In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
Trump Aside, Are Jews A Nationality?
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that the Trump administration was signing an executive order defining Judaism as a nationality. The article set off an internet firestorm, with many Jews openly worrying that this was not meant to protect Jews, but to distinguish us from the American people. President Trump will sign an executive…
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Opinion President Trump: This Jewish College Student Thanks You
After another apparent anti-Semitic attack, this time at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City on Tuesday, a glimmer of hope shone through for the American-Jewish community. In the run up to the White House’s annual Hanukkah party on Wednesday, President Trump signed the Executive Order on Combatting anti-Semitism. The order reads: “It shall be the…
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Opinion The Silence Surrounding Violence Against Us Orthodox Jews Is Deafening
Yesterday was one of those days Jews are becoming more and more familiar with. It was a day we wish we could forget, but we know we will remember forever. With two murderers deliberately targeting a Jewish store in Jersey City, killing three innocent people, two of them Jews, the confidence we can have in…
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Opinion The Lesson Of Trump’s Executive Order That Wasn’t
Two things happened to Jewish Americans on Tuesday. Only one of them was real. A Jewish grocery store in Jersey City really was attacked in a murderous rampage. There really was a synagogue and yeshiva in the same building, with real children who sat huddled in terror for hours who were then evacuated lest they…
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Opinion I’m A College Student Battling Anti-Semitism. Trump Is Making It Worse.
As a college student who regularly encounters anti-Semitism on campus, you might think I’d be happy to see President Trump plan to sign an executive order to protect Jewish students, especially after a misreported rumor was cleared up about the executive order classifying Judaism as a nationality. You would be wrong. This executive order is…
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Opinion Trump’s Executive Order Shows Again That He Thinks American Jews Are Displaced Israelis
Over the past week, President Trump took two decisive actions related to American Jews. At first glance, one of these actions seems to be anti-Semitic, while the other appears to be supportive of American Jews. Yet taken together, both reinforce the same impression — that President Trump does not quite believe that American Jews are…
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Opinion Trump’s Executive Order Against College Campuses Is Bad For The Jews
On Tuesday, the New York Times revealed that the Trump Administration plans a new executive order that aims to crack down on college campus anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, penalizing universities for failing to protect Jewish students. You may feel as I do that college campuses have gotten increasingly — and inexcusably — anti-Semitic in recent years….
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Opinion Rep Eric Swalwell | We Must Hold Trump Accountable For Embracing Anti-Semitism
Hate is on the rise in America, oozing like poison into our national dialogue — and even into our government’s official business. It’s on all of us to call it out, and tone it down. FBI data shows hate crimes reached a 16-year high in 2018. Even California, which has some of the strongest hate…
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Opinion Labour Voters: There’s No Excuse.
“The Labour Party is no longer a safe space for Jewish people.” So reads the damning opening line of the Jewish Labour Movement’s thoroughly-depressing submission to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s investigation into Labour’s anti-Semitism crisis, made public just one week before British voters go to the polls on Thursday. The Jewish Labour Movement…
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Opinion I Am A Rohingya Refugee. Today, We Seek Justice
Today, Myanmar will at last have to answer for genocide — one of the worst crimes known to humankind — at the International Court of Justice. This is a crucial step toward making amends to the families of men, women and children who were raped, tortured, murdered or displaced. A victory at this prestigious court…
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Opinion Progressives Need To Face The Truth: Jeremy Corbyn’s Record On Anti-Semitism Is Bad.
When it comes to the furor surrounding British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn’s supposed anti-Semitism, three unsettling things are true. First, Corbyn is not the major party candidate most complicit in bigotry. That ugly distinction goes to Britain’s current prime minister, Boris Johnson. Second, the British Jewish establishment has largely given Johnson a pass, which…
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