Opinion

• Opinion

  The Ultra-Orthodox Hatred Behind the Stabbing at Jerusalem Gay Pride

  If a community’s respected religious leaders preach, over and over again, that gay people deserve to be killed, isn’t it inevitable that someone will try to kill them? That’s one of the lessons from today’s stabbing of six people at the Jerusalem Pride Parade. Of course, it was also the lesson ten years ago at…

  By Jay Michaelson

  6 min read
• Letters

  Supply Kurds and Protect Israeli Druze

  The conflicts in Syria have increased the complexity of the Middle East and exacerbated the instability in the region. Terrorists have taken advantage of the instability, and have made dramatic territorial gains in Syria and Iraq. They now threaten two minorities — Kurds and Druze. The Kurds, who are non-Muslims, are starting to receive military…

  By Donald A. Moskowitz Jul 30, 2015 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Appeal to Authority

  Among the most potent logical fallacies available to the polemicist is the “appeal to authority,” by which one attempts to suggest that the opinion of an expert on a question within the general area of his expertise must be correct. An “appeal to authority” is at the heart of J.J. Goldberg’s column “Israel Security Establishment…

  Jul 30, 2015 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson Being Jewish in America today feels like walking multiple tightropes at once

  

• Rob Eshman My brother-in-law’s kibbutz weathered Oct. 7. Then came the Iranian missile strikes

  

• Nora Berman Zohran Mamdani is right about what ‘intifada’ means — well, kind of

  

• Dan Perry Might Iran become Trump’s Iraq? Americans are wary — but shouldn’t be

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s latest move makes Mahmoud Khalil a Joseph for our times

  

The Latest

• Letters

  Wronged Women

  I am appalled by your portrayal of Faigy Mayer’s suicide. An event like this deeply saddens all of us, regardless of race or religious denomination. Yet it amazes me how you have used this woman’s story to wrongfully generalize about ultra-Orthodox Jews (specifically women) worldwide. Thankfully, as thousands of our success stories don’t end in…

  Jul 30, 2015 | 2 min read
• Letters

  A “Non-Zionist Synagogue”: Who Owns the Flag?

  The news that Rabbi Brant Rosen, previously at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Illinois, has started a “non-Zionist synagogue” comes as no surprise, given his courageous stand against Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. But the term, “non-Zionist synagogue” is problematic. If there can be a “non-Zionist synagogue,” the implication is that there are “Zionist…

  By Dov Taylor Jul 30, 2015 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Negotiator Breaks Down Science of Iran Nuclear Deal

  The Forward urged readers in to be “productive, reasoned, thoughtful, appropriately skeptical, [and] engaged” in deciding to support or oppose the Iran nuclear agreement concluded in Vienna — and to take seriously concerns that this might increase the threat to Israel. But it also acknowledged that the status quo is unacceptable, and that readers should…

  By Ernest Moniz Jul 30, 2015 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  What’s Lithuania Trying To Prove By Accusing Jews?

  With horror, I read recently about the Lithuanian state’s attempt to hide its history of Nazi collaboration — by accusing Jewish partisans who fought against the Germans (and their Lithuanian collaborators) of ill-defined, ill-documented “war crimes.”](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/07/lithuania_and_nazis_the_country_wants_to_forget_its_collaborationist_past.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_top “”) It’s not the first time such an effort has been made, but it’s still maddening to read the…

  By Jonathan Paul Katz Jul 30, 2015 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Gaza Was Like Home — But I Supported Disengagement Anyway

  I first became acquainted with the Jewish settlements of Gaza during my Israeli army service in 2002. This was during the second Intifada and my parents, living in New Jersey and unable to call me due to their deafness, were extremely worried about me. To calm them, when I had a free moment, I’d walk…

  By Chaim Landau Jul 30, 2015 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  When Jews Hate Jews

  Baseless hatred. That was the Jews’ sin, which God punished by allowing the Romans to level the Second Temple. On Tisha B’Av Sunday July 26, we mourned the destruction of both Temples. But as I wilted during the 25-hour fast, I was bothered by the notion that the second sanctuary burned because God was angry…

  By Abigail Pogrebin Jul 29, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Mike Huckabee and the Dangers of Hyperbole on Iran

  We thought this year’s Republican presidential field had set a new low in personal invective, what with Ted Cruz calling Mitch McConnell a “liar,” Lindsey Graham calling Donald Trump a “jackass” and Trump himself impugning Graham’s competence, Rick Perry’s intelligence and even John McCain’s heroism. But Mike Huckabee has shown us there are always new…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 29, 2015 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Morning After the Iran Deal Drama Ends

  There are Jewish lobbyists, political activists, federation leaders, rabbis, opinion writers and maybe even some ordinary folks who are focused on the day two months from now when the U.S. Congress votes on the nuclear agreement with Iran. Will there be enough votes to sustain President Obama’s signature foreign policy accomplishment? If not, how soundly…

  By Jane Eisner Jul 28, 2015 | 4 min read