Opinion

• Opinion

  Spare Me the Terrified Jewish Sermons About Steve Bannon

  American Jews have a new reason to be concerned about a Donald Trump presidency. There was already a major outcry over the anti-Semitism coming out of Trump’s campaign and his supporter base, and that concern has skyrocketed with the selection of Steve Bannon, a hero of the “alt-right” and former CEO of Breitbart, as a…

  By Bethany Mandel

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Steve Bannon Signals Coming Storm for Jews in Age of Donald Trump

  Those were the best of times, arguably, but these may be the worst of times. That’s the way most American Jews must feel as they wake up with a massive hangover from the shock election results and the reality that Donald Trump will soon be President of the United States. Whatever differences American Jews may…

  By Chemi Shalev (Haaretz) Nov 14, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Marc Gafni Told His Side of the Story. Now His Accuser Responds.

  Editor’s note: Earlier this month, the Forward published Marc Gafni’s own words defending himself against accusations that he sexually abused Sara Kabakov when she was 13 and he was 19. Here is Kabakov’s response. I struggle with the impulse to respond to Marc Gafni’s letter regarding my January 2016 article about him sexually abusing me….

  By Sara Kabakov Nov 14, 2016 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman A gunman attacked a Michigan synagogue. Here’s what happens to the community next

  

• Dan Perry Israelis and Americans deserve to know why they are still at war

  

• Emily Tamkin Gavin Newsom just confirmed the demise of the Democratic party’s support for Israel

  

• Jay Michaelson Antisemitism is exploding on the right but the Jewish establishment is focused on the left

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  The Israeli Right Wing Is Delighted by Trump’s Win — and Why That’s So Dangerous

  The Israeli government has expressed elation in reaction to Donald Trump’s electoral victory. Likud MK Yehuda Glick invited Trump to visit the territories to “see with his own eyes that settlements are the way to peace.” Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s justice minister, expressed hope that the president-elect would fulfill his promise to move the U.S. embassy…

  By Joshua Schreier and Mira Sucharov Nov 13, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why the Golem Is a Perfect Metaphor for Donald Trump

  In September 2016, in the heat of the American presidential campaign, a new exhibit titled “Golem” opened at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. In Jewish mysticism, a golem is an artificial creation, an anthropoid usually made of clay and animated through combinations of Hebrew letters. One of the items on display in Berlin is a…

  By Maya Barzilai Nov 13, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Federations, Don’t Change Your Policy on the Green Line

  I have often joked (only partly in jest) that my gravestone will say, “Is it good for the Jews?” That shouldn’t be surprising. I am a Jewish philanthropist and an activist who loves Israel; I have lived in Israel and I visit multiple times a year. Jewish tradition is important to me as well. It…

  By Sally Gottesman Nov 13, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We Have To Congratulate Trump. He’s Too Important To Be Treyf to Us.

  It was 1:30am on election night and it was clear that Donald Trump was on the threshold of a stunning electoral victory. This was not the night I had been expecting. I plugged in my laptop, took a deep breath, and wrote the first words that came to mind: the “Jewish Council for Public Affairs…congratulates…

  By David Bernstein Nov 13, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Leaders, Don’t Congratulate Trump! Normalizing Him Endangers Us All.

  After America elected a man I consider a proto-fascist, a man who used blatantly anti-Semitic tropes in his closing campaign ad, I wish mainstream American Jewish organizations had paused to think before cozying up to his incoming administration. Yet the Jewish Federations of North America penned a letter congratulating Donald Trump, appreciating in particular his…

  By Isaac Luria Nov 13, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Yes, the Media Misjudged Trump’s Chances — But We Had a Reason

  To the long list of reasons why the media and pundits misjudged the political tidal wave that swept Donald Trump into the presidency, let me add this: Good character no longer counts. Yes, we — and here I include the Forward — did not appreciate deeply enough how the forces of globalization and economic dislocation…

  By Jane Eisner Nov 13, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Election Eve, I Called Out Anti-Semitism Among Trump Supporters. Their Response? More Anti-Semitism.

  During the days leading up to the election, and certainly during the day itself, there was a lot to be nervous about as a Jewish journalist. Trump’s supporters, especially those on the so-called “alt-right”, have taken it upon themselves to ramp up hateful, odious anti-semitism against Jewish journalists to a degree unprecedented in recent memory….

  By Lana Adler Nov 11, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  After Donald Trump’s Win, the European Dominoes May Fall — and It Won’t Be Pretty

  The election of a Putinist fellow traveller to the White House is not just bad news for America but Europe too. Spare a thought for the people of Ukraine, Bosnia, and Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who now face unbridled Russian interference in their internal affairs and the possible dismemberment of their homelands, knowing that…

  By Liam Hoare Nov 11, 2016 | 3 min read