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
-
Letters
Of Course We Should Call Out Trayon White
Rafael Shimunov’s piece entitled “The Shameful Character Assassination of Trayon White” does not advance a credible argument. Mr. White got into trouble by making ridiculous claims that the Rothschilds control the weather and the federal government. There may be a reasoned argument that Mr. White was taken in by such wild conspiracy theories because of…
-
Letters Trayon White Is Not The Story. Rising Anti-Semitism Is The Story.
Over a month after Trayon White made the headlines for his infamous video accusing the Rothschilds of controlling the climate, the embattled D.C. City Councilmember is back in the news. After a Washington Post report detailing White’s visit to the United States Holocaust Museum gone wrong (White and others in attendance deny the report), Jews…
-
Opinion Can We Talk About Rape In The Holocaust Yet?
They used to tell young Orthodox Jewish girls a story – they may still – about 93 Bais Yaakov girls who were selected by the Nazis to be their sex slaves and put in an apartment full of beds. And when the Nazis arrived to claim their plunder, they found 93 corpses. 93 Bais Yaakov…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Readers Flock To Stories About Natalie Portman, A Rorschach Test For How To Criticize Israel
Ever since the news broke Thursday night, the Forward’s coverage of Natalie Portman’s decision not to accept the Genesis Prize in Jerusalem didn’t just hit a nerve. It lit up the whole body. Weekend traffic to our website was the highest in a year, with both news stories and opinion pieces attracting readers, while the…
-
Opinion Have Your Say: Did Natalie Portman Betray Israel?
Have Your Say is your chance to tell us what you think. Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook and let us know what you think about the question posed in the headline.
-
Opinion I Was Smeared By Public Radio For Being A Black Activist Trying To Get My Message Out
In 2018, the most important indicator of power might just be the question of who has a platform. Access to a platform means having your voice heard, something traditionally marginalized people have often struggled with, seeing as those who tend to have access haven’t been too anxious to let us in. We take it where…
-
Opinion Natalie Portman Just Taught Us How To Criticize Israel With Love
In today’s increasingly tribal, zero-sum world, there is no discussion more tribal and zero-sum than the one surrounding Israel. Despite the plaintive cries of lovers of Israel that support for Israel does not mean one has to agree with every action Israel does, this seems to be the exact reasoning both the pro-Israel and anti-Israel…
-
Opinion What Would Elie Wiesel Have Done? (Not Stay Home Like Natalie)
Natalie Portman should have done in 2018 what Elie Wiesel did when accepting the Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement in 1985. And what David Grossman did last week, before accepting the Israel Prize for Literature. And what countless Jews have done throughout recorded time, grasping the prophetic opportunity to, in Wiesel’s words, “speak truth to…
-
Opinion Actually, Natalie Portman, You ARE Practicing BDS
Dear Natalie (If I may), In recent days, I have followed closely your decision not to appear at a prize ceremony in Israel and your statement about it. Your decision was important to me not only because I am Palestinian, but because I realized we have some things in common, you and I. I was…
-
Opinion Hamas, Not Israel, Is Responsible For Deaths In Gaza
It’s now been a month. An entire month of Palestinian organized, initiated and funded violence at the border with Gaza. What began with a promise of non-violence has cost some 35 Palestinian lives and hundreds of reported casualties. But the leaders of Hamas keep promising us that the worst is still ahead. Indeed, we are…
-
Opinion What If It Were Your Child Killed In Gaza?
My mother started to scream on Friday, when she learned that my 18-year-old brother went to the Gaza border protests without telling her. She cried on and off all day long, in a state of hysterical panic until he returned back home safely late at night. She asked him why he went even though she…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Exclusive Mahmoud Khalil wants to reassure you
- 2
Culture In 1989, Harold Pinter and Jerry Schatzberg made the perfect Holocaust movie for 2026
- 3
Culture 70 years ago, this Jewish choreographer predicted our epidemic of loneliness and isolation
- 4
Opinion Trump is backed into a corner on Iran. Get ready for him to start blaming Jews
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward 42 Jewish authors slam Jewish Book Council for ‘bias toward centering Israeli and Zionist voices’
-
Fast Forward Temple Israel rabbi criticizes Michigan Senate candidate for ‘offensive’ remarks about attack
-
Culture The Pentagon fears the Vatican’s authority in a battle over Christianity’s power
-
Opinion I’m a Jewish candidate for New York comptroller. Our state must divest from Israel bonds
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
