In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
Why Bibi Nixed Two-State Solution
Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party were backpedaling furiously this weekend to dispel an unwelcome image of diplomatic flexibility, after a negotiating document surfaced in which the Israeli prime minister appeared to offer sweeping concessions to the Palestinians on 1967 borders, return of refugees, Palestinian presence in the Jordan Valley and some undefined Palestinian claim…
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Opinion Why I Will Not Simply Accept Intermarriage
Over the past two years, influential Conservative rabbis have begun flirting with performing intermarriages and with relaxing conversion standards, or at least wringing their hands at Judaism’s traditional endogamy norm and the distress it is causing interfaith families. Given pervasive intermarriage — 58% of all American Jews marrying since 2000 wed gentiles — it may…
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Opinion Palestinians Cut Security Ties With Israel — Not
“Palestinians cut security coordination with Israel”? Really? This looks like another one of those cases where the press gets out ahead of the story. The initial headlines (here, here) said the Palestinians have cut security coordination between their forces and Israel’s. The stories under the headlines said that actually the PLO’s central council had either…
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Opinion Bibi Speech Gave Us Green Light To Openly Debate Israel — at Last
When historians look back on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, they may not focus on what he said about Iran which contained little that was new. The speech may be remembered more as marking the moment when many lovers of Israel felt emboldened to say what they have felt for years – that…
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Opinion An Israeli and German Alliance Decades in the Making
Yermi Brenner When Yakov Hadas-Handelsman was born in Tel Aviv in 1957 the passports Israel was issuing to its citizens still bore the inscription “Valid to any country except Germany.” Today, Hadas-Handelsman is the Israeli ambassador to Germany. He devotes much of his time to nourishing and deepening the relationship with the German nation, which…
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Opinion With Friends Like These (on Iran), Who Needs Enemies?
On March 3, addressing a joint meeting of Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for the emerging nuclear agreement with Iran to be scrapped and replaced with “a much better deal.” Many things have been said for and against the prime minister’s plea, some convincing, some less so. But the most decisive reply came…
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Opinion Is WhatsApp Now ‘Hasidic Friendly’?
Ultra-Orthodox rabbis gather to condemn the internet in 2012 / Josh Nathan-Kazis A Forward tipster texted us this morning to report an odd spam message he’d received on his phone. Sent from a Spanish phone number, the spam read: “Check out WhatsApp Messenger for your smartphone. Hasidic friendly! Download it today…” Last year, I reported…
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Opinion WATCH: Jon Stewart on Bibi and ‘Angry Jews’
You might have missed these two essential video clips commenting on the week’s news. Fear not — here they are. One features Jon Stewart and Aasif Mandvi on the debate surrounding Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit and its impact on the print newspaper industry. The other, erudite meteorological comment on the horrid weather socking us as March…
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Opinion Why Jews Should Support Closing NYC Schools on Muslim Holidays
All across New York City, Muslims are cheering Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to close public schools on the two holiest days of their religious calendar. And Jews should be cheering right along with them. Why should we be happy to see the city observe Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, days that commemorate the end…
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Opinion A Murder in Moscow
The murder of Boris Nemtsov, the popular Russian liberal opposition leader, is the latest in a long history of politically motivated assassinations of those who threatened the Kremlin. Yet, never before has Russia galvanized around the symbol of one of the murdered to the extent that it has in the days following Nemtsov’s shooting just…
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Opinion Netanyahu’s Speech Makes an Amazing Techno Dance Song
You haven’t seen Bibi’s speech until you’ve seen it like this. Noy Alooshe, the Israeli remix king best known for his 2011 “Zenga Zenga” spoof, has outdone himself with a remix of his prime minister’s speech to Congress. In the video, Bibi bosses around the audience members like they’re little kids, issuing alternating commands of…
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Opinion The Gaza hostage crisis could forever change how American Jews relate to Israel — but it’s not too late to fix that
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Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקערין וויווי לאַקס באַשרײַבט געשיכטע פֿון לאָנדאָנער ייִדישער פּרעסעVIDEO: Historian Vivi Laks tells history of the London Yiddish Press
שבֿע צוקער פֿירט דעם שמועס מיט וויווי לאַקס און ביידע לייענען פֿאָר עטלעכע פֿעליעטאָנען פֿון יענע צײַטן.
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Yiddish World Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
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