In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
-
Opinion
Letter | Left-Wing Extremism Is Just As Dangerous As Right-Wing Extremism
Dear Editor, I disagree with Liam Hoare with regard to the assertions and to the conclusions in his piece about hate on the right and left. A quick internet search reveals that between 2002 and 2017, the number of American fatalities caused by right-wing extremists (106) was actually slightly lower than the number caused by…
-
Opinion Stop Calling Violent Settlers Bad Apples. They Are The Inevitable Outcome Of Occupation.
When video surfaced earlier this month of settlers throwing stones at Palestinians while Israeli soldiers looked on, I was not surprised. From 2013 to 2015, I was a sergeant in the operations room of Israel’s Civil Administration in the Palestinian Territories stationed in the Nablus region, so I know that the violent tactics of land-grabs…
-
Opinion Bernie Would Have Been My Zeyde’s Candidate. He’s My Children’s, Too.
I have no idea what my parents, both lifelong liberal Democrats, would have made of the current unwieldy crop of presidential candidates. But about my maternal grandfather, Max Blustein, I have no doubt. I’m certain my Zeyde, who died in 1969 when I was in college, would have been unwavering in support of Bernie Sanders,…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion What Democrats Need To Learn From Obama About Aid To Israel
Twice, President Barack Obama launched negotiations with Israel on a long-term Memorandum of Understanding regarding U.S. military assistance. Once was in March 2013 during his visit to Israel. Those talks progressed, but were later put on hold (by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request) until after the Congressional review of the Iran nuclear deal. The second…
-
Opinion The Real Reason The Squad Loves Bernie
In early October, Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign was on the ropes. The 78-year-old senator from Vermont experienced chest pain and was rushed to the hospital. Later, he would admit that doctors diagnosed him with a myocardial infarction, better known as a heart attack. It was just two weeks before the third Democratic Primary Debate. While…
-
Opinion Bernie Sanders Is The Only Presidential Candidate Who Truly Cares About Palestinian Lives
The 2019 J Street Conference, held last week in Washington, was the first time in recent memory that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was openly discussed and critically assessed in the mainstream American public sphere. Historically, presidential candidates on both sides of the political spectrum have been deaf to Palestinian grievances, blind to Israel’s injustices and defensive…
-
Opinion Israel’s Decision To Deport Human Rights Defender Will Further Alienate American Jews
Tuesday’s Israeli Supreme Court verdict upholding the deportation of Human Rights Watch researcher Omar Shakir will reverberate well beyond Israel/Palestine. It will further the chilling of peaceful political activity of Palestinians and their allies across the world, including in the United States. But it will also contribute to the growing mobilization of American Jews against…
-
Opinion This Week Proves It: Anti-Semitism On The Right Is The Only Real Threat To Jews
This week provided yet another illustration that despite the endless handwringing about anti-Semitism on the left, it is far-right extremism which constitutes the paramount threat to American Jewish life today. On Friday, Richard Holzer, a self-described skinhead and former KKK member, was arrested by federal authorities, accused of plotting to blow up a synagogue in…
-
Opinion The American Jewish Community Is Lurching Leftward
Another Election Day is upon us, which means that countless American Jews are heading to voting booths across the country — to vote for Democrats. It’s certainly not news that Jews are a politically liberal group with deep concerns about social justice. Hundreds of books, columns, polls, and surveys have firmly established that American Jews…
-
Opinion Letter | There’s A Sweet Side To Haredi Schools That’s Too Often Ignored
Dear Editor, While I don’t dispute the reports of physical abuse at Hassidic boys schools, as a parent whose children have attended similar institutions, I have a different story to tell. True, there were some oddballs, including the strange man whom my son called “the Admor of the Cats” who kept a bottle of cherry…
-
Opinion Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael’s Betrayal
The Reform Movement works in partnership with our members and institutions in North America, Israel, and the world to represent our Jewish values in Israel. Engaging actively with the non-profit Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael is one of the many ways we manifest our support. The historic National Institutions of the Zionist Movement, including the World Zionist…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Books In ‘Something We Said,’ Richard Pryor’s daughter finds words to discuss the unspeakable
- 2
Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
- 3
Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
- 4
Opinion Israeli and diaspora Jews live in different realities. The Israel Day parade proved it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Graham Platner, anti-Israel progressive, locks up Democratic Senate nomination in Maine
-
Opinion A new proposal to radically destabilize Israel
-
Fast Forward Milei praises ‘Judeo-Christian values’ at Chabad event as Argentina courts European Jews
-
Fast Forward France bans Smotrich as 6 countries impose new sanctions over Israeli settler violence