Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Fury Over Emmett Till Artwork At Whitney Biennial Is So Dangerous

  The controversy over “cultural appropriation,” which in recent years has dogged everything from pop music videos to Halloween costumes to museum exhibits, is now having a particularly ugly episode at the Whitney Biennial, the renowned exhibition of American art at New York’s Whitney Museum. This time, the backlash targets a painting by Brooklyn artist Dana…

  By Cathy Young

  5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  How Jewish Groups Are Perpetuating A Myth About Trump And Anti-Semitism

  The nomination and election of Donald Trump has caused a record spike in anti-Semitism. That is the narrative many Jewish groups and the media have promoted since the Republican primaries. Here’s an unfortunate fact for those continuing to press this narrative: it keeps on being proven false. First, let’s take the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) report…

  By Bethany Mandel Mar 27, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Israeli Settler Movement Isn’t Much Of A Movement

  Israel is a sovereign state and recognized member of the United Nations while the West Bank and East Jerusalem under the international law of armed conflict remain occupied territories. With the methodical precision of a dumb machine, the Knesset had passed each month for the past two years a new law or amendment not so…

  By Gershon Shafir Mar 27, 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 Mike Huckabee’s stunning, terrifying new gift to the Israeli right

  

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

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  What Happens When Jewish Anti-Semitism Causes Terror?

  The recent arrest of a 19-year-old Israeli with dual American citizenship who is accused of issuing bomb threats to more than 100 Jewish institutions around the world exposed a blind spot in our understanding of anti-Semitism. Sometimes a Jew can commit acts of anti-Semitism. Sometimes hateful acts come from within. Jews, given our history, are…

  By Jane Eisner Mar 26, 2017 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Goodbye, Jimmy Breslin, Gruff Mensch

  Jimmy Breslin was an enemy of the people — at least those people who abuse their power to dash the American dream. I first encountered Breslin, who died last week at age 88, in December 2000. I had just launched an online syndication marketplace, Featurewell.com, to fight the effort by many publishers to seize the…

  By David Wallis Mar 25, 2017 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  What Do Doctors Really Think About 30 Hour Shifts?

  After 30 years of progressively tighter restrictions on work hours for medical interns, the first-year trainees who do much of the hands-on work with patients, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), has announced a policy change. As of July, it will permit 28-hour shifts: 24 hours of patient care and four hours for…

  By Peter D. Kramer and S.E. Kramer Mar 24, 2017 | 5 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Letter To The Editor: Why JVP Invited Rasmea Odeh To Speak

  Next week, Jewish Voice for Peace will host our bi-annual national membership meeting in Chicago, bringing together nearly 1000 of our leaders and partners for critical conversations about resisting the harmful policies of the Trump administration and the Israeli government. Coverage in The Forward and other Jewish press has focused on the invitation to Rasmea…

  By Rebecca Vilkomerson Mar 24, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Following The JCC Arrest, Can We Be Smarter About Anti-Semitism?

  There’s not much we know about the 19-year-old Jewish Israeli-American who is allegedly responsible for the bomb threats phoned into more than 100 JCCs in the last month. But that hasn’t stopped opportunists from rushing in with simplistic opinions. For example, hard-rightist Mort Klein, who leads a small organization heavily funded by a few Jewish…

  By Jay Michaelson Mar 23, 2017 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  A Jew Made The JCC Bomb Threats? This Is What Heartbreak Feels Like

  When the child care center at our JCC in Rochester, New York, received a bomb threat on March 7, I wrote a piece for USA Today chronicling my fear, helplessness and anger that someone would target children. But now I also feel sick upon learning that the suspect arrested for allegedly making these threats is…

  By Hinda Mandell Mar 23, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Who You Callin’ Anti-Semite? Reserve The Term For The Worst Offenders

  We’ve been playing this game for months now. First with Michael Flynn. Then with Stephen Bannon. Now with Sebastian Gorka. Liberals accuse a Donald Trump adviser of having ties to right-wing anti-Semites. Trump’s Jewish supporters defend him. And, not content to stop there, they throw the charge back in the accusers’ faces — claiming that…

  By Peter Beinart Mar 22, 2017 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  State Of Disrepair: Remember When Israeli Leaders Did The Right Thing?

  Often, as the saying goes, power corrupts, and long-term power corrupts even more. In Israel, this situation has often been characterized as the collusion of wealth, government and the media. Over the past two decades, the deterioration of the quality of governance in Israel has been pronounced: The former president, Moshe Katsav, has been just…

  By Edward Edy Kaufman Mar 22, 2017 | 3 min read