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
Actually, Jews Should Be Happy To See Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education
Forward contributing editor Jay Michaelson is acutely exercised over President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos to serve as the nation’s next Secretary of Education. Writing in these pages, he echoes teachers’ unions by sounding the alarm that DeVos, a school choice advocate, aims to destroy American public schools. Michaelson also asserts that “the agenda…
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Opinion Think You Can Escape the ‘Alt-Right’ by Running to Canada? They Beat You There.
On the night of Donald Trump’s election, Canada’s immigration website crashed from an overload of traffic. Data from Google Trends also suggests that searches for “move to Canada” spiked significantly during the night as Trump victories unfolded. On Twitter, Canadians shared an image of Bugs Bunny sawing the U.S. off the continent, and speculated about…
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Opinion Keith Ellison Vows To Give Democrats Their Groove Back — Will Louis Farrakhan Haunt Him?
Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota is a politician in a hurry. A decade ago he became the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. Now he’s running for the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. That would make him the first Muslim to win a position in America’s national political leadership. Ellison, 53, says he’d prefer…
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Opinion 4 Reasons We Should Stop Calling People ‘Intermarried’
The term “intermarriage” is confusing, vague, archaic and, well, creepy. It’s time for Jewish communities to move away from using this language when writing or talking about families. As the child of interfaith parents, and as the parent of grown interfaith children, and as someone who works full-time on interfaith family issues, I can give…
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Opinion On Giving Tuesday, Take a Stand For a Gutsy Jewish Publication
Dear Forward Reader: We’re no strangers to criticism. Our independent journalism is often provocative — as good journalism should be. And for 120 years, our readers have never been shy about telling us what they think. We can take the heat. In fact, we welcome it. Respectful, lively debate is a quintessentially Jewish tradition—one that…
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Opinion Should We Call Them ‘Alt-Right’ — or ‘White Nationalists,’ ‘Neo-Nazis,’ Something Else Entirely?
By this point, we’ve been forced to acknowledge the existence of a certain group among Donald Trump supporters — a group that is arguably defined by white nationalism, bigotry, and all the worst undercurrents in American thought that helped bring Trump to power. That group, whether we like it or not (and, decidedly, this author does…
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Opinion Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education? That’s a Tragedy for All American Jews.
For generations of American Jews, public education has been the gateway to American life. It was certainly true for my parents, the children of immigrants; public school taught them not just facts and figures, but alao how to be American — and how to be proud of being American. Which is why the nomination of…
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Opinion Are Liberals Being Too Mean to Trump Voters?
When my friend Jonathan Tobin and I began planning last spring for a cross-country synagogue speaking tour in the fall, we fully expected to meet with fireworks over Israeli policy. In fact, that was the point of our tour. At each stop, Jonathan the conservative Commentary blogger and I the liberal Forward columnist would argue…
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Opinion How Do You Build a Strong Muslim-Jewish Alliance for the Trump Era?
Never before has it been so urgent for American Jews and Muslims to unite as it is now that Donald Trump has won the presidency. Ever since November 9, Jews and Muslims have been experiencing an uptick in targeted hate crimes, with the Southern Poverty Law Center reporting hundreds of incidents of intimidation and harassment…
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Opinion Didn’t Slam Anti-Semitism On the Left? Don’t Expect Credibility When You Slam It On the Right.
For the past few decades, we have witnessed the rise of anti-Semitism from the left. From Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party in the United Kingdom to college campuses across America, the phenomenon is real, and it is dangerous. Yet, all too often, some Jews — both individuals and organizations — who inhabit the liberal or left…
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Opinion Like Certain Israeli Leaders, Trump Doesn’t Want To Understand Art
Since Israel been at it much longer, President-elect Donald Trump could take a lesson from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Culture, Miri Regev, on how undercut the press, squelch freedom of expression and foment populist politics. Earlier this week, Trump took off precious time from his responsibilities to put together his impending…
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News That whites-only, no Jews allowed Arkansas community is legal, says state’s attorney general. How?
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Opinion Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear
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Film & TV How Jon Stewart evolved on Israel — at least on ‘The Daily Show’
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Opinion I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel
In Case You Missed It
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Antisemitism Decoded How Trump is banning DEI at universities — except for Jews
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Fast Forward Trump fired a commissioner over bad jobs numbers. Nixon targeted a ‘Jewish cabal’ at the same agency
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Looking Forward That time my violin teacher tried to convert me to Christianity
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Fast Forward UK’s largest Jewish group calls Israeli aid to Gaza ‘long overdue,’ months after disciplining members for criticizing Israel
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