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.
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Anti-Defamation League publishes an annual report on incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States. This year’s audit, made available in November, showed a significant increase in relation to the previous year: 2017 saw a 67% rise in anti-Jewish hate speech, harassment, vandalism and violence. It’s a disheartening measure of a terrible phenomenon. Yet in…
Last week, Israeli Member of Knesset Naftali Bennett wrote an op ed in the New York Times defending Israel’s new blacklist. The blacklist bans members of 20 European and US organizations from entering Israel, based on their support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel. This ban is just, argued the leader of…
There was never going to be an “ultimate deal” between Israelis and Palestinians in the current environment. But on Thursday in Davos, President Donald Trump made it into even more of a fantasy when he brought up Jerusalem. “We took Jerusalem off the table, so we don’t have to talk about it anymore,” he said….
This week, Jewish billionaire George Soros came out storming against the internet. At the global gathering of the financially and politically powerful at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Soros gave a long, withering speech on the state of the world. Part of his analysis was directed at the politics of Russia, the EU, China…
This past week, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence made a historic visit to Israel. Unsurprisingly, it was largely pilloried by liberal Jews. What was the Vice President’s offense? Being a pro-Israel evangelical Christian, a perspective some Jews find suspicious. In these pages, Jane Eisner has warned of the dangers of evangelical…
Last week, American Zionists were told they could not be part of the feminist movement — again. A number of pro-Palestinian groups, most notably the Palestinian American Women’s Association, boycotted Saturday’s L.A. Women’s March. They wouldn’t attend due to the fact that actress Scarlett Johansson, known to be a proud Zionist, was one of the…
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