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
Think All Orthodox Jews Are Zionists? Think Again.
Many non-Orthodox Jews assume that all Orthodox Jews must be fervent Zionists. Given the centrality of Israel in Jewish movements — at least until recently — the natural assumption is that the more religious you are, the more Zionist you must be. Surely if today’s Evangelical Christians are Zionists, the Orthodox must be as well….
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Opinion For Israelis, Zionism Is Patriotism. For Diaspora Jews, It’s White Privilege.
On October 2, an American student with a visa to enter Israel named Lara Alqasem was refused entry because of alleged past involvement with the movement to boycott Israel. She has since been detained by the Israeli authorities, who won’t let her enter Israel. When pressed, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said that if Alqasem…
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Letters We Alumni Of The Diller Teen Foundation Call On The Federation To Do Teshuva
We are writing as alumni of the Diller Teen Fellowship in the San Francisco Bay Area along with dozens of Diller alumni from across the US and Canada. Last Thursday, we were devastated to learn that the Helen Diller Family Foundation — founders and major funders of the Diller Teen Fellows program in which hundreds…
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Opinion Nikki Haley Could Be The First Republican To Win The Jewish Vote For President
Nikki Haley announced her resignation on Tuesday in the presence of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, arguably the two most prominent Jewish Republicans in the country. While coincidence is the likely explanation, the image of Jared and Ivanka in the Oval Office still highlighted an important constituency that Haley has done much to woo during…
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Opinion Israel Has Detained An American Student For A Week. But No One Cares, Because She’s Not Jewish.
When I was detained at Ben Gurion airport in August, Benjamin Netanyahu apologized. So why isn’t he apologizing to Lara Alqasem? After all, I was only detained for an hour; she’s been detained for a week. I was allowed into the country; she’s facing deportation. One answer is that while at the University of Florida,…
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Opinion Thank You, Ambassador Haley, For Standing Up For Jews
“I wear heels, but it is not a fashion statement,” U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said at the AIPAC Policy Conference last year. “It is because if I see something wrong, I’m going to kick ‘em every single time.” This is perhaps the most iconic statement made by, arguably, the most pro-Israel U.S….
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Opinion Don’t Be Fooled: Nikki Haley Is Just Like Trump
Nikki Haley’s abrupt departure from her position as US Ambassador to the UN quickly sparked hope in the beleaguered ranks of Never-Trump Republicans, eager for the former South Carolina governor to challenge President Trump in the 2020 Republican primaries. But though foreign policy conservatives want to see in Haley an alternative to the president’s erratic…
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Opinion Nikki Haley Was A Nightmare For Us Palestinians
Six months after President Trump took office, his newly-appointed ambassador to the UN and former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, concluded a tour around Israel and the occupied West Bank with a hopeful tweet, featuring Haley with UNRWA female refugee students. She had discussed their “dreams and hopes.” This morning we visited an UNRWA refugee…
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Opinion The Real Reason Orthodox Jews Love Nikki Haley
There’s a joke people are telling in Israel about Nikki Haley, President Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations who just announced she would be stepping down in January. The joke’s setting is Mea Shearim, one of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Nine men are seeking a tenth to complete the quorum necessary for prayers. Just as they…
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Opinion With Nikki Haley’s Resignation, We Israelis Lost A Hero
It felt like a blow. “Nikki Haley resigned” kept popping up in my messages. Similar to the texts we Israelis get when there is a terror attack, my heart sank. It’s surprising that an Israeli would feel this way about the US ambassador to the UN. Except Nikki Haley is far more than that to…
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Opinion How a Reporter’s Curiosity Broke Through a Shadowy Website’s Secrecy
Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! When Josh Nathan-Kazis, a staff writer at the Forward, first noticed the provocative and shadowy website in 2015, he put his journalist’s curiosity to work. The site was called Canary Mission, and on…
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