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
How The Jewish Left Learned To Stop Playing Defense And Fight Anti-Semitism
It is no surprise that the British Labour party would ask an anti-Zionist to help fight anti-Semitism. Labor’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, has long supported the Palestinian cause, and facing a long-running scandal over Jew hatred in Labor, it is natural that the British Left would turn to the Jewish Left. Indeed, Corbyn has long been…
-
Opinion On The Anniversary Of Rabin’s Assassination, I Fear Another One
A few days ago, Oren Hazan, a popular Knesset member of the Israel’s Likud party, posted a picture on Facebook depicting the director of the human rights organization B’Tselem, Hagai Elad, as a wanted criminal who must be brought to justice, dead or alive. The photo, published after Elad’s speech in the United Nations in…
-
Opinion What Chelsea Clinton Got Wrong About Louis Farrakhan
In a recent if typical tweet, Louis Farrakhan posted a video in which he used dehumanizing rhetoric to compare Jews to insects. I’m not an anti-Semite. I’m anti-Termite. pic.twitter.com/L5dPQcnVg4 — MINISTER FARRAKHAN (@LouisFarrakhan) October 16, 2018 Watching video recording broke my heart. Hearing these words directed at me and my community shook me to my…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Letters Lara Alqasem Was A Victory For Liberal Zionism
The Israeli Supreme Court was slammed by leading Israeli politicians for its recent ruling not to deport the young Lara Alqasem, an American student with Palestinian origins. Gilead Erdan, Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, who led the campaign to deport Alqasem, said that the court’s ruling constitutes a victory to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions…
-
Opinion Jared Kushner Shrugged Off Khashoggi’s Murder. It Shouldn’t Surprise You.
Almost everyone believes Mohammed bin Salman knew of, or directed, the gruesome murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But, The New York Times reports, bin Salman’s close ally Jared Kushner has been urging the president to stand by the Saudi Crown Prince. Jared Kushner reportedly argued that the…
-
Opinion Stop Pretending Modesty Can Prevent Sexual Assault
What if there were a simple set of rules that could put an end to the entire #MeToo crisis, effectively relegating sexual assault to the dark ages? It’s something a certain group of religious writers, whose belief systems range from Jewish Orthodoxy to Islam and Christianity, seem to believe. “Do we really imagine that true…
-
Opinion Lara Alqasem Could Have Been Me. Am I Next?
When I grocery shop in my adopted home city of Tel Aviv, I often check the labels to see where my food came from. If I see that it has been harvested or manufactured in a West Bank settlement, I won’t buy it. Many of my Israeli friends in liberal Tel Aviv do the same…
-
Opinion Orthodox Jews Are Proof Macron Is Wrong. Educated Women Have Lots Of Children.
“I always say: ‘Present me the woman who decided, being perfectly educated, to have seven, eight, or nine children.’” — Emmanuel Macron, President of France In a refreshing twist, the latest viral hashtag is an inspiring story about female empowerment and family. Following French President Emmanuel Macron’s foolish proclamation that educated women don’t have seven…
-
Opinion Stop Weaponizing Louis Farrakhan Against Black Jews
I owe a huge part of my writing success to Louis Farrakhan. One night in March, I wrote a profanity-laden tirade against the leader of the Nation of Islam, expressing frustration that despite his hateful rhetoric towards Jews, LGBTQ people, and women, there were still some in the black community who supported him or turned…
-
Opinion No, Yiddish Is Not A Corruption Of German
To most people, Yiddish and German are closely related. The languages share many root words and grammatical structures, and most speakers of one language can at least understand an individual speaking the other. To early German Christian scholars, like to many laypersons today, Yiddish was seen as a corrupted and lesser form of German. But…
-
Opinion Elizabeth Warren’s Stunt Shows Danger Of DNA Testing For Jews
DNA is not identity. We aren’t our genetic markers. That’s the message Native American writers and activists have been trying to convey to Massachusetts Senator and likely 2020 presidential contender Elizabeth Warren. But it’s a message Jewish people at this moment could stand to hear as well. Elizabeth Warren, a white woman, has in the…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s selection as JTS commencement speaker roils graduating class
- 2
Film & TV A new documentary challenges stereotypes about Orthodox Jewish women — and their wigs
- 3
Sports NBA coach Steve Kerr: ‘Israel sought revenge for Oct. 7 and now 72,000 Palestinians have been killed’
- 4
News Analysis: As Democrats unite behind Platner, Schumer’s future as leader faces tests
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Pulitzer Prize awarded to Palestinian photographer who captured ‘devastation and starvation in Gaza’
-
Fast Forward London police investigating fire at another synagogue, amid string of arsons
-
Theater Tony nominee Mark Rosenblatt’s ‘Giant’ journey began with Menachem Begin
-
Fast Forward A new Hebrew press in Berlin argues that Israel doesn’t own the language