Opinion

• Opinion

  When Silence on Evil Is Evil: A GOP Leader Speaks

  The most powerful statement I have heard so far on Trump’s Charlottesville Nazi fiasco came from Republican consultant Steve Schmidt, the senior strategist on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, during an MSNBC panel discussion on Wednesday evening, August 16. It should be noted that he’s a regular commentator on MSNBC and frequently on “Real Time…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Jewish Megadonors Keep Enabling Trump After Charlottesville?

  It’s bad enough for an American President to defend Nazis. It’s worse when Republican lawmakers – and American Jews – continue to support that President. I’m not talking about getting people to use stronger words of condemnation; I’m talking about deeds. And I’m not talking about nameless Trump supporters. It pains me to say it,…

  By Evan Falchuk Aug 17, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  This Jewish Group Has Failed to Condemn Trump’s Defense of Nazis

  Our nation is reeling in the wake of President Trump’s astonishing, disgraceful comments on the events in Charlottesville on Tuesday. In his press conference, the President drew a false equivalence between white supremacists and those who protested them. In his now famous remarks, the President referred to some of the white supremacist marchers as “very…

  By Logan Bayroff Aug 17, 2017 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman A precise, Chekhovian logic guided Israel’s strike on Iran — but chaos could come next

  

• Nora Berman Greta Thunberg’s Gaza flotilla was never going to help Palestinians

  

• Dan Perry Celebrating my daughter’s birthday in a bomb shelter, as missiles struck Tel Aviv

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s latest move makes Mahmoud Khalil a Joseph for our times

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Trump Isn’t The Only One Lying About What Happened In Charlottesville

  After alt-right demonstrations in Charlottesville turned into clashes led by Antifa, leading to an alt-right Nazi sympathizer driving a car into a group of counter-protesters, things were bad enough. As always, both sides of the political aisle have determined to make an awful situation worse. The big problem is that both Left and right now…

  By Ben Shapiro Aug 17, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The March For Racial Justice Just Welcomed Jews Back Into The Left

  Like many of us, I haven’t felt good about something I’ve read on my Facebook feed in many, many, many months. But today I was deeply moved by the kind of gesture that I thought had disappeared from the public sphere. It came as a response to some upsetting scheduling news. Earlier this week, it…

  By Yael Reisman Aug 16, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  What Growing Up Under Apartheid Taught Me About Trump’s ‘Fine People’

  When I heard Donald Trump say in his Tuesday press conference that there were “fine people” among the marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia, who protested the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, it brought me back. I spent much of my childhood in the company of South African Jews. It was the…

  By Peter Beinart Aug 16, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  My Fellow Orthodox Jews: Admit You Were Wrong About Trump

  For two years, I have been grappling with how to relate to those of my fellow Orthodox Jews who, for reasons utterly mystifying to me, cannot see Donald Trump for what he is. I first tried logic, I tried appeals to truth, then justice, then facts, then emotion. That last one was particularly painful. It…

  By Elisheva Avital Aug 16, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Trump’s Blindness to Moral Truth: This Cannot Stand

  America was shamed on Tuesday as we have never been shamed before. We were debased as a nation by the words of a president who stood before the world and defended the honor of Nazis. He reduced himself in an instant from alarming buffoon to dangerous villain. We who elected him stand disgraced, humiliated. But…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 16, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time To Put A Stop To Purity Tests. Jewish Values Contradict Each Other

  There’s a new move floating around discussions of Jews and Israel that’s as effective as it is pernicious. You’ll recognize it immediately, as it has become all too pervasive in the blood sport we call public discourse. It consists of posing questions like “Is the Jewish State truly committed to Jewish values?” “Do Jewish values…

  By Shimon Mercer-Wood Aug 15, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  For Shame

  There is a moral vacuum at the head of the republic. After three days of reflection about the events of Charlottesville, Virginia, Donald Trump reiterated at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that there was “blame on both sides.” This he followed up with the claim that there were “very fine people” on both sides of…

  By Dan Friedman Aug 15, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  I Am A Rabbi — And My Place Was In Charlottesville

  (JTA) — I was in Charlottesville on Saturday. I felt called to go because white supremacy is a hateful ideology that has murdered millions throughout history and continues to kill. I went because my family and ancestors suffered at the hands of anti-Semites throughout history, because I bear their scars on my DNA, because the…

  By Lizz Goldstein Aug 15, 2017 | 4 min read