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
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Opinion
Poland’s Holocaust Bill Is Part Of A Right Wing Nationalist Agenda
The bus from Warsaw to Rzeszów, Poland, breaks in Kielce. A small city in southwestern Poland, over 50 Jews were killed in Kielce by their Polish neighbors after returning from concentration camps in 1946. I found myself in Kielce en route to a Holocaust Commemoration week in the Podkarpackie Voidodeship, a mostly rural, deeply conservative…
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Opinion My Son, Blaze Bernstein, Was Murdered. Then Came The Outpouring Of Love.
Is it possible to know how you will act when thrust into an existentialist crisis? Will you stand up to the challenge, or fall to the ground in a puddle of fears and devastation? Will you rise with courage and purpose and fight for life, for love, for resolution, knowing that even with your last…
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Opinion I’m Polish. My Government Has Every Right To Fight For The Truth.
Poland and Israel are currently caught in the biggest diplomatic crisis since the fall of communism. The crisis came about after Polish lawmakers approved a bill criminalizing statements that blame Poland for the Holocaust. In retaliation, new legislation in the Knesset would make the Polish bill a form of illegal Holocaust denial. But the opposite…
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Opinion Hypocrisy, Blindness, Jewish Telegrams: Untangling One Day In Israeli-Palestinian Relations
You’d think by now we’d be accustomed to the steady stream of lies and double-dealing that passes for diplomacy in the Middle East. Still, it’s hard to think of anything comparable to the weird convergence of hypocrisy, blindness and plain chutzpah that unfolded on three continents on a recent Thursday, January 25. That was the…
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Opinion These Professors Tried To Kick Me Out Of A Meeting – For Supporting Israel
In early January, I had what’s becoming an increasingly common experience: Supporters of a boycott tried to boycott me. The largest faculty organization here or abroad, the Modern Language Association, advertised a meeting at New York University to discuss the boycott of Israel. There I was asked to leave by several BDS-supporting faculty in attendance….
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Opinion No, Judith Butler Did Not Ask Someone To Leave A Meeting For Being Pro Israel
This piece is a response to an earlier article that you can find here. On a bitterly cold night during the 2018 Modern Language Association conference in New York City, a group of scholars met at a publicly announced location to discuss “Palestine and the Future of Academia.” This was not an MLA sponsored event…
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Opinion BDS Opponents Want Israel Held To A Lower Standard
The recent Pew Poll reporting a decline in Democratic support for Israel sparked much hand wringing, debate and critical analysis. Some dissected the poll’s weaknesses. Others examined the partisan issues in play. Still others focused, correctly, on American progressives’ substantive objections to the policies of the Israeli government and the values they embody. But too…
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Opinion Does Qatar Think Zionist Jews Control Congress?
The Qatari government has recently enlisted a new proxy fighter: Jews. More specifically, American Zionist Jews. Over the past few months, the tiny Gulf country has been bringing American Zionist leaders to visit with its ruler, the emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The list of recent visitors, first reported by Haaretz, was made up…
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Opinion Israel Doesn’t Have A PR Problem. It Has An Occupation.
Last week, Michael Oren shared some thoughts on Israel and the US. Reacting to a new Pew study showing Israel has become increasingly a partisan issue in America, Oren said, “We have to make a decision to set a strategic goal of bringing the Democratic party back on our side.” I share the concern of…
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Opinion Why Are Jews So Pro-Choice?
The Senate voted on a bill Monday to ban most abortions after 20 weeks; it failed along party lines. Just a few days earlier, the latest Pew data estimated that a whopping 83% of Jews believe that in all or most cases, abortion should be legal, putting us at the fourth most pro-choice group surveyed…
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Opinion Poland Still Hasn’t Learned One Of The Holocaust’s Most Important Lessons
Welcome back to Jane Looking Forward. If you wish to continue reading this weekly newsletter, please subscribe here. And spread the word! The outrageous move by the Polish legislature to punish anyone blaming Poles for the crimes of the Holocaust is wrong on so many levels. It is an anti-democratic attempt to limit free speech…
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