In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
-
Opinion
Wesleyan Made Use of Its Open Hillel Status for the First Time — and It Was Good for the Jews
When I arrived at Wesleyan last fall, I thought I would be involved in Israel politics despite the campus political climate. Instead, I got involved because of it. Wesleyan’s reputation as a strongly pro-Palestine campus had preceded it, and I admit that I had been anxious about coming in a Zionist, even a progressive one….
-
Opinion If Germany Loses Patience With Israel, Will European Jews Take the Heat?
Israel could be headed for choppy waters in its relations with Germany, its most important ally in Europe. According to an April 29 report in Der Spiegel, Germany’s most prestigious and authoritative newsweekly, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s administration is losing patience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, and is beginning to reconsider its long-standing…
-
Opinion Jews of Color Get Personal and Political at First-Ever National Gathering
If you want to get black Jews, Mizrahi Jews and a Palestinian-American Muslim to burst into tears at the same time, invite Yavilah McCoy to talk about hair. Speaking at the opening plenary of the Jews of Color National Convening, which took place May 1–3 in Manhattan, McCoy gestured at the woman beside her, a…
Columnists View All
The Latest
-
Opinion Will New Jewish Effort Force New York To Change Sex Abuse Laws at Last?
Sara Kabakov had never done this before. Never driven three hours from her home in Ithaca, N.Y., to the state capitol in Albany nearly 200 miles away, never tried to enter the mosh pit of lobbying lawmakers, never thought of herself as a political activist. But there she was yesterday at the capitol, seeking an…
-
Opinion New Comedy ‘Activist’ Tackles Israel Divestment on Campus — But Is It Funny?
Campus activists who work on Israel-Palestine — particularly Jewish ones — are both busy and tense. On one hand, Israel’s deepening occupation and the Israeli government’s current obsession with combatting BDS are natural fuel for the activist fire. On the other, the attempts by the Jewish community to marginalize those who don’t toe the party…
-
Opinion Sanders Calls It ‘Palestine,’ Trump Won’t Call It ‘West Bank’ — and Why These Words Matter
To Bernie Sanders, the 2,000-square mile swath of disputed territory east of the Green Line demarcating the internationally recognized border of Israel is known as “Palestine.” Hillary Clinton has called it the “West Bank,” the mainstream term used by the White House and most news organizations, including this one. Ted Cruz refers to it as…
-
Opinion You Hate the Jewish Establishment — But Do You Know What It Is?
I recently found myself in a small conference room with a number of key figures of the “American Jewish establishment.” Around the table was the chief executive of one of the major Jewish defense organizations, several high-level Federation representatives, and leaders of mainstream Israel advocacy organizations. We were not conducting a secretive strategy meeting on…
-
Opinion How Britain’s Left-Wing Party Convinces Itself It’s Not Anti-Semitic
(Haaretz) — A year ago, at the height of the general election in the United Kingdom, there was much focus on racism in British politics. The discussions concentrated almost exclusively on the anti-immigration United Kingdom Independence Party, whose leaders were accused of incitement against immigrants; some of its members, including party candidates, were found to…
-
Opinion What’s Actually at Stake for Brits and Americans in the Anti-Semitism Furor
Near the start of his April 29 article for eBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s media publication The Intercept, Robert Mackey says that what is at stake in a current British political dispute is, “whether critics of Israel, who question its government’s policies or its right to exist as a Jewish state, are engaged in a form…
-
Opinion Will Malia Bouattia Force British Students To Be Court Jews, Like I Was?
The National Union of Students is Britain’s largest membership organization, representing 7 million students. So when it recently elected Malia Bouattia as its new president, and rumors swirled around that she was an anti-Semite, Jewish students on British campuses reportedly felt isolated and uncomfortable. But is Bouattia really an anti-Semite? Isn’t she merely, as she…
-
Opinion Don’t Buy the Junk Science That Says Yiddish Originated in Turkey
When I first saw the short film from Sheffield University featuring Dr. Eran Elhaik claiming that Yiddish has its roots in Turkey, I thought it must be an elaborate ruse, a Sacha Baron Cohen-esque prank to poke fun at the sometimes inane world of academia. But I soon realized that it was, alas, all too…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Expelled Oberlin Chabad rabbi says he ‘made a mistake’ with explicit social media chats
- 2
Culture Louis Theroux’s Netflix documentary on the manosphere takes a detour into antisemitism
- 3
Fast Forward Illinois primary pits Jewish candidate with deep Israel ties against AIPAC spending
- 4
Opinion Trump has forced an impossible choice on American synagogues amid antisemitic attacks
In Case You Missed It
-
Looking Forward We need to talk about New Jersey’s Jewish master of literature. No, not that one
-
Culture Move over Thomas Edison, this deli savant is the Garden State’s newest inventor
-
Opinion We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars
-
Fast Forward Joe Kent, now under investigation, insinuates to Tucker Carlson that Israel might have killed Charlie Kirk to stoke Iran war
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
