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
Want To Stop Hemorrhaging Diaspora Support, Israel? Here’s What We Need
It has become axiomatic that a widening schism exists in relations between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. Relations with American Jews (who constitute over 70% of Diaspora Jewry) are increasingly fraught. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems unperturbed. After all, who needs American Jews when (in his view) evangelical Christians are better friends to Israel? Against that…
-
Opinion Will Michael Cohen Unleash A Torrent Of Anti-Semitism By Turning Against Trump?
I can already hear the dog whistles. New York Lawyer. Shylock. Judas. Michael (((Cohen))). Whether we would have chosen him or not, the President’s former fixer, Michael Cohen, who pled guilty on Tuesday to evading personal income taxes, making an unlawful corporate campaign contribution and six other counts, is a Jew. This unfortunately makes him…
-
Opinion Black Jews Are Being Chased Out Of the Jewish Community By Racism. Here Are Their Stories.
If someone asked you to name the most urgent crisis facing the Jewish community, “anti-blackness” or “intra-community racism” might not be among your first thoughts. But it should be. That’s because anti-blackness in the Jewish community is pushing black Jews out. Countless black Jews have made the difficult decision to leave Judaism completely, no longer…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Letter: The ADL’s Record Calling Out Eastern European Anti-Semitism Is Unimpeachable
In his recent article in these pages entitled “Jeremy Corbyn And The Hypocrisy Of The American Jewish Leadership, Lev Golinkin argued that while American Jewish organizations like ADL are strong on condemning Jeremy Corbyn, we go easy on anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe. Golinkin is correct with the first half of his argument, that ADL’s “denunciations…
-
Opinion Has Michael Cohen Gone From Sleazy Stereotype To Flawed Hero?
Michael Cohen is the Trump-world version of the cinematic Norman. You remember Norman? Norman Oppenheimer? The sad, grasping, grating yet somehow endearing go-between in Joseph Cedar’s 2016 film by that name. Brilliantly played by the quintessentially goyish Richard Gere, he personified the ultimate Jewish fixer — too conniving to be a conventional nebbish, always on…
-
Opinion Jeremy Corbyn And The Hypocrisy Of The American Jewish Leadership
The Jewish institutional world is currently up in arms over anti-Semitism in Jeremy Corbyn’s Labor Party in Britain. The accusations have hounded Corbyn since he became party leader in 2015, but they reached a fever pitch in the wake of Labor’s refusal to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s internationally recognized definition of anti-Semitism. Condemnations…
-
Opinion Has The BDS Movement Transformed the Israeli-Palestinian Debate?
Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! Nathan Thrall, director of the Arab-Israeli Project at the International Crisis Group, last week published a lengthy, well-researched, disputable and extremely disturbing essay in the Guardian arguing that the movement to boycott, divest…
-
Opinion What The Left – And The Right – Get Wrong About The Settlements
In the last few years, many pro-Israel organizations and activists have adopted progressive language in an attempt to appeal to millennials and progressives — audiences which they they have lost due to years of promoting a right wing, conservative agenda. They’ve realized that promoting a “fun” Israel without addressing progressive issues is a failed approach,…
-
Letters Letter: Liberal Zionism ‘Aint Over
Dear Editor, Sandra Tamari’s recent article in these pages, “Peter Beinart’s Interrogation Signals The End Of Liberal Zionism,” was a well-written piece that I hated with the fire of one thousand suns. I didn’t really understand why the piece was hung on the recent Peter Beinart article about his experience being interrogated by Israel. Removing…
-
Opinion Why Jews Should Celebrate The First Muslim Congresswomen
These are dark, painful days in the fight for a more just America. At a time when so many historically marginalized groups are under attack from an Administration that seeks a whiter America at every opportunity, breakthroughs in congressional representation feel like a breath of fresh air. They feel like hope, like there is still…
-
Opinion 4 Things Israel Can Do To Heal The Divide With The Diaspora
A recent New York Times op-ed by Israel mega-donor Ronald S. Lauder excoriated Israel for undermining the value of pluralism so central to Diaspora Jewry. In so doing, argued Lauder, Israel is creating a deep rift with Diaspora Jews, making it difficult to overcome an already existing generational divide about Israel. “We are one people,…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Chabad on high alert after false Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens war claims
- 2
Opinion Marco Rubio invoked a medieval antisemitic trope in justifying war with Iran
- 3
Culture How an Amish Mennonite school in Arkansas went viral with a song by an Orthodox Jew
- 4
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
-
Opinion War with Iran puts the US-Israel alliance at grave risk
-
News Confronting a Khamenei vigil in NYC, Iranian protesters declare solidarity with Jews
-
Opinion During WWII, a heroic Jewish lawyer warned against the dangers of a dual state — is it coming true in Trump’s America?
-
News Ronnie Eldridge was one of NYC’s toughest political minds
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
