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
Jews Should Be Horrified That Trump Is Revoking Latino Citizenship
In 1919, the United States deported Emma Goldman, along with nearly 250 other foreign-born radicals. This move became possible with the passage of the 1918 Immigration Act, which permitted the deportation of “aliens” who expressed support for anarchism. Goldman, however, claimed U.S. citizenship, acquired through her brief marriage to Jacob Kershner. The government’s response? To…
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Opinion After 21 Years At Americans For Peace Now, I Am Enraged – And Hopeful.
After 21 years as President and CEO, I am retiring on Thursday from Americans for Peace Now with tangled emotions. I feel pride in the work APN does at home. I feel awe at our colleagues in Shalom Achshav (Peace Now, the Israeli peace movement) and their tireless work for a better future for Israel…
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Opinion Julia Salazar’s Lies Are An Insult To Converts Like Me
Since the revelation last week that Julia Salazar, a candidate for New York state senate, misrepresented her Jewish identity, a firestorm has engulfed Jewish social media. Fundamental questions of identity have come to the fore, and the question of who is a Jew at the center of the firestorm. As someone who has myself converted…
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Opinion Julia Salazar Is A Cautionary Tale: Question Israel And Your Jewishness Will Be Questioned
For most of my life, I vacillated between feeling either way too Jewish or not Jewish enough. In my Catholic suburb of Boston, I downplayed my Jewish identity. But in Jewish institutions like Brandeis and Hillel, I felt like an outsider. One moment in particular sticks out from all the rest. In 2007, I was…
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Opinion Think Julia Salazar Isn’t ‘Jewish Enough’? You’re Writing Off All Latin American Jews.
The Jewish world is in an uproar over Julia Salazar, a candidate for state senate. Salazar portrayed herself in multiple interviews as a Jew of Color, claims that a recent exposé called into doubt. The article split the Jewish community in two. Salazar’s detractors called her a Jewish Rachel Dolezal, a reference to the woman…
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Opinion Remembering Watergate, and Wondering Whether the Lessons Still Apply Today
Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! The tumult of political events last week, so many involving high profile American Jews, made me think again about Watergate. The scandal and cover-up that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation 44 years…
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Opinion Trump Treatment Of The Palestinians Isn’t Just Cruel. It’s Dangerous.
On a warm day in 2014 in al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, Mohammad Eliyan, who represents the central West Bank refugee camps at the PLO, was complaining to me about UNRWA. Every year for the past five, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees had been scaling back its services, he said. At that point,…
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Opinion How Trump Is Killing The Two State Solution – And Giving Hamas Power
The Israelis and Palestinians are reaching an inflection point. The Oslo Accords, which charted a path forward to a two-state solution, effectively collapsed at the end of John Kerry’s intensive negotiations during the Obama Administration. President Trump has made a series of significant decisions, starting with the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and…
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Opinion Why Jeremy Corbyn’s Dog Whistles Are As Dangerous As Actual Anti-Semitism
Sometimes anti-Semitism is obvious. When Adolf Hitler said, “Once I really am in power, my first and foremost task will be the annihilation of the Jews,” he didn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation. A plan to murder all Jewish people, a plan that was moreover actually implemented, is obviously anti-Semitic. Only anti-Semites would…
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Opinion Now Israel’s Gun Crazy, Too. Just Ask Sacha Baron Cohen.
The season finale of Sacha Baron Cohen’s viral and satirical documentary series “Who Is America” aired on Sunday night, ending a brilliant seven-episode season. The genius of “Who Is America” lies in Cohen’s ability to hold up a mirror to American society and culture, giving audiences a glimpse of the virulent and entrenched racism and…
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Opinion It’s Not About Whether Julia Salazar Is Jewish. It’s About Telling The Truth.
On Thursday afternoon, an explosive piece was published in Tablet Magazine arguing that Julia Salazar, the 27-year old democratic socialist candidate for State Senate in north Brooklyn’s 18th district, is not who she says she is. In interviews and profiles, including in The Intercept, Jacobin and The Forward, Salazar identified herself as an immigrant from…
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Fast Forward Chabad on high alert after false Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens war claims
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Opinion Marco Rubio invoked a medieval antisemitic trope in justifying war with Iran
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Culture How an Amish Mennonite school in Arkansas went viral with a song by an Orthodox Jew
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News Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s exiled crown prince, has a plan for his people’s future — if they’ll have him
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion War with Iran puts the US-Israel alliance at grave risk
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News Confronting a Khamenei vigil in NYC, Iranian protesters declare solidarity with Jews
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Opinion During WWII, a heroic Jewish lawyer warned against the dangers of a dual state — is it coming true in Trump’s America?
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News Ronnie Eldridge was one of NYC’s toughest political minds
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