? 15 opinion writers weigh in

  Ah, 2020. You will live on in our memories as truly and unforgettably terrible. And yet, there are things that we will definitely be carrying with us into 2021. For every challenge brings a lesson worth learning. To this end, we asked some of our opinion writers: What’s one lesson you learned from the dumpster…

  By Forward Staff Dec 23, 2020 | 9 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Mamdani’s victory is an opportunity for Jews to relearn the art of disagreement

  

• Rob Eshman Pro-Palestinian protesters are suddenly supporting Iran. They might want to talk to some Palestinians

  

• Nora Berman Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No — but he tried with Obama

  

• Dan Perry For Trump and Netanyahu, statecraft is now synonymous with stagecraft

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Is bypassing politics how you bring peace to Israelis and Palestinians? New U.S. legislation says yes.

  Perhaps the greatest obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a simple one: Every prior attempt at peace ultimately hit the same obstacle, namely, Israelis and Palestinians would not budge because they did not believe they had a partner on the other side. It’s a problem that has only intensified since the last attempts at…

  By Avi Meyerstein Dec 23, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Letters

  Letter | Why won’t people take Reverend Warnock at his word on Israel?

  Dear Editor, My wife and I are children of concentration camp survivors. We are deeply disturbed that many Jews don’t take U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock at his word. His rhetoric is dangerous to Jewish interests. And Professor Deborah Lipstadt’s article in these pages, “For those who want to fight antisemitism, the choice…

  By Jay Starkman Dec 21, 2020 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Violent white supremacy is an international network. We can’t afford to ignore it.

  A judge in Halle, Germany sentenced Stephan Balliet to life in prison on Monday for the murders he committed and his attempted massacre on a synagogue on Yom Kippur last year. And yet, despite the sentence, the prosecutors failed to address the role that violent white supremacy had played in Balliet’s heinous crimes; they did…

  By Marilyn Mayo Dec 21, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Our continued rejection of interfaith families hurts everyone

  The Pew Report’s finding seven years ago, that 72% of non-Orthodox Jews were intermarrying, rocked the Jewish world. The report did not explain why interfaith couples are relatively less Jewishly engaged by traditional measures, but it did provide one clue: While 89% of intermarried Jews were proud to be Jewish, only 59% had a strong…

  By Edmund C. Case Dec 21, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A TikTok Hanukkah miracle

  How my 13-year-old's comment on a video about tiny ice cream led to a lot of learning

  By Jodi Rudoren Dec 18, 2020 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Memo to Belgium: A country that wants Jews doesn’t ban kosher meat

  Right before the end of Hanukkah, a holiday that celebrates the right to religious freedom, the European Court of Justice reminded us that this right is very much in peril. Earlier today, the Court upheld Belgium’s effective ban on ritual slaughter, ruling that it does not violate the European Union’s promise of religious freedom. It’s…

  By Eliezer Brand Dec 17, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  For those who want to fight antisemitism, the choice in Georgia is clear

  During this seemingly endless electoral season, I counted myself amongst those Jews who would have preferred to live in less “interesting times.” And never has that been truer than for those of us in Georgia, where we face yet another pivotal election: a runoff for both senatorial seats. Jews have found themselves in, or to…

  By Deborah E. Lipstadt Dec 17, 2020 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The JVP antisemitism panel was problematic for what wasn’t said

  “Tell everybody I don’t hate you. I absolutely love you,” Palestinian Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said last at Jewish Voices for Peace’s “Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice” webinar. JVP’s event featured Tlaib and Temple University Professor Mark Lamont Hill, both of whom have advocated for boycotting Israel in the past and both of whom have been accused…

  By Martin Saps Dec 16, 2020 | 3 min read