Opinion

• Opinion

  The Dangers of Mainstreaming Otzma Yehudit

  In the ongoing fight against hate in the world, one of the true tests of success is whether or not one is ready to take on the extremists and bigots within one’s own community. It is, of course, vitally important. But sometimes it is a lot easier to call out purveyors of hate from other…

  By Ken Jacobson

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Debunking The Myth That Anti-Zionism Is Anti-Semitic

  It’s a bewildering and alarming time to be a Jew, both because anti-Semitism is rising and because so many politicians are responding to it not by protecting Jews but by victimizing Palestinians. On February 16, members of France’s Yellow Vest protest movement hurled anti-Semitic insults at the distinguished French Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut. On February…

  By Peter Beinart Feb 27, 2019 | 10 min read
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  Opinion

  The Key To Fighting Anti-Semitism? Children

  It’s no longer deniable that anti-Semitism is on the rise across the globe. According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents in the United States rose by a record 57% in 2017. Beyond the vivid and terrifying displays of anti-Jewish hate in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the 2018 Tree of Life…

  By Joshua M. Z. Stanton and Benjamin P. Marcus Feb 26, 2019 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry An abominable new Israeli law is a death warrant for democracy

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Passover’s 4 cups of meaning

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why Does No One Care That China Is Ethnically Cleansing Uighur Muslims?

  In 1948, the international community enshrined the promise of “Never Again” into international law when the United Nations General Assembly passed the Genocide Convention. Still reeling from the industrial scale mass murder that took place on both the European and Asian continents between 1936 and 1945, UN member states agreed to prevent and punish fellow…

  By CJ Werleman Feb 26, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Wake Up, American Jews: You’ve Enabled Israel’s Racism For Years.

  Much like Donald Trump’s election, the merger between the right-wing settler Jewish Home party and the Kahanist Otzma Yehudit — encouraged and facilitated by Prime Minister Netanyahu — marks less a break with the status quo than its unmasking. There was once a time when even Likud members felt obligated to object to the Kahanists’…

  By Joshua Leifer Feb 25, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Netanyahu Just Saved Liberal Zionism

  Last Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did the unthinkable and welcomed Jewish terrorists into his ruling coalition. Facing possible indictment for a series of corruption charges and a plausible threat to his premiership during a rapidly progressing election cycle, Netanyahu pressured the far right party Bayit Yehudi to join forces with Otzma Yehudit, the…

  By Batya Ungar-Sargon Feb 25, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  A Bernie Sanders Presidency Would Strike A Blow Against Anti-Semitism

  Senator Bernie Sanders, a frontrunner in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential domination, stands as an central figure on the American left. Despite being elected as an Independent, his influence on the Democratic Party since his 2016 presidential run has been transformative. Even Democratic “centrists” in the 2020 field — such as Kamala Harris…

  By Jacob Richardson Feb 25, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Stop Calling For Israel’s Destruction And We’ll Stop Demanding You Acknowledge It

  In a recent op-ed in these pages, Yousef Munayyer, the Executive Director of pro-BDS advocacy group the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, claimed that no state, including [Israel, has a “right to exist.” He argued that asking whether Israel has a right to exist is disingenuous because, for example, no one would ask Native Americans…

  By Nurit Baytch Feb 22, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Successful Moon Launch And Other Happy Jewish News Stories This Week

  It’s said that if you shoot for the moon, you’ll land among the stars. But in Israel’s case, if you shoot for the moon, as Israeli company SpaceIL did on Thursday night, you’ll land in the pages of history and take your country’s tech reputation that much further. We are almost comfortable saying it was…

  By Jenny Singer Feb 22, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  They Call Us Palestinians Terrorists. Then They Welcome Terrorists To The Knesset.

  This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crossed another unthinkable line. He’s long been a champion of anti-Palestinian and anti-peace rhetoric, and he’s made a career of blocking any and all efforts that might bring Palestinians some relief. But he managed to take things a step further this week when he partnered with the inheritors…

  By Muhammad Shehada Feb 22, 2019 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Left’s Hypocritical Rage Against ‘Jewish Power’

  Wednesday’s report that, at the urging of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Kahane-legacy Otzma party would be included in his coalition unleashed a furor on the center and the left both in Israel and in the U.S. While I may not be an Otzma voter, I find the left’s apoplectic reaction to the inclusion…

  By Yishai Fleisher Feb 21, 2019 | 3 min read