Opinion

• Opinion

  I work with bereaved Israelis and Palestinians. Here’s what I’ve learned about toxic polarization.

  We had barely finished exhaling our collective sigh of election victory relief when it seemed like our shouts of joy turned into shock and disbelief that 70 million people could have voted for President Trump. How could they? Many voiced their certainty that those 70 million voters must lack values, humanity and decency. In a…

  By Shiri Ourian

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Trump/Bibi alliance is over. America went for Biden, but Israelis are moving right.

  Many of the U.S.’s foreign allies have publicly acknowledged President-Elect Biden. But the Israeli Prime Minister and his governing coalition have yet to use the term “President” in reference to Biden. While Benjamin Netanyahu did congratulate Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, his social media accounts continue to celebrate Trump and the recent agreements…

  By Noa Balf Nov 13, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  We made it through Trump era. But why didn’t Jews leave?

  Did they know it in the moment, or is it a story they told themselves later? It’s a question I ask myself when reading about the many heartbreaks in Jewish history. Did the Jews of Sefarad know their golden age was coming to an end? Did the generation of Jews born outside of the ghetto…

  By Alex Zeldin Nov 13, 2020 | 5 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  What should Joe Biden do? And: Your weekend reads

  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 to download and print a PDF of Your Weekend Reads. Another surreal week in America. We have a President-elect and a President-reject. The…

  By Jodi Rudoren Nov 13, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why aren’t Republicans angry at Trump for losing?

  Donald Trump refuses to accept that he has lost re-election. Whether it is more in defense of his personal ego or his public corruption, this refusal appears set to last right up until he leaves office on January 20, 2021. And whether from fear or conviction or simply from having been fired, the personnel of…

  By Benjamin Dueholm Nov 12, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  I’m a Black pastor in a multiracial church in North Carolina. Here’s what I know about unity.

  Is it me or does this election feel like Groundhog Day? If you grew up in a church like mine, it kind of feels like an extended Revival Service that you didn’t ask for but that the preacher swore he heard the Lord ask him to extend for one more night. And it doesn’t matter…

  By Derrick Hawkins Nov 12, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Stop saying Trump divided Jews. He revealed our diversity.

  It’s official: Donald Trump has divided Jews. At least, that’s what you might think if you’ve read the news at all recently. According to Haaretz, “Donald Trump Has Split the Jewish People, Perhaps Forever.” The Jerusalem Post agrees: “Israelis are from Venus, U.S. Jews are from Mars.” Not to be outdone, we were assured in…

  By Matthew Schultz Nov 11, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  France is forcing Muslims to choose between their country and their religion.

  This week, French President Emanuel Macron held a virtual meeting with other European leaders to talk about how to confront Islamist extremists who struck multiple European countries over the past month. “I also want to stress that we should never create or fuel discourse in our societies by singling out groups of peoples because of…

  By Zaid Jilani Nov 11, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Q & A | Black, deaf, and Jewish filmmaker Eli Steele is challenging how we view race

  Eli Steele’s great-grandfather on his father’s side was born into American slavery. His grandmother on his mother’s side escaped the Nazis, then went back and rescued her entire family. His father is Shelby Steele, the famous Black conservative and author of “The Content of our Character,” a book that got him cancelled back in the…

  By Batya Ungar-Sargon Nov 10, 2020 | 10 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Frustrating but indispensable, Saeb Erekat was like the peace process: heroic.

  On Tuesday we learned of the passing of Saeb Erekat, a chief Palestinian negotiator, who succumbed to complications due to Covid in a Jerusalem hospital. For 30 years, since the Madrid Peace Conference of 1991, Erekat was a cornerstone of the peace process, a main pillar of any efforts to end the conflict. To most…

  By Muhammad Shehada Nov 10, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Introducing Muslim Zionism

  We are a Jewish Zionist, an Arab Zionist and a Muslim Zionist. It is time to dispense with the idea that to be a proud Arab and Muslim one must be an anti-Zionist. For too long, anti-Zionism was pursued as an essential element of the correct Arab and Muslim identity. This has not brought the…

  By Einat Wilf, and Ibrahim Al Rashidi, and Maryam AlZaabi Nov 10, 2020 | 3 min read