Opinion

• Opinion

  This Week In Anti-Semitism: Arson, Slurs, And A Weaponized Basketball

  The Forward regularly monitors the surge of anti-Semitism across the country and around the world. The mission of this column is not to unduly alarm, but rather to raise awareness of a disturbing trend that, from some vantage points, can prove difficult to spot. In the UK, the 16-year old daughter of a Jewish chaplain…

  By Steven Davidson

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Common Ground: Jews And Muslims Join Together In These Touching Photos

  On a recent Friday, members of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) arrived at the Islamic Center at New York University in ponchos and rain boots. They dried their laminated signs that read, “Jewish New Yorkers support our Muslim neighbors,” and greeted worshippers attending the weekly Jummah Prayer. Since the first Friday after the election of…

  By Kate Ryan Jun 8, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How The Forward Introduced Jews To W.E.B. Du Bois

  First published in the Forverts on May 8, 1923 To mark this publication’s 120th anniversary, The Forward hunted through its archives for journalistic treasures. Here we present excerpts of an interview with W.E.B. Du Bois, the sociologist, writer and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) first published in 1923….

  By L. Honors Jun 7, 2017 | 6 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 doctor in the midst of the Boulder attack: ‘This did not come out of vacuum’

  

• Nora Berman For new parents, the aid crisis in Gaza is hitting hard

  

• Dan Perry Don’t be grateful two hostages’ bodies were recovered. Be furious.

  

• Emily Tamkin The two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder

  

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  Opinion

  How The Qatar Crisis Could Wreck Years Of Quiet Diplomacy— And Hurt Israel

  There are three ways to explain the recent crisis that suddenly erupted in the Sunni Arab world when Saudi Arabia and a group of allies abruptly broke relations with the oil-rich Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar. One explanation is strategic: that the rift is a Saudi-led bid to rein in the maverick Qatar, end Qatar’s…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 7, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Ban On Partisan Pulpits Is Key to Protecting Religious Freedom

  (JTA) That small little law known as the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits electioneering by houses of worship and other charities and which President Trump has vowed to repeal, is exceptionally important to preserve. Even if it is not widely enforced, the permission it grants to the Internal Revenue Service to pursue violators is critical to…

  By Jack Moline Jun 7, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Big Tent: What Camping Can Teach Us About Israelis And American Jews

  Every year for the past six, I’ve spent an early summer weekend camping with several dozen Jewish parents (mostly fathers) and their elementary-school-age kids. We all live in the New York area, but roughly one-quarter grew up in Israel. The other three-quarters hail from the United States or other parts of the Diaspora. Over the…

  By Peter Beinart Jun 7, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Shame On You, Jewish Voice For Peace, For Targeting Pro-Israel Gays

  I’m going “on record” condemning Jewish Voice for Peace’s tactics at the Israel Day Parade. Protesting the parade, even from inside, is something I totally respect. And I have never marched in the parade myself, since I consider it to be overly nationalistic and jingoistic, as well as needlessly confrontational. However, JVP also endangered the…

  By Jay Michaelson Jun 6, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How Trump Can Clinch A Mideast Peace Deal — If He Follows These Simple Steps

  Twenty-four years after the signing of the Oslo Declaration of Principles, and after two concerted peace efforts (Camp David 2000 and Olmert-Abbas in 2008) to negotiate a final-status agreement, Oslo’s two main flaws are painfully apparent. One flaw is that the Oslo menu for final-status negotiations comprises two fundamentally different types of issues, one of…

  By Yossi Alpher Jun 6, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Fault Lines Season 1, Episode 9

  Comfort is not a Jewish value. Listen to Peter Beinart and Daniel Gordis’ lively conversation regarding the Jewish community’s response to President Donald Trump. What role does journalism play? Who has assumed Heschel’s role today of opining on current events through the lens of Jewish ethics? And what is the impact of money and fundraising…

  Jun 6, 2017 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Bad Memes’ Provoke Controversy at Harvard

  Harvard rescinded acceptance offers for least 10 incoming freshman after the students shared sexually explicit and racist images over private Facebook group chats, images that made fun of sexual assault, child death and the Holocaust. The incident has left students, faculty and figures on both sides of the political spectrum divided. Erica Goldberg, Assistant Professor…

  By Michael Heckle Jun 6, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Linda Sarsour Is A Fake Feminist

  Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist and a co-organizer of the Women’s March on Washington, has shaken the Jewish world with a few freakish remarks on Zionism and feminism. In an interview, “Can You Be a Zionist Feminist? Linda Sarsour Says No”, in The Nation in March, Sarsour declared: “You either stand up for the rights…

  By Judea Pearl Jun 5, 2017 | 5 min read