Opinion

• Opinion

  Have Your Say: Are Ashkenazi Jews White?

  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.

  By Forward Staff

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Brett Kavanaugh Push Supreme Court Further Out Of Step With America?

  Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s second pick for the U.S. Supreme Court, is smart enough, smooth enough, politically savvy enough and well-connected enough to make him difficult to stop in a nomination process that has been ruthlessly rigged by Senate Republicans since they stole it away from President Obama in 2016. Kavanaugh’s aw-shucks manner and photogenic…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 10, 2018 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Letter: The Simon Wiesenthal Center Did Speak Out Against Trump’s Family Separation Policy

  It is very unfortunate that four prominent individuals in Los Angeles wrote a blistering critique of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles,” entitled, Why Were Some LA Jewish Organizations Silent During Trump’s Immigration Crisis?, without including all of the facts. The authors chose to focus on selective statements issued…

  By Michele E. Alkin Jul 9, 2018 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Trump is backed into a corner on Iran. Get ready for him to start blaming Jews

  

• Dan Perry The Iran war looks like a failure. Now comes the Trump-Netanyahu spin game

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Passover’s 4 cups of meaning

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Does Ari Shavit Deserve Redemption?

  Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! A 4,000 word interview published last week in Haaretz with the disgraced journalist Ari Shavit occasioned two strong and popular responses on our website, reminding us again that the question of if, when…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 9, 2018 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I Told Jews To Think About What Being ‘White’ Means. Then The Racism Exploded.

  When I was five years old, my father was slammed against the roof of our car and searched by the police. The sky was inky black, illuminated only by the glow of red and blue lights, swirling around me as I sat in my booster seat. Even at that age, I held my breath in…

  By Nylah Burton Jul 9, 2018 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Do We Have A Moral Obligation To Break Bread With Trump Supporters?

  Since before the election, we’ve all heard periodic calls for dialogue between those who support Trump and his policies, and those who do not. The most recent wave, in anticipation of the July 4 holiday, included a tweet by author Stephen King instructing progressives and Trump voters to hug so that we can “all be…

  By Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg Jul 9, 2018 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Shocking New Definition Of Anti-Semitism Betrays Jews

  Leave it to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party to adopt a new definition of anti-Semitism that alienates not anti-Semites but British Jews. Last week, the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) rewrote their code of conduct concerning anti-Semitism. In doing so, Lee Harpin wrote that the party “weaken[ed] the guidelines around how and when criticism of Israel…

  By Liam Hoare Jul 9, 2018 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  I Don’t Believe Barry Freundel — Or Ari Shavit Either

  On Thursday, Haaretz published a 4,000 word interview with disgraced journalist and public speaker Ari Shavit. In 2016, Shavit was accused by four women of inappropriate sexual conduct and even sexual assault. The new interview is galling. It’s full of self-justifications and jargon meant to impress young women (its headline is “Ari Shavit: I Was…

  By Bethany Mandel Jul 6, 2018 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Ari Shavit, Go Away and Don’t Come Back

  It’s been eight months since dozens of accusations of sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein kicked off the #MeToo movement. As the dust begins to settle some men are coming forward, making clear that they feel it is just about time they were forgiven. Mario Batali, the chef who was accused of numerous counts of sexual…

  By Jenny Singer Jul 5, 2018 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Real Reason Netanyahu Gave Cover To Holocaust Deniers

  Six months ago Poland passed a controversial law intended to criminalize and silence discussions of Poland’s role in the Holocaust. Anyone who suggested that Poland as a nation had blood on its hands for the genocide of the Jews could be charged, arrested, and imprisoned for libel. Outraged, Holocaust survivors, scholars, public intellectuals, and governments…

  By Michael Barnett Jul 5, 2018 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Furious About Family Separation? You Should Also Care That Israel Is Razing Bedouin Villages

  American Jewish groups have, for the most part, condemned the Trump administration’s policy of separating parents from their children at the border. Good. So why can’t they condemn the Netanyahu administration’s policy of destroying villages like Khan al-Ahmar? The residents of Khan al-Ahmar, who are Bedouin Palestinians, hail originally from the Negev, inside Israel proper….

  By Peter Beinart Jul 5, 2018 | 4 min read