Opinion

• Opinion

  Who Gets To March in New York’s Celebrate Israel Parade?

  The organizers of New York’s Celebrate Israel parade say that it’s the largest gathering of its type on the planet. It attracts leading politicians like the Kiddush table attracts hungry Jews after Sabbath services. It commandeers famed Fifth Avenue for a mile, and the spillover events make Central Park feel as if it’s a synagogue…

  By Jane Eisner

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  So Apparently, My Name Means ‘Chickenshit’ in Hebrew

  I was signing the lease to my new apartment in Israel when my landlord asked to see my passport. He looked down at my work visa, which was pasted on a page inside, and then looked back up at me. “Oh,” he said. “This is a very bad name in Israel.” My last name, Zeveloff,…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Jun 1, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Hebrew School Ambivalent

  “Do we have to go to Hebrew school today?” my middle son whines, snorting and stomping about. “I hate it!” I take a deep breath and try not to roll my eyes, but I fail. It’s an old fight. One I’m tired of. I think back a few days, calculating. Did they go Sunday? My…

  By Alisa Schindler May 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 Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

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

  

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  Opinion

  Memories of an Iraqi Pogrom and What It Means Today

  Besides indulging in dairy and abstaining from sleep, Shavuot signifies the offering of the first fruits in the Land of Israel, the receiving of the Torah and the story of Ruth the Moabite. For Iraqi Jews, however, Shavuot also represents a time of personal commemoration of the Farhud, the “violent dispossession” that rocked the ancient…

  By Shayna Zamkanei May 30, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The 95% Doctrine of Climate Change

  In November 2001, faced with unconfirmed reports that Pakistani scientists might be helping Al Qaeda get a nuclear weapon, Vice President Dick Cheney articulated what became known as the Cheney Doctrine: If there’s even a 1% chance that the unimaginable might happen, it must be treated as a certainty and acted on accordingly. “It’s not…

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

  How Bibi’s Rubik’s Cube Cabinet Creates Chaos — and Danger

  Two weeks after his new cabinet was formally sworn in, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still juggling cabinet assignments as he struggles with the Rubik’s Cube of his fourth governing coalition. Newly appointed ministers have been furiously jockeying for position and influence, forcing the prime minister to carve up existing ministries and move sub-bureaus…

  By J.J. Goldberg May 28, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Is France Up in Arms About Holocaust Compensation Deal?

  A heated debate erupted in the French Parliament yesterday about who is responsible for the deportation of thousands of French Jews to the death camps during the Holocaust: Could it be the French government? Last year, the U.S. and French governments signed an agreement for France to pay $60 million to those rounded up and…

  By Jesse Lempel May 28, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The BDS Blacklist Is a Jewish Moral Failure

  I, like many others, read the Forward’s — and shuddered. This organization documents, on its website, the names and photographs of pro-Palestinian activists around the country with links to their personal details, social media profiles, and print-out profiles for activists. The database, as stated on the webpage, “was created to expose individuals and groups that…

  By Jonathan Paul Katz May 28, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  A Disgraceful Imprisonment in Iran

  Sometimes life imitates art which imitates life. Such is the link between Maziar Bahari and Jason Rezaian. Life: Bahari is an Iranian-born journalist who was in Tehran reporting for Newsweek during the disputed 2009 Iranian national elections when he was charged with espionage, thrown in prison, tortured, denied counsel and visitation, held in solitary confinement…

  May 28, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jean Zay, Resistance Fighter and Cannes Founder, Enters the Pantheon

  One could hardly conceive of a greater contrast between the resorts and runways at Cannes and the sepulchers and silence at the Pantheon. The Mediterranean town is the capital of glitter and celebrity, while the Parisian monument is the twilit-resting place for those whose lives brought glory to the nation. This year, however, the red…

  By Robert Zaretsky May 27, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Ben and Jerry’s Twitter Spat With GOP Over Bernie Sanders

  A decision by Ben & Jerry’s to donate ice cream to Bernie Sanders’ official campaign kickoff party gave a GOP communications director brain freeze. Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee, got into a Twitter fight with the beloved ice cream company on Wednesday, that Sanders’ decision to hand out free Cherry Garcia…

  By Anne Cohen May 27, 2015 | 2 min read