Opinion

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  Israel’s ‘Bikini Ban’ Is Just as Bad as France’s Burkini Ban

  Hot on the heels of France’s burkini ban mania, Israel seems to be coming up with its own version. An Israeli singer claims that her set at a Culture Ministry festival on Friday was cut short when she was asked to cover up. Hanna Goor, who was wearing shorts and a bikini top, says she…

  By Alona Ferber

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin and What It Means To Be ‘The Good Wife’

  I ’m a Jewish feminist, blessed with a long and happy marriage, but I know enough to know that an outsider can never really know what happens between two people in an intimate relationship, so I try very hard not to judge. Yet sometimes I can’t help myself. It happens to many of us. For…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 30, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  I Give My Readers Cold Hard Evidence About Palestinians. They Refuse To Believe It.

  It’s becoming more and more obvious that there are some folks out there who simply can’t abide good news. Not just because they’re pessimists and get thrown when things are going well. No, we’re talking about the sort of people who find good news offensive. It outrages them. Their ranks are growing, and so is…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 29, 2016 | 9 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Rob Eshman Trump is backed into a corner on Iran. Get ready for him to start blaming Jews

  

• Dan Perry Marking Israel’s most joyous day with anguish over the country’s future

  

• Emily Tamkin Hungary is poised to topple an authoritarian leader. American Jews have something to learn

  

• Jay Michaelson Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here’s what Jewish organizations should do about it. 

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  ‘The West Wing’ Is Still the Jewiest Show for Our Post-Jewish Times

  On a recent episode of “The West Wing Weekly” — a podcast that discusses Aaron Sorkin’s celebrated TV series “The West Wing” — Joshua Malina reported that a certain Facebook commenter, “Jim,” had complained that the podcast discussed Jewish topics too often. You can certainly disagree with Jim’s judgment, but he’s right that Jewishness has…

  By Evan Goldstein Aug 29, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Quit Your Liberal Condescension Toward Jews Who Love Trump

  As a Jewish immigrant from the Former Soviet Union whose family came to the United States in 1980, I’ve been dismayed to see so many liberals looking down their noses at Russian Jews who support Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Writing in the Forward, Margarita Gokun Silver recently asked, “How Can Russian Jews Be So…

  By Dmitry Gringauz Aug 29, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  My Mayor Thinks He Can Show ‘Who Owns Jerusalem’ — With a Cable Car

  Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat declared recently that new transportation arrangements for the city have been designed to “cause the wider world to understand who really owns the city.” Barkat was describing his proposed project to create a new tourist entrance into the Old City by building a cable car up from David’s City through the…

  By Eetta Prince-Gibson Aug 28, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t Tell Me There Are No Qualified Ethiopian Israelis To Fill the Position

  I have always heard it said in the Israeli public sector and professional social circles, by way of explaining why so few Ethiopian Jews hold positions of prominence in these realms, that no one from among our community is sufficiently qualified. That if even one Ethiopian Israeli would meet the minimum qualifications for this or…

  By Shmuel Legesse Aug 28, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  That Time Hillary Clinton Heard Me — On Everything from BDS to Pre-K

  Full disclosure: I’m a Democrat. I volunteered for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 New York primary. I’ve donated money to Hillary for America. But it wasn’t until last week that I became, in my heart, a Hillary Clinton supporter. Heading into a Cleveland, OH, fundraiser last…

  By Josh Rolnick Aug 26, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Stop Trying To Paint Democrats as Weak On Israel

  (JTA) — Every four years the same movie plays at the Jewish Political Film Festival: It’s the one where the Democrats pass another party platform with more ironclad support for Israel and then nominate yet another presidential candidate whose record on Israel is beyond question. The ending is always the same, too, with two-thirds to three-quarters…

  By Michael M. Adler Aug 25, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israelis and Palestinians Could Make Peace Tomorrow If Not for This Misperception

  If the political will existed, Israelis and Palestinians could reach a peace agreement tomorrow, based on specific terms that majorities on both sides would accept. But it’s not likely to happen, in part because of the nearly bottomless mistrust that each side feels toward the other. What’s more, mistrust has been growing over the past…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 25, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Donald Trump’s 7 Meanest Dog Whistles, Ranked From Worst to Not Quite So Bad

  “Dog whistle politics” has been a major part of this year’s election cycle. Like blowing a super high-pitched horn that only bigots can hear, Trump has used hashtags, internet memes, speeches and off-the-cuff rambling to curry favor with a wide range of fringe (and terrifyingly not-so-fringe) groups. He knows that not only do his antics…

  By Ari Feldman Aug 24, 2016 | 6 min read