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
Why Israel Is Right To Expel Human Rights Watch’s Omar Shakir
When Israeli authorities revoked the work permit of Human Rights Watch Israel/Palestine director Omar Shakir on May 7 and ordered him to leave the country within two weeks, they presumably anticipated the furious backlash that promptly ensued. After all, already last year, Israel denied Shakir a work permit, only to backtrack quickly in the face…
-
Opinion My Zionism Is Fading, One Expulsion At A Time
I feel like I am standing on a melting ice floe. For decades, I have loved Israel. I want it to thrive as a shining, rights-abiding country. And yet, increasingly, I find I can envision a day when I (or maybe my children) will not want to go there anymore. My Jewish life, which began…
-
Opinion Israel May Love Trump’s Policies. But They’re A Challenge To American — And Jewish — Values
In the span of less than a week, President Donald Trump will have upended American foreign policy in the Middle East and delivered to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu everything he’s ever wanted from a White House. By announcing last Tuesday that he is shredding the Iran nuclear deal, and by unilaterally moving the American…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Israel’s Airstrikes In Syria Were A Message
Israel’s bombing campaign against dozens of Iranian, Hezbollah and Syrian Army targets across Syria last night was the most extensive Israeli operation in Syria in over 40 years. Through these strikes, Israel is signaling to Tehran that it will not accept Iranian entrenchment in Syria and attempting to compel the Assad regime to rein in…
-
Opinion Who’s Most Endangered By Trump’s Iran Deal Exit? Israel, Say Its Army Chiefs
After months of intense, worldwide speculation, Donald Trump finally pulled the trigger on U.S. participation in the Iran nuclear deal with his May 8 statement decertifying the deal and restoring sanctions on Iran. He’d been begged by the top leaders of America’s European allies to compromise, to let the deal’s framework stand and give them…
-
Opinion Abandoning Iran Deal, U.S. Joins Israel In Axis Of Escalation
After 9/11, a colleague turned to me and said, “We’re all Israelis now.” Listening to Donald Trump announce that the United States will brazenly violate its commitments under the Iran nuclear deal, I had a similar thought. In the outlooks of their governments, Israel and the United States are now one. Ideologically, it no longer…
-
Opinion No, ‘Dark Web Intellectuals’ Like Sam Harris And Jordan Peterson Are Not Being Silenced
Reading the New York Times’ op-ed page, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the most dangerous threat to free speech is leftist totalitarians who criticize or protest against the right. Bret Stephens chastises leftists for criticizing right wing commentator Kevin Williamson; David Brooks bemoans leftist campus protests, and Bari Weiss often does the same. The…
-
Opinion Eric Schneiderman Is A ‘Feminist.’ Because They, Too, Can Be Abusers.
The news that Eric Schneiderman is accused of severely abusing women came as a shock to many people in the feminist community – although it shouldn’t. None of this should surprise us anymore. This problem of abuse crosses all classes, ethnicities, professions, religions, and geography. The dynamics of abuse across different corners of the world…
-
Opinion Visiting My Mother’s Hometown, A Changing Jewish Community In England
Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! I’m still digesting the marvelous trip I took last week with my sister to visit our late mother’s hometown in England and learn more about her childhood. There are larger themes about British…
-
Opinion How Internet Culture Gave Us A Video Of A Hasidic Boy Being Taunted
On Sunday, a video went viral of an man approaching a hasidic boy somewhere between three and five years of age. The boy had the traditional long, curly sidelocks known as payoth, and the top of his head shaved in hasidic fashion. The man presumably filming the video is heard talking to the expressionless boy….
-
Opinion The Mocked Hasidic Child Could Have Been Mine – Or Yours
In a since-deleted video, an Orthodox child cries as a grown man makes fun of his sidelocks. Despite the fact that the video was both anti-Semitic and a violation of the child’s privacy, it went viral, with millions watching and almost 100,000 people “liking” the video before it was finally removed. Ever since I watched…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s selection as JTS commencement speaker roils graduating class
- 2
Film & TV A new documentary challenges stereotypes about Orthodox Jewish women — and their wigs
- 3
News Analysis: As Democrats unite behind Platner, Schumer’s future as leader faces tests
- 4
Sports NBA coach Steve Kerr: ‘Israel sought revenge for Oct. 7 and now 72,000 Palestinians have been killed’
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Brussels cathedral installs plaques apologizing for medieval antisemitic persecution depicted in stained glass
-
Fast Forward Georgetown Law graduation speaker backs out after students protest his ‘controversial, Zionist and harmful opinions’
-
Fast Forward Maryland school district urged to adopt ‘zero-tolerance policy’ on antisemitism amid wave of incidents
-
Antisemitism Decoded The great antisemitism rug pull