Opinion

• Opinion

  As Israel Moves Farther To The Right, Women Are Paying The Price

  The latest Pew Report on religious freedom showing that Israel is practically on par with Iran on this issue should not come as much of a surprise. Those of us who have been tracking religious freedom in Israel have observed that not only are incidents of religious intolerance and oppression on the rise, but they…

  By Elana Sztokman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Interfaith Families Are An Essential Part Of Our Community. Stop Excluding Them

  Last week, it was widely reported that Israel’s new minister of education likened Jewish intermarriage to the Holocaust. Like many, I felt gut-punched when I read his hateful words. Once again, interfaith families are being used as a proxy and scapegoat for disengagement with Jewish life and Israel. Once again, we hear a Jewish leader…

  By Jodi Bromberg Jul 17, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  J Street’s Birthright Replacement Trip To Israel Killed My Zionism

  I am one of the lucky few young Jews who got to attend J Street’s launched a inaugural trip to Israel, called “Let Our People Know.” Flying into Tel Aviv’s sweltering heat on the first of July, I entered Israel an ardent Zionist — aware of the innumerable issues Palestinians face, yet convinced of the…

  By Jesse Kireyev Jul 17, 2019 | 4 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 How the Oct. 7 aftermath splintered the New York Dyke March

  

• 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

  Trump’s Racist Tweets Aren’t Just Racist. They Are Anti-Semitic.

  On Sunday night, President Donald Trump defended his racist tweets aimed at four progressive Congresswomen of color by claiming they hate Israel. So sad to see the Democrats sticking up for people who speak so badly of our Country and who, in addition, hate Israel with a true and unbridled passion. Whenever confronted, they call…

  By Oren Jacobson Jul 17, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Conversion Therapy Is Awful. But So Is Treating Being Gay As An Incurable Disease.

  Is a person’s sexual orientation immutable, predetermined, biological, and unchangeable? Or is it suppressible, environmental, sociological, and fluid? Today’s Orthodox Jews are of two minds on the issue. If you ask Netanyahu’s Education Minister Rafi Peretz, he will tell you that the latter is the case. He will say that Conversion Therapy works, and that…

  By Matthew Schultz Jul 17, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  AOC’s ‘Squad’ Represents Me As An American Jew – More Than Any Republican

  In the midst of President Trump’s racist tweetstorm directed at Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib, he decided to throw in Israel. The Democrat Congresswomen have been spewing some of the most vile, hateful, and disgusting things ever said by a politician in the House or Senate, & yet they get…

  By Shoshana Hershkowitz Jul 16, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I’m An Autistic Teen. Here’s How The Jewish Community Can Do More To Support People Like Me

  Judaism is a revolutionary and redemptive religion centered around justice and human dignity. That means dignity for every human. As a proudly Jewish autistic woman, I have been blessed to meet and form relationships with countless Jews who live up to these values by respecting all humans, including disabled and neurodivergent people — people whose…

  By Eliana Sisman Jul 16, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Trump Is Using Israel To Shield His Racism

  When someone uses racist and incendiary language to accuse American Jews of undermining the U.S. and being foreign implants in service of Israel, we waste no time in condemning that language as anti-Semitic. But what do we do when someone uses racist and incendiary language to accuse other Americans of undermining the U.S. and being…

  By Michael Koplow Jul 15, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We Palestinians Condemned A Leader’s Anti-Semitism. Will It Matter?

  Last Friday, the controversial Hamas leader Fathi Hammad made some particularly vile comments during the weekly Gazan Return March protests. In the context of calling on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, Hammad promised, in the most extreme terms, to pressure Israel with all possible means. He then called on all Palestinians to “slaughter…

  By Muhammad Shehada Jul 15, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Trump Has Resurrected “Go Back To Africa” And It’s Uglier Than Ever

  Resorting to fresh new lows, President Trump threw a remix on what is arguably the angry white lynch mob’s greatest racist hit: “go back to Africa.” He didn’t say that, verbatim. But in a burst of callous tweet aimed at Congress’ only Somalia-born Member – “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally…

  By Charles D. Ellison Jul 15, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Caving To Trump On Racist Tweets, American Jewish Institutions Lost All Moral Credibility

  Donald Trump’s vulgar racism is not incidental to his political character. It’s not a latent undercurrent revealed in some unguarded moment, but rather the force through which his political career was launched and continues to perpetuate his hold over the Republican Party. This has been obvious for quite some time, indeed since he announced his…

  By Abe Silberstein Jul 15, 2019 | 4 min read