Opinion

• Opinion

  8 Things You Might Not Know About French Jews

  (JTA) — The deadly hostage siege at a kosher supermarket in Paris has French Jews (and some non-Jews) proclaiming “Je suis juif,” or “I am Jewish,” in solidarity with the four people killed in the attack. Who are the Jews of France? Here’s a primer. 1) How many Jews are there in France? About 500,000,…

  By Gabrielle Birkner

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  In France, a Jew and a Muslim Mourn Together

  Rabbi Benjamin Hattab and Latifa Ibn Ziaten / France 2 screenshot Since the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Paris, we’ve been hearing a lot about rising Muslim anti-Semitism and the precarious situation of Jews in France. But amidst all the fear, there was a moment of true connection when a…

  By Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel Jan 13, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  What Tim Willcox’s Paris Question Says About BBC

  BBC journalist Tim Willcox / Screenshot Tim Willcox’s question was heinous in and of itself. In the midst of a BBC interview with an Israeli resident of Paris and daughter of Holocaust survivors, who had been talking about Jewish suffering in Europe, the journalist ventured: “But many critics of Israel’s policy would say that the…

  By Liam Hoare Jan 13, 2015 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson Have we become the ‘ordinary Germans’ now?

  

• Rob Eshman Oh, great, Elon Musk’s antisemitic AI is about to ride shotgun in my Tesla

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Secret Israeli Report Sees Rift With Europe Growing

  A classified Israeli foreign ministry document, leaked to the daily Yediot Ahronot, warns that 2015 will see Israel’s standing on the world stage steadily deteriorating. It predicts “worsening drift in Europe toward Palestinian positions, more parliaments recognizing the State of Palestine, fear of sanctions and labeling merchandise [to separate settlement products from tariff-free Israel-proper products]…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 13, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why ‘Jew’ Is Rarely Spoken Word in France — Even After Kosher Grocery Terror

  Many observers, both French and foreign, have hailed Sunday’s march in Paris as a historic milestone. More than a million citizens, along with dozens of world leaders, joined together as a sign of resistance to last week’s acts of terrorism, and as the gauge for the persistence of democratic ideals. The event had all the…

  By Robert Zaretsky Jan 13, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  France Was Dead Wrong To Ask Bibi To Stay Home

  Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech at the Grand Synagogue in Paris / Getty Images I’ve got two immediate and possibly contradictory takeaways from the news that French President Francois Hollande asked Benjamin Netanyahu not to appear at the unity rally that took place in Paris on Sunday. Let’s first look at the reasons Hollande reportedly…

  By Gal Beckerman Jan 12, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Bibi Tried To Make Paris All About Him

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at kosher grocery store in Paris / Getty Images Israelis are having a hilarious time mocking their prime minister’s visit to Paris, with ironic tweets and Hebrew Facebook statuses galore. For those who haven’t been following the story, Netanyahu crashed the national solidarity event despite President Hollande’s explicit request…

  By Lisa Goldman Jan 12, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Now, Sadly, France Knows How It Feels To Be Israeli

  Relatives mourn during the funeral for Emanuel and Miriam Riva in Tel Aviv, Israel / Getty Images I spent my weekend glued to the television. Even if I’d tried, I couldn’t have taken my eyes off the images of Paris: that kosher supermarket and that video of a policeman on the ground getting shot in…

  By Danielle Ziri Jan 12, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  JeSuisBibi as Benjamin Netanyahu Jostles for Cameras

  (Haaretz) — Just as you can sometimes identify Israeli tourists abroad by their loud voices, poor manners and gauche behavior, none of the hundreds of millions of people around the world who watched Sunday’s Paris rally on television had any problem locating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: smack in the middle of world leaders at the…

  By Yossi Verter (Haaretz) Jan 12, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Looking for My Gloria Steinem or Bella Abzug

  There’s possibly no better evidence of the lack of female role models I had growing up than the fact that I wasn’t even aware of their absence. It took me until my late 20s to realize that all the people I admired, the ones after whom I was somewhat foolishly modeling my life were all…

  By Elissa Strauss Jan 12, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  After Paris Attacks, Let’s Not Repeat Past Mistakes

  The last few days have brought us from terror to despair to tentative hope to… what? The cascading terror visited first on Charlie Hebdo and then on the kosher supermarket in Paris drove home a despairing reality: the ease with which hatred of Jews is ignited in a Europe that was supposed to have confronted…

  Jan 11, 2015 | 3 min read