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
Mark Zuckerberg Falls For Nazi B.S.
Mark Zuckerberg announced this week that he would not remove Holocaust deniers from Facebook, because he did not think they were deliberately lying. In an interview with Recode, Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, raised the issue of Holocaust denial himself as an example of speech Facebook would allow on its platform. “I find [Holocaust denial] deeply…
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Opinion I’m A Settler Who Defends The Birthright Walkouts
Twice this summer, a number of students have filmed themselves walking off their Birthright trips. The much debated walkouts are part of a campaign called “Not Just A Free Trip” organized by the American Jewish activist group IfNotNow. But while many believe that IfNotNow’s left-wing walkouts of Birthright trips may be nothing more than a…
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Opinion The Real Reason People Are Upset About Birthright Walkouts
The Jewish world is in an uproar over what are being called “Birthright walkouts”. Twice this summer, a number of students have publicly announced that they would be leaving their Birthright trips midway to learn more about the plight of the Palestinians. Filming themselves, they then abandoned the trip. Both times, the resulting brouhaha dominated…
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Opinion Why These Orthodox Jews Are Fighting For Muslim Rights
An intriguing alliance, ad hoc but no less notable for the fact, took place in Israel’s Knesset recently. Two Haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, came to the defense of the Joint List of Arab parties to block a bill that would ban religious institutions from using loudspeakers. The legislation was clearly aimed at…
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Opinion Zionism Is Not Racist. Israel’s Nation-State Bill Shouldn’t Be Either.
The nation-state bill that the Knesset has been debating for the past week became law this week. Since its inception, it’s left a non-stop controversy in its wake. From the noxious clause that would have enshrined state-sanctioned discrimination in one of Israel’s Basic Laws – thankfully dropped after a wave of protest both in Israel…
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Opinion Playing Politics With Birthright? That’s Like Stealing A Free Trip To Israel.
Are Jewish 20-somethings entitled to a free trip to Israel? For decades, the donors behind Birthright Israel have gifted thousands of young Jews from around the world with 10-day immersive experiences in the Holy Land. The heritage and culture trips sometimes center around a particular theme, like Israeli food, Russian culture, or Israel’s LGBTQ commuity….
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Opinion Walking Out On Birthright Was The Right Thing To Do
Last week, five participants of Birthright walked out on the program and straight onto a tour of the segregated city of Hebron with IDF veterans from Breaking the Silence, where they saw what Birthright desperately tried to hide. They saw the checkpoints, the streets Palestinians aren’t allowed to walk on and the caged windows that…
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Opinion Israel’s ‘Nation State’ Bill Isn’t Just Racist. It’s A Slap In The Face To Diaspora Jews.
A bill passing through Israel’s Knesset taking aim at the country’s Arab minority just became law. The bill’s full name is “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People” though it’s more commonly referred to as the “Nation-State bill.” And it sets out to consolidate the Jewishness of the country at the expense…
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Opinion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Has A Big Israel Problem – On The Left And The Right
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise win over 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley in a congressional primary in New York provoked a predictable response from the right. It wasn’t just her avowedly socialist views. Since the day of her victory, the Republican Jewish Coalition has been trying to smear the candidate as bad for the Jews, thanks to a…
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Opinion What Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Really Thinks About Israel
On Friday night, PBS aired an interview with the upstart socialist candidate for New York’s 14th congressional district Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The interview was half an hour long, and touched on many of the candidate’s policy issues like free college and free healthcare. But to Monday morning Twitter, it was Ocasio-Cortez’s comments on Israel that were…
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Opinion Have Your Say: Is It Ok To Walk Off Of A Birthright Trip?
Have Your Say is your chance to tell us what you think. Comment below or on Facebook and let us know what you think about the question posed in the headline. In recent weeks, Birthright participants affiliated with both IfNotNow and Peace Now have staged walkouts from their trips, in protest of Birthright’s policy of…
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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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Opinion The real reason for the US war with Iran may have nothing to do with Israel
In Case You Missed It
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Yiddish ייִדיש האָט אַ לאַנגע רשימה ווערטער פֿאַר „בית־עולם“ Yiddish has a long list of words for ‘cemetery‘
אויף לשון־קודש קען „עולם“ באַטײַטן „אייביקייט“. הייסט אַ בית־עולם דאָס אָרט, וווּ מע בלײַבט אויף אייביק.
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Fast Forward IHOP denies inviting Florida GOP candidate who said ‘Americans shouldn’t die for Israel’
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Yiddish וואָס ייִדישע אימיגראַנטן האָבן אַנטדעקט וועגן ליבעWhat immigrant Jews learned about love
אין דער גאָלדענער מדינה האָבן די שידוך־מינהגים פֿון דער אַלטער היים אויסגעזען מאָדנע, און אַפֿילו אַנטי־דעמאָקראַטיש
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News ‘Auschwitz’ is a hit Iranian protest anthem, part of a music genre rebelling against official antisemitism
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