Opinion

• Opinion

  Since When Is ‘Countering Violent Extremism’ A Bad Thing?

  Could it be more starkly ironic than this: on Sunday, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Trump opened the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, and on Tuesday, he announced his intention to end federal programs that counter violent extremism in the United States. The President’s speech to the leaders of Arab and Islamic nations assembled…

  By Shai Franklin

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why The Forward Accepted An Ad From Jewish Voice for Peace

  Dear Forward Reader: We recently published an advertisement from Jewish Voice for Peace in the June 2 print edition of the Forward. The ad gave us pause. It quotes Marwan Barghouti as “Leader of the Palestinian Hunger Strike,” but doesn’t say why he’s in jail. Barghouti was convicted of the murders of five Israeli civilians….

  By Rachel Fishman Feddersen May 24, 2017 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Trump And Foreign Policy: An Arranged Marriage Gone Awry

  If Donald Trump needed a reminder of how tall an order he’s taken on with his bold talk of Middle East deal-making, he got it on Monday night, May 22. As the president was bedding down in Jerusalem, an ISIS suicide bomber blew himself up outside an arena full of teenagers attending an Ariana Grande…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 24, 2017 | 4 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

• 
  Opinion

  Republicans Behind Brutal Budget Cuts Should Read The Book Of Job

  I’m struck by the punitive nature of the new White House budget proposal on the poor — which involves cutting $274 billion over ten years from anti-poverty programs like food stamps, tax credits and welfare, as well as austere reforms on Medicaid and disability insurance while boosting military spending. All of the early quotes commenting…

  By Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg May 23, 2017 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  What I Learned From Alan Mintz

  I was shocked to read Forward,com this morning and find two hespedim for the fine Hebraist and scholar Alan Mintz. I want to share with you my one strong memory of him, not exactly as scholar but in a transformative moment. What I remember goes back to 1973. Alan was the original energizer for calling…

  By Arthur Waskow May 23, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  When Melania Trump And Sara Netanyahu Bond Over Hating The Media — Be Very Worried

  When Melania Trump chatted with Sara Netanyahu on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv yesterday, the two women quickly discovered they had a common bond. “You know in Israel all the people like us. The media hate us but the people love us,” Netanyahu, wife of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin…

  By Jane Eisner May 22, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Linda Sarsour Is ‘An Arsonist In Our Midst’

  A few months ago, I participated in an important synagogue program on Long Island about the victories and failures in our struggle against the global campaign to boycott and demonize Israel (BDS). During the question-and-answer period, one participant dismissed Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour and her ideological supporters as “stupid.” Their accusations, this individual claimed, were…

  By Michael D. Cohen May 22, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Israel Trip Gives Trump A Boost With His Jewish Supporters

  The Forward’s editor-in-chief Jane Eisner recently posed a simple question for Jewish supporters of President Donald Trump: Had enough yet? She elaborated: It should be obvious by now that this is a president who cannot and will not keep his word. Perhaps you, his supporters, still will give him a pass. He’s surely not the…

  By Bethany Mandel May 22, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How To Break Israel’s Bond With Young American Jews In One Easy Lesson

  On Rosh Hodesh Iyar, the 8th grade students of the Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan school confronted a difficult reality shared by many Jews trying to connect with Israel. At a kibbutz the group stayed at in the Galilee, they were told that we would not be able to use the Sefer Torah (a handwritten…

  By Benjamin Mann May 22, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  What’s The Deal With Ivanka’s Female Entrepeneurs Fund?

  This weekend, The World Bank announced Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates will donate a combined $100 million to a fund conceived by Ivanka Trump, which will support women entrepreneurs worldwide. Critics — particularly some former Hillary Clinton supporters — are crying foul. The donations are being made by countries ranked 109th and 141st…

  By Steven Davidson May 22, 2017 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  J.D. Salinger’s Holocaust Story Eerily Echoes Anne Frank

  The great J.D. Salinger is not a writer we associate with the Holocaust, but as we approach 70th anniversary of “The Diary of Anne Frank,” June 25, there’s a neglected Salinger short story, “A Girl I Knew,” worth recalling as a companion piece to Frank’s memoir. “A Girl I Knew” first appeared in the February…

  By Nicolaus Mills May 22, 2017 | 3 min read