Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Linda Sarsour Should Speak — And Sebastian Gorka Should Not

  This is the season of conferences and commencements, which means it’s time for the inevitable verbal boxing match over who is an acceptable speaker and who is not. Up next is whether Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist and one of the organizers of the Women’s March On Washington, should — or should not — speak…

  By Jane Eisner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  French Anti-Semitism Isn’t Helping Marine Le Pen

  For the first time since the French Vichy Government teamed up with the Nazis in the 1940s, the far right in France has their best chance to regain power. But Marine Le Pen’s quest for the presidency might be undone by her party’s refusal to abandon its anti-Semitism. How did France get to this state?…

  By John A. Tures May 1, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Imagine The Outrage If Terrill Thomas Had Died In An Israeli Jail

  Terrill Thomas was killed in his jail cell. Not in a fight, beaten by guards or other inmates. And not by hanging, because he had given up. He died, instead, slowly and agonizingly, in an isolation cell, because he had no water. His cell had no mattress, no pillow, no blanket and, after guards decided…

  By Daniel Gordis Apr 30, 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

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  Opinion

  Welcoming The Stranger To America Has Never Been So Difficult

  Upon hearing I am a rabbi people often ask, “Who is your congregation?” I respond that I have the privilege of serving the vulnerable. They are my congregation and the people I ultimately hold myself responsible to. Being responsible to the vulnerable means our agency, which helps refugees adapt to America, must walk with our…

  By Will Berkovitz Apr 30, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Can’t Israeli Officials Get Holocaust History Right?

  The other day, 12,000 Jews from all over the world marched from Auschwitz to Birkenau on Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) as part of the annual pilgrimage known as the March of the Living. Students spend a week in Poland and then another week in Israel; they are at Birkeanu for Hom Hashoah and in…

  By Michael Berenbaum Apr 30, 2017 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Anti-Semitism This Week: Vile Chelsea Fans And Hatred On The Stump

  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. Tabulating Hatred More than 382,000 anti-Semitic messages were posted on social…

  By Steven Davidson Apr 28, 2017 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Crisis Of Confidence: Can The Arab World Recover From The Six Day War?

  As we approach the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, the primary impulse for Israel and Arabs alike — to try to assign blame primarily to the other side — is also the least interesting and useful response, suggesting that many have learned nothing in the intervening decades. Instead, we should honestly evaluate the…

  By Hussein Ibish Apr 28, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Should We Celebrate The 50th Anniversary Of The Six Day War — Or Despair?

  Although I was a young girl when the Six Day War broke out, I clearly remember the 5th of June, 1967. I had no personal connection to the war. Our family had no relatives or close friends in Israel at the time; the country was as abstract as the map on my Hebrew school classroom…

  By Jane Eisner Apr 28, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Real Troopers: Boy Scouts Find Judaism In The Wild

  “Be as bold as a leopard, fleet as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion to do the will of your Father in Heaven.” Rabbi Judah ben Tema’s 2nd century call for unflagging spiritual devotion in the service of God, recorded in Pirkei Avot (“Ethics of the Fathers”), fired my imagination…

  By Joseph H. Prouser Apr 27, 2017 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  After Theresa May Trounces Corbyn, What Should The Labour Party Do?

  How far can Britain’s Labour party fall? That appears to remain the only open question as the general election – which seems certain to return Theresa May’s government to power with a vastly increased parliamentary majority – kicks off. But if Labour’s condition across the country as a whole is critical — polls currently show…

  By Robert Philpot Apr 27, 2017 | 4 min read
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  Letters

  Why Holocaust Remembrance Remains So Important

  Trump Gives A Holocaust Speech — And The ‘Alt Right’ Screams ‘Betrayal’, by‎ Sam Kestenbaum, highlighted why the days of remembrance are so important. The venomous words of the ‘Alt-Right’ are revolting. We live in a society that encourages free speech. Nevertheless, we realize that hate speech can have dire consequences. I attended the ceremony…

  By Steven A. Ludsin Apr 27, 2017 | < 1 min read