Opinion

• Opinion

  How wins for BDS can be wins for American Jews

  The results of two Democratic primaries yesterday spell out an important message, not just for American politics but for American Jews. The victories of Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Black Lives Matter activist Cori Bush of Missouri, both of whom have voiced support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israel, will force…

  By Joel Swanson

  6 min read
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  Opinion

  Stop calling anti-Zionism anti-Semitic. It’s morally repugnant in its own way.

  Defining anti-Zionism should be easy. It is, as the name would suggest, opposition to Zionism. And since we all know what Zionism is, anti-Zionism should in theory be considerably simpler to define than, say, anti-Semitism, since there is no such thing as “semitism” which the anti-Semite opposes. Zionism, on the other hand, has an easily…

  By Shany Mor Aug 4, 2020 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  How Jewish Americans can help stop China’s genocide of Uighur Muslims

  It is a well-documented fact that China is engaged in cultural and physical genocide against the Uighurs, a Muslim group who once constituted a majority in the province of Xinjiang. China is attempting to erase Uighur culture by shuttering mosques, banning the Uighur language in schools, and holding more than one-million Uighurs in “re-education” camps…

  By Coby Goldberg Aug 4, 2020 | 3 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 Want to understand what’s wrong with the ‘pro-Palestine’ movement? This Palestinian can help

  

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

  

• Dan Perry Trump wants to control the Israeli judiciary. Uh, good luck

  

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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  My fellow Orthodox Jews: Start fighting for the Uyghurs

  The Chinese concentration camps for Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities should strike fear into Jew's hearts

  Aug 3, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  My Dani Dayan problem

  Dani Dayan has been making the virtual rounds the past few weeks as part of an elaborate goodbye tour. After four years of service as Israel’s consul general to New York, it is clear Ambassador Dayan will be dearly missed by the mostly liberal Jewish leadership in the tristate area. It was not supposed to…

  By Abe Silberstein Aug 3, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Peace – like persuasion – depends upon encountering the other

  This article is part of a new series called “On Persuasion.” We asked thought leaders to consider what persuasion means to them. What works in terms of persuading people? Is it moot in 2020? What is the Jewish value of persuasion? Should we be opening our minds to other points of view, or closing them…

  By John Lyndon Aug 3, 2020 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Why does the Democratic Party – like American Jewish institutions – refuse to condemn the occupation?

  This week, the Democratic party rejected adding the word “occupation” to its official party platform on Israel. Many seemed to consider this term a political statement, rather than what it is — a neutral description of a category in international law, which defines occupied territory as that “placed under the authority of the hostile army.”…

  By Daniel Sokatch and Jill Jacobs Jul 31, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a young American Jew and proud Zionist. Seth Rogen doesn’t speak for me.

  I was raised in a Zionist household. I went to a Jewish summer camp, I attended a synagogue that organized many trips to Israel, and I was close friends with Israelis all throughout my childhood. From day one, Israel was a central part of my Judaism. When I went to college and became active in…

  By Blake Flayton Jul 30, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  We Jews know what happens in concentration camps. We cannot be silent about China’s abuses.

  As Jews and Americans, we need to stand up to China’s efforts to explain away the true nature of its actions

  By Sharon Nazarian Jul 30, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The real lesson of Seth Rogen? If you want your kids to love Israel, tell the truth.

  “I was fed a huge amount of lies about Israel my entire life,” Seth Rogen said in his now infamous interview with podcaster Marc Maron. These words hit me, a Jewish history teacher, like a ton of bricks, far more than any of the other offensive or misinformed comments he made elsewhere in the podcast….

  By Natasha Skoryk Jul 30, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m Black and Jewish. I can’t let a social struggle define me.

  At 45-years old, I am still learning not to let other people define me. As the son of an African American father and a white Jewish mother, I struggled growing up with feeling like an outsider: not Black enough to be embraced by the Black kids, not white enough to stop the racism leveled my…

  By Xhosa Frazier Jul 30, 2020 | 5 min read