In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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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….
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Opinion Does Jeremy Corbyn Deserve Jewish Support In Britain’s Election?
After beginning the race to become prime minister down 18% and receiving a vote of no confidence from Labour MPs just last year, Jeremy Corbyn’s party has tightened the race. Labour now trails the Tories by approximately 7%. Corbyn, who comes from the hard-left wing of the Labour Party, has long been a lighting rod…
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Opinion Why Trump’s Post-London Attack Tweets Are So Chilling
BOCA RATON, Florida (JTA) — In popular myth, South Florida was ground zero of the Great Email Explosion of 2008. That was the year your great-uncle or long-lost cousin couldn’t resist passing on rumors, hoaxes and conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, the true causes of 9/11 or the insidious nature of…
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion The latest victim of the culture war over Israel is a leftwing, lapsed Catholic Bible scholar
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Fast Forward Antisemitic incidents in Germany remained elevated in 2025, fueled by rise-in far-right cases
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Culture The manosphere says women owe their husbands sex — Judaism says the opposite
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Fast Forward Georgia’s Jewish senator called his newly minted GOP opponent an antisemite. Why?