Opinion

• Opinion

  Editorial | After months of silence, a scream

  Last April my daughter joined a “Day of Silence” to protest the discrimination LGBTQ students face in schools. It’s a national thing, organized at her middle school by the Gender-Sexuality Alliance whose meetings she goes to most Fridays. The kids wore special black T-shirts and tried not to talk all day. Then — and this…

  By Jodi Rudoren

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Memo to the NYT: Black lives aren’t up for debate

  Consider two articles that the venerable New York Times published in 1939, in the final months before the formal outbreak of World War II. In May 1939, the M.S. St. Louis set sail from Hamburg, Germany, for Havana, Cuba, carrying 937 passengers, nearly all of them Jewish refugees. When the Cuban government refused to admit…

  By Joel Swanson Jun 4, 2020 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Jews stand for debate- which means backing the NYT

  Jews believe in argument. Even Jews who have never looked at a page of Talmud know that debate is part of our DNA. Our greatest thinkers were our best arguers. Our most precious inheritance is that tradition of argument. This isn’t something to be hoarded. On the contrary, it is something that needs to be…

  By Ari Hoffman Jun 4, 2020 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Jewish nonprofits: Put ego aside and embrace the merger!

  Recently, the leader of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, termed the merging of parts of his organization with other Jewish denominations “a real possibility.” Last week, we learned that two iconic Reform temples in Brooklyn are considering a merger. The rest of the Jewish community should take notice. There are over 10,000…

  By Beth Sirull Jun 4, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m a Jewish conservative. We’re also furious about George Floyd’s murder.

  I’m a Jewish conservative. And I’m furious about George Floyd’s murder. Not just Floyd’s murder, either. Despite what people think about those of us who don’t identify as “progressive,” we recognize that George Floyd’s murder wasn’t an isolated incident but rather part of something much bigger that we really need to change. This was not…

  By Eli Steinberg Jun 3, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why do Jews recognize the racism of George Floyd’s murder but not Iyad Hallaq’s?

  On Saturday, when the U.S. was already engulfed in protests over the brutal murder of George Floyd, Iyad Hallaq, a 32-year-old Palestinian with special needs was shot and killed by Israeli border police in Jerusalem’s Wadi Joz neighborhood. The officer who shot him claimed he believed Hallaq was holding a gun. They chased him. Hallaq,…

  By Etan Nechin Jun 2, 2020 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Imagine it was your special needs son shot in the street

  Imagine that every morning, as you help your children children get ready for school, you worry whether or not they’ll make it home alive. For us Palestinians, there’s no need to imagine. When I was a child, my mother taught me two prayers to recite every time I stepped outside. One was a protective prayer…

  By Muhammad Shehada Jun 2, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Blaming Soros for protests, the right exposed its anti-Semitism – again.

  Over the past week, thousands of Americans have taken to the streets to protest the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who brutally kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for no less than eight minutes and 46 seconds until Floyd died. These protests, met with support from many corners of the…

  By Joel Swanson Jun 2, 2020 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The NYPD is policing Jewish mothers while the city burns

  As New York City burned and was gutted for a second night in a row, one couldn’t help but wonder, where are the NYPD? Must say I do not understand the NYPD strategy tonight. There’s a huge group of officers just standing around here on Broadway/51st while looting is out of control in the surrounding…

  By Bethany Mandel Jun 2, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why will this time be different than all other times?

  I will always remember the day my parents gave my brother “the talk.” Not the one about the birds and the bees. No, the one about how he, as a young black man, would be seen in a society marred by racism. It was the 90s and he was a pre-teen, excited to wear his…

  By Tema Smith Jun 1, 2020 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  What will YOU do to end systemic racism?

  Are you feeling sick? For months that’s been the question we have asked each other as COVID-19 raged and killed over 100,000 Americans. My Jewish family, which is mixed-race with two black members, has been grateful to answer that we are okay. Grateful to be healthy and employed. But after the events of this past…

  By Carly Pildis Jun 1, 2020 | 3 min read