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
Denying Jews The Right To A State Is Anti-Semitic. So Why Is It Ok To Deny Palestinians?
It’s as if the concept of double standards was created for the Middle East conflict. One of the most glaring is the discussion surrounding self-determination for Palestinians and Israelis. If you declare that Israel has no right to exist, you’re rightfully labeled an anti-Semite. True, there are some who oppose that view, even within the…
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Opinion Ilhan Omar Should Lead The Fight Against Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
In passing a resolution rejecting anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry last week, our representatives on Capitol Hill have taken an important step towards addressing patterns of violence and bigotry that continue to fester in our society. As anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric increasingly poison domestic and foreign policy debates around the world, it’s critical for…
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Opinion Ilhan Omar Can Fix This. Here’s How.
The dust is settling from a recent brouhaha surrounding problematic remarks by freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota about money from pro-Israel lobbyists and foreign “allegiances.” The comments earned Omar censure from her fellow House Democrats for evoking anti-Semitic clichés. Omar also had many critics on the right, who took her words as an opportunity…
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Opinion Ilhan Omar’s Words Hurt. But We Can’t Let Our Pain Be Weaponized Against Her.
The first time the accusation of “Jewish money” hurt me, I was in ninth grade. I sat in the cafeteria as classmates — people I’d thought of as friends — taunted me by snarling the word “Jew,” and pelted me with pennies and nickels. After sitting through what felt like an eternity of this, the…
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Opinion Our Obsession With The Holocaust Made Us Blind To American Anti-Semitism
The historian Pamela Nadell made a fascinating point in an opinion piece in last week’s Washington Post: By focusing on the Holocaust, she argues, Americans have overlooked centuries of anti-Semitism on our own shores. “This focus on the Holocaust gets Americans off the hook. Anti-Semitism is something that happened over there, in Europe — an…
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Opinion You Know Who Wants Netanyahu To Win? Hamas.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted Hamas’s use to him. He defended allowing Qatari funds to be transferred into Gaza as a crucial part of a broader strategy to keep Hamas and the Palestinian Authority apart, according to a source in Monday’s Likud faction meeting. Netanyahu also said…
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Opinion How I Became My Father On Israel
His face turned beet red. In my 37-year relationship with my father, it was the only time I recall him getting very angry at me. What had I done? Criticized Israel publicly. My father, Victor, was a Holocaust survivor who lost his entire family to the Nazis, except his older brother. To him, Israel was…
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Opinion Jewish Leaders Denounce ‘Dual Loyalties’ – While Demanding Fealty To Israel From Jews
Every time a Jewish leader grandstands against the anti-Semitic canard of “dual loyalty,” I groan. Not because this trope is not real. For all of Jewish history, anti-Semites have justified persecution by claiming Jews are more loyal to each other than their home countries. And recent anti-Semitic attacks, like the one at the Tree of…
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Opinion The Democrats Are Making Me More Pro-Israel
This week, Bernie Sanders’ national deputy press secretary accused American Jews of dual loyalty. “This is a serious question: do you not think that the American government and American Jewish community has a dual allegiance to the state of Israel? I’m asking not to rule out the history of this issue, but in the context…
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Opinion The Hypocrisy Of ‘Microaggressions’ On The Left – And The Right
Ilhan Omar has recently been in the spotlight for comments that played into long-standing anti-Semitic tropes. In tweets and at a town hall, Omar expressed her belief that support for Israel is only a reflection of Jewish wealth (“It’s all about the Benjamins, baby”. As Michelle Goldberg aptly put it at the New York Times,…
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Opinion Who Gets To Define Anti-Semitism?
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a meeting on a local college campus for Students for Justice in Palestine. As it came out that I was both a Zionist but also sympathetic to the Palestinian plight, I received dozens of questions from students asking how I could hold these two “incompatible” ideas. I spent…
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