Opinion

• Opinion

  Bernie Sanders’ Alliance With Linda Sarsour Is An Insult To Jews

  I narrowed my eyes back in September when Bernie Sanders announced that activist Linda Sarsour would be his campaign surrogate. Hadn’t she said all manner of terrible things about Israel and the Jews who support it? “I would be so proud to win, but also to make history and elect the first Jewish American president…

  By Matthew Schultz

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why The Left Has Failed With Black Voters

  On Tuesday, California Senator Kamala Harris suspended her campaign for president. With Harris out of the race, all six of the candidates who have qualified for this month’s debate are white. It’s just the latest example of how in moving to the left, the Democratic Party has failed — and failed to attract — black…

  By Marcus Johnson Dec 3, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Campus Anti-Semitism ‘Epidemic’ Is Fake News

  Over the past week, two stories broke about anti-Semitism on university campuses that seemed to reinforce the prevailing narrative about such things — that there is an explosion of anti-Semitic action at North American institutions of higher learning. But these stories have a lot less in common than it seems, and their misrepresentation goes a…

  By Joel Swanson Dec 3, 2019 | 5 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• Nora Berman She’s a titan of Israeli architecture. Her story contains troubling lessons for her country

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  The Trump Administration Is Using Accusations Of Anti-Semitism To Silence Criticism Of Israel

  At the end of August, the Department of Education sent an official letter to the Duke-University of North Carolina Consortium for Middle East Studies threatening to withdraw federal funding that had only recently been renewed for four years. At stake was $235,000, an annual allocation of “Title VI” funds which the federal government has given…

  By Ian Lustick Nov 29, 2019 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Q&A With Asma Shuweikh, The Muslim Hero Who Defended A Jewish Family

  On Friday, Asma Shuweikh, a Muslim woman, was filmed defending a Jewish father and his young children from the anti-Semitic abuse they were receiving from another passenger on a London train. The video quickly went viral all over the world. Across social media, Shuweikh was heralded as a hero. We caught up with Shuweikh over…

  By Virginia Jeffries Nov 27, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Students Must Stop ‘Debating’ The Hate Against Them And Start Fighting It

  In retrospect, the pattern of antagonism towards Jews and Israel that became visible at Columbia University in the early 2000s and was documented in the film Columbia Unbecoming wasn’t the worst expression of hostility; it was merely the first one to attract attention to an essential truth: On college campuses, Israelis and Jews who support…

  By Ari Hoffman and Johnny Harounoff Nov 26, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Can Britain’s Chief Rabbi Convince Voters Not To Support Anti-Semitic Labour?

  Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis op-ed, published in the Times of London on Monday, reads as if it were written by a man who didn’t want to write the piece but believed he had no choice. “Convention dictates that the Chief Rabbi stays well away from party politics,” Mirvis writes, but “challenging racism” — specifically,…

  By Liam Hoare Nov 26, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel Is Finally Fed Up With Bibi, The Perpetual Victim

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to define the indictments handed down against him last week. “Tonight we are witnessing an attempted coup,” he said soon after the announcement that he would be indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu’s supporters heard him loud and clear; a demonstration is planned…

  By Alon Pinkas Nov 25, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m A Black Jewish Convert. I’ve Felt Excluded In Every Synagogue I’ve Ever Been To

  My spiritual journey was a long and circuitous one. It led me to Judaism and the realization that I wanted to convert. Sadly, my conversion to Judaism and the process of finding myself spiritually has come with the deeply saddening experience of feeling excluded in every synagogue I have ever attended — due to the…

  By Ananias Edwards III Nov 25, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Our Orthodox Family Was Attacked On A Train. A Brave Muslim Woman Intervened.

  The author of this piece was filmed while he and his children were attacked on a train in London. The Forward normally identifies all of our op-ed writers, but the father expressed a fear of retaliation for speaking out, and has asked to remain anonymous. We have honored his request. To many of you, the…

  By Anonymous Nov 25, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Two Jews Running For President, Two Models Of Jewish American Life

  Michael Bloomberg’s official entry into the crowded contest for the Democratic nomination for president means, among other things, that we have two serious contenders who are Jewish, a first in American history: Mayor Bloomberg and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. And though they are practically the same age and share a common history, they are two…

  By Joel Swanson Nov 25, 2019 | 4 min read