Opinion

• Opinion

  How AIPAC proved Bernie right

  I had never been in the same room as a person who has defended genocide until Sunday afternoon at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference. Words like apartheid and genocide and ethnic cleansing are often thrown around in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much to the chagrin of Israeli Jews and their…

  By Batya Ungar-Sargon

  4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Jews love Israel but don’t vote on it, and other things everyone gets wrong

  This week, the non-partisan Jewish Electorate Institute released a poll squarely aimed at the politics of Jewish American voters. Its conclusions offer a roundhouse refutation to the alarmists of all political stripes who insist that American Jews are a community in need of a politics of extremism. The first major finding is that American Jews…

  By Ari Hoffman Feb 28, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The only difference between Bibi and Gantz Is Ayman Odeh

  Recently, Ayman Odeh, the leader of the mostly Arab Israeli political party the Joint List, sat down with and Benny Gantz, the leader of Kachol Lavan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s challenger for Israel’s premiership. A person with direct knowledge of the discussion who was only permitted to share it on the condition he…

  By Muhammad Shehada Feb 28, 2020 | 3 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

  Warren or Sanders? 3 questions for undecided progressives

  I recently joined the Democratic Party. As a progressive, I’d always stayed away from such membership, more comfortable defining myself as an “independent” – albeit not of the pareve, middle-of-the-road variety. Come Election Day, I’d support Democratic candidates without fail, but, with a few exceptions, that support was generally lukewarm. Most Democrats, I felt, were…

  By Ron Skolnik Feb 28, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How do Jews feel about Bernie’s Jewishness? It’s complicated.

  “We don’t want Sanders at AIPAC. We don’t want him in Israel.” When Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, made that fiery statement to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday, he sounded like he was trying to cast Vermont Senator and presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders out of the Jewish community…

  By Joel Swanson Feb 27, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  ‘Bernie Bro’ aggression is actually political engagement. And that’s a good thing.

  If you’ve read anything about Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, you’ve probably heard of the infamous “Bernie Bro.” The political media has made a veritable meme out of a faction of overly enthusiastic Sanders supporters, some of whom engage in rude behavior online towards other candidates and their supporters. While most…

  By Zaid Jilani Feb 27, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Bernie is right: Netanyahu is a racist. But he should stop saying it.

  During Tuesday night’s Democratic primary debate, Senator Bernie Sanders said Israel was led by “a reactionary racist,” a clear reference to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his long history of bigoted remarks and actions towards Arabs. For many of us long frustrated by the favorable double standard to which Israeli leaders are often held in…

  By Abe Silberstein Feb 27, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Bernie Sanders represents an opportunity for Jewish-Muslim unity

  I rarely go to the mosque, but the week that Trump was elected, I attended Friday prayers. My vision was blurry, and it had been a few days since I last slept, but it’s always in those moments, humbled and afraid, that I come crawling back to God. A group of local rabbis joined the…

  By Yasmine Flodin-Ali Feb 26, 2020 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Bravo, Bernie, for skipping AIPAC. It’s a platform for anti-Muslim bigotry

  There was a very Jewish moment at last night’s Democratic debate in South Carolina. Moderator Major Garrett asked Senator Bernie Sanders to defend his decision not to attend the AIPAC 2020 conference, and to reassure American Jews who might feel nervous or insulted. In response, Sanders reminded the audience of his Jewish identity and of…

  By Joel Swanson Feb 26, 2020 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Letter | Celebrating Israel is a vital part of Jewish education – and American experience

  The charge of dual loyalty has trailed the Jewish people for millennia, a curse that has been used to justify the persecution of Jews across continents and cultures. It is not rooted in reality, but the invocation of this lie has forced us to defend ourselves time and again. Today, some extremists employ this trope…

  By Jonathan A. Greenblatt Feb 25, 2020 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Letter | My Jewish day school teaches derech eretz, not dual loyalties

  Dear Editor, Last week, the Forward published an opinion piece accusing Jewish day schools of fostering a culture that advances loyalty to the State of Israel at the expense of the United States. In my experience at a Jewish day school, that claim could not be further from the truth. I am an 11th grader…

  By Blake Fox Feb 25, 2020 | 2 min read