Opinion

• Opinion

  Explainer: Is Israel A Democracy?

  Should we be concerned about the state of Israeli democracy? Recent worrying events have included the passage of a Nation-State, as well as prime ministerial efforts to corral the press and ongoing campaigns to limit judicial independence. But are these signs that democracy and civil liberties in the Jewish proposed? What Is a Democracy? To…

  By Alan Dowty

  5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Real Reason People Compare Israel To The Nazis | Excerpt

  The following is an excerpt from Yoram Hazony’s new book, “The Virtue of Nationalism.” I have always been troubled by the prospect that a nation such as Britain, which has so often been a light to others in politics, philosophy, and science, should some day soon step down from the stage of world history forever….

  By Yoram Hazony Sep 4, 2018 | 8 min read
• 
  Opinion

  So-Called ‘Jews Of No Religion’ Are The Impetus For A Jewish Revolution

  It wasn’t just the growth of intermarriage, you know. Or the dramatically shrinking Conservative movement. Or the fact that non-Orthodox Jews were having fewer and fewer children. The real dismaying headline of the Pew Research Center’s Portrait of Jewish Americans,, which this October will have been released five years ago, was the finding that young…

  By Jane Eisner Sep 3, 2018 | 6 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz Class assignment: Get to know your murdered Jewish neighbors

  

• Rob Eshman Liberal Zionists are under attack. A new book proves their work has never been more important

  

• Dan Perry How Israel became a country where teenagers murder each other in cold blood

  

• Emily Tamkin American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt

  

• Jay Michaelson Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here’s what Jewish organizations should do about it. 

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  I Got Conned By An Alt-Right Troll

  My super-secret CIA contact had been working me for a year, feeding me supposedly “inside information,” before I began to suspect that he might not be totally on the level. I first “met” the magical “Mister Smith” in July of 2017. I was relatively new to the extremely online lifestyle which I have now (for…

  By Molly Jong-Fast Aug 31, 2018 | 6 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Julia Salazar’s Defenders Reveal The Limits Of Identity Politics

  I have gotten used to having people ask me where I am from. It’s a natural if micro-aggressive reaction to my accent, my olive-brown skin, and the surprising spelling of my first name. If moved to respond, I explain that I am a Latina immigrant (I was born in Latin America) and Sephardi (confirmed by…

  By Mijal Bitton Aug 31, 2018 | 4 min read
• 
  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…

  By Jill Jacobs Aug 30, 2018 | 3 min read
• 
  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…

  By Debra Delee Aug 29, 2018 | 3 min read
• 
  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…

  By Brad Keil Aug 29, 2018 | 4 min read
• 
  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…

  By Liana Petruzzi Aug 29, 2018 | 4 min read
• 
  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…

  By Ilan Stavans Aug 28, 2018 | 4 min read
• 
  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…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 28, 2018 | 4 min read