Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Holocaust Humor Is Now Serious Business

  For more than 25 years, we had been trying to make a feature documentary titled “The Last Laugh,” which asks whether there is any place at all for humor in approaching the horrific topic of the Holocaust. The idea began with a 1990 visit to Miami’s Holocaust Memorial, then newly opened, where a friend of…

  By Robert Edwards and Ferne Pearlstein

  5 min read
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  Opinion

  BDS Debates On Campus Actually Benefit Jews

  The Israeli government has declared the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement as one of the biggest threats facing Israel today. Many in the American Jewish community have worried about the anti-Semitism and delegitimization of Israel the BDS debates on college campuses invoke. For the last years, I, along with a group of researchers, have…

  By Ella Ben Hagai May 29, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Does Ernest Hemingway Get A Pass For His Anti-Semitism?

  Unquestionably, Ernest Hemingway was anti-Semitic. Studded throughout his letters are nasty remarks about Jews. But Hemingway felt his prejudice had a place in his fiction as well, most notably in “The Sun Also Rises,” his classic 1925 novel about a group of Paris expatriates at the bullfights in Pamplona. Hemingway routinely describes Robert Cohn, introduced…

  By Mary Dearborn May 28, 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 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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why Israel Should Embrace This ‘Palestinian Gandhi’ — Not Jail Him

  President Trump’s recent trip to Israel did not matter. He wants to broker the “ultimate deal” — Israeli-Palestinian peace — and thinks the Saudis, who share Israel’s fear of Iran, can help. But the Saudis can’t make Palestinians endorse their own subjugation. Peace requires freedom for the millions currently living under Israeli control without citizenship,…

  By Peter Beinart May 28, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Jewish Case Against Trump’s Budget From Hell

  President Trump recently released his full budget proposal, which he titled “The Foundation for American Greatness.” It is an understatement to say that this budget comes nowhere close to living up to its grandiose title. In truth, it presents a dark vision for America, one at odds with all this country has stood for since…

  By Abby J. Leibman May 26, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Could Judy Seigel Be The Next Posthumous Photo Phenom?

  Before my mother died, I didn’t think about her aesthetic vision, though I always loved her fantastical photographs (1980s–2000s) and large abstract paintings (1970s) that filled our family’s brownstone in Manhattan’s West Village. But at her funeral, Rabbi David Adelson, dean of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and a family friend, delivered a eulogy…

  By Jessica Seigel May 25, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  France’s President Macron Is A Friend Of Israel

  As leaders of an organization deeply involved in pro-Israel advocacy in France and other key European countries, we are writing to report that the people of France have elected a potentially strong friend of Israel, Emmanuel Macron, as president. When Macron, then France’s Minister for the Economy, made his highly successful official visit to Israel…

  By Arié Bensemhoun and David Siegel May 25, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Peace In Israel Starts With An Apology

  Imagine you have an old beater – say, a 1967 Chevy – that hasn’t really run in years. The tires are flat, it’s riddled with dents, seats are torn out, windshield’s cracked, the fuel gauge constantly malfunctions, and someone just stole your spark plugs and battery. Yet, for reasons you can no longer remember, you’re…

  By Sandy Tolan May 25, 2017 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  What Trump Gets Wrong About The Middle East

  (Reuters) In his speech before dozens of Muslim leaders who had gathered in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, President Donald Trump toned down his harsh rhetoric against Islam and urged the leaders to “drive out” Islamic extremists from their societies. Trump even distinguished between the majority of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims, and the Islamic militants…

  By Mohamad Bazzi May 25, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  This Week In Anti-Semitism: Conspiracy Theories Abound

  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. While Donald Trump was en route to Saudi Arabia last week,…

  By Steven Davidson May 24, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Modest’ Ivanka Trump Did Nothing Wrong At Western Wall

  Before President Donald Trump and his family members made their way to the Western Wall speculation was rife, as to whether or not they would obey the gender separation rules and split up to the women’s and men’s sections. One might think that there would be no technical reason for the foursome – the president…

  By Allison Kaplan Sommer (Haaretz) May 24, 2017 | 3 min read