Opinion

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  When Your Husband Gets Called a ‘Filthy Kike’ On Twitter

  It was bracing to learn on Monday that my husband, Glenn Thrush, had been called a “filthy kike” on Twitter. He is the chief political correspondent for Politico, and his run-in with the “alt right” American fascist movement stemmed from a roundtable with academics, of all things. His editor, Susan Glasser, convened a half-dozen experts…

  By Diane Webber

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why You Shouldn’t Go To Synagogue On Rosh Hashanah This Year

  As the summer ends, Americans get back to business, and for American Jews, there’s no bigger business than the High Holidays at your local synagogue. I have some unconventional advice for you this year: Don’t go. Instead of attending the kitschy mass performances that even your rabbi probably finds uninspiring, choose a different holiday from…

  By Jay Michaelson Sep 15, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Immigrant Fearmongering From Donald Trump to Benjamin Netanyahu

  In this bewildering political season, the least fortunate people — and especially immigrants — have become targets of opportunity for right-wing politicians around the world. The immigrants are used as foils. They are used as scapegoats. They are used to distract from the failures of these politicians to provide for the needs and to answer…

  By Daniel Sokatch Sep 14, 2016 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

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  Opinion

  3 Types of Shimon Peres Haters — and Why They’re Wrong

  The Shimon Peres haters — and they are many — are coming out in full force already, preying on his would-be memory while his life hangs in the balance. Even as his family grows optimistic that he will recover following a massive stroke, these haters are trying to undermine the inevitable hagiography that looms and…

  By Yehuda Kurtzer Sep 14, 2016 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Anti-Semitism in the British Left Should Worry American Jews, Too

  According to Dave Rich in The New York Times, the left in Britain has a serious anti-Semitism problem. Indeed, he explains, under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, antipathy or profound insensitivity to Israel and Judaism has all but taken over the Labour Party. Why should American Jews care about parochial British politics two thousand miles…

  By Dan Friedman Sep 13, 2016 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Benjamin Netanyahu’s Outrageous ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ Claim Is Actually Clever Political Ploy

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu managed to raise the collective blood pressure of official Washington to dangerous levels on September 9, charging in an online video that evacuating Israeli West Bank settlers, as Palestinians demand, would amount to “ethnic cleansing.” What’s more, he said, “some otherwise enlightened countries even promote this outrage.” Obama administration officials…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 13, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What To Do When a Rosh Hashanah Prayer Is Triggering For You: Walk Out.

  On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed. So begins the poem “Unetaneh Tokef,” which is recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I have always struggled with this poem. The very literal translation speaks to an intervening God, one who is ready to stand in judgement and hand down…

  By Deborah Greene Sep 12, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Ailing Hillary Clinton Forget Watergate? It’s the Cover-Up That Gets You.

  If Hillary Clinton is inaugurated president next January, she’ll be the second-oldest person ever to take that initial oath. At age 69 years, 88 days, she’ll be topped only by Ronald Reagan, who was 261 days older — 69 years, 349 days — at his inauguration in 1981. Should Donald Trump win, he would be…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 12, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Hillary Clinton Health Scare Shake Up Race for the White House — and How?

  As a New York Senator, Hillary Clinton fought like a lion a decade and a half ago on behalf of thousands of first responders who were poisoned by the toxic cloud that hovered over the ruins of the Twin Towers following the terrorist attacks of September 11. She was damaged when the anniversary of that…

  By Chemi Shalev (Haaretz) Sep 12, 2016 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Shabbat Wars Are Heating Up — No Thanks to the Politicians!

  Cultural Zionist philosopher Ahad Ha’am famously wrote, “More than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.” But Ahad Ha’am didn’t live in Israel in the 21st century, where it is more relevant to paraphrase him by writing, “More than the politicians have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the politicians.” In…

  By Eetta Prince-Gibson Sep 11, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We’re Jewish Student Activists and We Don’t Need To Be Protected From BDS

  Writing in the Forward, Seffi Kogen suggests that BDS pushes Jewish students out of social justice work on campuses across the country — because, when faced with the choice between supporting activism and supporting Israel, Jews have to choose Israel. But the problem facing Jewish student activists isn’t BDS or intersectionality: it’s the occupation, and…

  By Julia Berkman-Hill and Joshua Leifer Sep 11, 2016 | 4 min read