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
We Palestinians Are Caught Between A Government That Tortures Us – And Israel
My first time visiting a Hamas operated police station prison was unforgettable. A rusty blue-colored gate led to a narrow corridor that bifurcated into two depressing, colorless rooms. Inside, tens of people were sitting in the corners of each room on a cold floor or a few rotting mattresses. It was the middle of winter,…
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Opinion How Ivanka Trump And Don Junior Weaponize Class — In Opposite Ways
Donald’s Trump’s money has been the subject of frequent discussion. Less often discussed is the question of class in relation to the President, or his family. But the class dynamics at work in the Trump clan — specifically, the way class is performed by the Trumps — provides a secret window into an important and…
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Opinion Israel Brands Us On The Left As ‘Traitors’ – Like The Palestinians
Last week, Hagai El-Ad, the director of Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, had the distinction of being called a “collaborator,” an “embarrassment” and a “liar” — by his own government. This may sound shocking. But it’s actually symptomatic of how politically isolated we are on the Israeli left. This kind of incitement to violence and…
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Letters I Tried To Explain Anti-Semitism – And Was Accused Of Comparing Zionists To Nazis
A few weeks ago I was contacted via a friend by the chair of Dulwich and West Norwood Constituency Labour Party, which represents the London Borough adjacent to the one in which I live. The individual asked me if I would run a training session for them on anti-Semitism. Aside from my extensive involvement in…
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Opinion The Left Is Redefining Foreign Policy. What Does It Mean For Israel?
The youngest cohort of voters is pushing the Democratic Party left, inspiring mainstream political candidates to embrace policies once regarded as radical, including Medicare For All, abolishing ICE, and a $15 minimum wage. But the conversation about what the emerging left’s foreign policy should be is only just beginning. Bernie Sanders gave a speech earlier…
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Letters Wearing Tefillin Is Serious — And Only Those Properly Prepared Should Don Them
There is nothing more admirable in this world than the desire to get close to God. It is an innate part of every soul to want to return to the spiritual bliss found in the Divine Presence. Luckily, that Presence also wants to draw us close. That’s why Hashem bestowed on humanity both the Written…
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Opinion Jews Must Support The Trans Community — Our Lives Depend On It
The Facebook messages usually start with a shy “Hi, Rabbi Becky,” though sometimes it is more direct: “Can I ask you a question?” They almost always come from the transgender and gender-nonconforming young people I know through my work with Keshet’s LGBTQ and Ally Teen Shabbatonim. On any day, I am balancing conversations about coming…
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Opinion Killing Peace With A Thousand Cuts
The Trump administration is wielding a huge set of scissors and cutting its way through funding that Congress has earmarked for Palestinians. First, it was $200 million in bilateral aid, then it was funding for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, and hospitals in East Jerusalem. You can argue all you want about whether…
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Opinion Why Does The Left Give Louis Farrakhan A Pass?
It has been a month of purging on Twitter. Accounts of well-known conservatives, whose rhetoric has been deemed unacceptable, were shut down with no notice or explanation. GayPatriot, RightWingNews, and Gavin McInnes all were disappeared. Dd they all tweet something beyond the pale? It’s possible. But no one could point to exactly what. The email…
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Opinion The Anti-Trans Nuremberg Laws Are Upon Us
When I came out in 1990 as a fifteen-year-old queer (my gender-nonconforming nature required no announcement) and promptly started being public about it, my father sat me down for a talk. My father, who attended a Hillel weekend in college that was surrounded by jeering anti-Semites from which he had to be snuck out a…
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Opinion Israel Has Chosen Settlements Over Security
Since its 2005 disengagement of forces from the Gaza Strip, Israel has been engaged in recurring hostilities and five medium-to-large scale military operations against the Hamas regime and other militant groups in Gaza. This year has seen a new form of warfare from Gaza: incendiary kites and balloons have caused thousands of fires, which burned…
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Fast Forward Jewish groups defend European media monitors banned for what State Dept. calls ‘censorship’
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Yiddish יהודה גור-אריה און שירי שפּירא געווינען רובינליכט־פּריז פֿאַר ליטעראַטורYehuda Gur-Arye and Shiri Shapira win Rubinlicht Prize for Literature
די רובינליכט־פֿונדאַציע טיילט צו יערלעכע פּרעמיעס פֿאַר ליטעראַרישער און קולטורעלער טעטיקייט אויף ייִדיש און לטובֿת ייִדיש.
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Yiddish אַ בריוועלע דער מאַמען (אַ דערציילונג) A letter to my mother (story)
בעת אַ ייִדישער סאָלדאַט ליגט אין אַ סאָוועטישן מיליטערישן שפּיטאָל פֿאַרמעסט זיך זײַן מאַמע קעגן דעם ייִדישן הויפּט־דאָקטער
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