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
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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Opinion Can BDS Target The Occupation Without Being Anti-Israel? The Case Of Ireland
Last Wednesday, Ireland’s Senate approved a bill that will make it illegal to purchase products and services from Israeli settlements if it’s signed into law by President Michael Higgins. The vote was immediately declared a huge success for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement by the left, and an anti-Semitic travesty by the right. This…
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Opinion The Jewish Case Against Brett Kavanaugh
Trump’s presidency has lived up to his campaign rhetoric by implementing a racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim agenda. His disgraceful policy of separating immigrant families is just his most recent practice that echoes the worst moments of American history and actions of foreign dictators. In theory, Congress should be serving as a check on any would-be…
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Letters All Nationalism Is Racist
In a recent piece in these pages, Batya Ungar-Sargon argued that there’s a liberal case to be made for nationalism. At turns provocative and frustrating, the crux of her argument lies in this quote: “It’s the fundamental irony of the left today that in our rush to eschew the racism we find in so many…
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Opinion No, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Is Not Bad For The Jews. But 9 GOP Candidates Are
Ever since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise win over 10-term Rep. Joe Crowley in a congressional primary in New York, there’s been a steady drumbeat of protest from the Republican Jewish Coalition. Unlike many other Republicans, who oppose Ocasio-Cortez’s avowedly socialist views, the RJC has since the day she won tried to smear her as bad for…
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Opinion Criticizing Israel Is The Most Zionist Thing You Can Do
The 9th of Av, on which observant Jews commemorate the destruction of the Second Temple, has never been the most popular Zionist holiday. The ingathering of the exiles and the return of Jewish political sovereignty obviated, for many Zionists, any need to mourn the Temple. Some thought the day should be left to fall into…
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Opinion If You’re Coming To Israel As A ‘Protest Tourist’, Just Stay Home.
The first time I heard the word “demo” was in 2010. It was outside Mango, a fashion boutique in the upscale Mamilla shopping center in Jerusalem. I was waiting for a Palestinian friend to leave work, and three students with American accents were chatting about going to “this weekend’s demo.” “Demo” did not mean demolition,…
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Opinion Think Ashkenazi Jews Are White? Ask An Anti-Semite.
I was eight years old when I first experienced anti-Semitism. I was at Disney World with my family in the gift shop. I asked the sales clerk how much something cost, and then I tried to bargain with her. She immediately responded, as if on instinct, “well it looks like we have a little Jew…
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Opinion Kavanaugh Will Stand For Religious Freedom — And That’s Good For The Jews
When Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court, many immediately predicted the worst. NPR’s Nina Totenberg, channeling R.E.M., proclaimed it “the end of the world as we know it.” After President Trump nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Kennedy, Ms. Totenberg admitted that the nominee was “incredibly charming” “enormously skilled” and…
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Opinion Mahmoud Khalil’s reassurances are bad for Jews but even worse for Palestinians
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Film & TV Jonah Hill’s cancel culture dramedy makes an antisemitism exception — all about Kanye
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