Opinion

• Opinion

  Why Jewish Terror Is Different This Time

  Israel was stunned last week by a pair of violent attacks, both apparently perpetrated by Jewish extremists, just hours apart, that seemed to suggest a country teetering on a precipice, threatened with a wave of Jewish religious violence. It may indeed be on that precipice, but not in the way it appears at first glance….

  By J.J. Goldberg

  6 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Reclaiming My Star of David as an African-American Jew

  It’s about 3:15 in the morning and I’m awake at my laptop, poring over yet another online Judaica jewelry shop, looking at page after page of hamsa, tablet, menorah, chai, and mezuza pendants. I want something unique. Modern. Sleek. Something that screams “JEWISH” but also hasn’t been run into the ground over and over and…

  By MaNishtana Aug 1, 2015 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  I’m Here To Perform Yiddish Music — Not Cater to Your Idea of Blackness

  In case I’ve ever given you occasion to think otherwise, I’m black. My parents are black, and their parents (may they live to 120 years) are black as well, though they were not always so; they were previously “colored.” My three brothers happen to be black, as is basically mayn gantse mishpokhe, my whole family….

  By Anthony Russell Jul 31, 2015 | 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 ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry A US official just made history in the West Bank — did he imperil prospects for peace?

  

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

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Did Barack Obama Hit Right Note in Call for Iran Deal Support?

  Hoping to energize activists on the left to take on the battle for approval of the diplomatic deal with Iran, President Obama is invoking the memory of the Iraq war and reminding his allies of who led the nation into it. But what many liberals hear as a powerful rallying call to avoid entering another…

  By Nathan Guttman Jul 31, 2015 | 3 min read
• 
  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 Jul 30, 2015 | 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
• 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

  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