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
Europe’s Jews and Muslims Need a Strong Left — Now More Than Ever
It’s not easy to be a Jew or Muslim in Europe these days. French Jews are still reeling from the Charlie Hebdo and kosher grocery store attack, with their Muslim counterparts facing a spate of hate crimes aimed at them and an expected surge of support for the anti-Islamic (and historically anti-Jewish) National Front, now…
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Opinion Labor Tops Likud in Polls, But Coalition Still Elusive
With two months to go before Israelis go to the polls, the Labor Party opened a statistically significant lead over Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud for the first time since its mid-December alliance with Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah. Of six polls released last Thursday and Friday, January 15 and 16, one — also the largest poll, with 830…
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Opinion What Selma Meant to Jews Like My Father
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, right, marches with Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders / Getty Images (JTA) — The 50th anniversary of the 1965 march at Selma is being commemorated this year with the release of the film “Selma.” Regrettably, the film represents the march as many see it today, only as an…
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Opinion The Real Problem With Miss Israel’s Lebanese Selfie
Life sure is hard when you’re a contestant at the Miss Universe pageant. In addition to wowing the judges with your swimsuit, your evening gown and your talent, you also have to be constantly on the lookout for quick-footed, iPhone-toting Israeli beauty queens who are dead-set on squeezing themselves into a selfie with you. Or…
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Opinion Where’s the Moral Clarity of #JeSuisCharlie When Free Speech Isn’t Safe?
After any great tragedy, especially if it involves a sensational crime, people invariably set to work. Societies erect symbolic monuments of affinity and empathy. Narratives are constructed to make sense of the cataclysm. A sense of order is restored through theatrical displays of civic unity and common purpose. And the collective hunt is on for…
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Opinion Genesis Prize Goes to Michael Douglas. Really?
Michael Douglas poses with Michael Bloomberg after winning the $1M Genesis Prize. / Getty Images When Michael Bloomberg was named the first recipient of the Genesis Prize last year, I wasn’t alone in wondering why a billionaire businessman and politician whose Jewishness was mostly hidden and whose ties to Israel were tenuous at best was…
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Opinion Is Moshe Kahlon the New Yair Lapid?
Yair Lapid (Getty Images); Moshe Kahlon (Facebook When Yair Lapid skyrocketed to the top of Israeli politics during the last election campaign in 2013, he did it by positioning himself as the most “hevrati” (socio-economically conscious) candidate. He and his party, Yesh Atid, capitalized on the momentum of the “tent protests” that brought half a…
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Opinion How Charlie Hebdo Attack Represents a Genuine Clash Between Civilizations
“When somebody says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.” — H.L. Mencken, Baltimore journalist and curmudgeon “And when you hear somebody say this is not about sex, it’s about sex.” — Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers, during the Bill Clinton impeachment trial And when people tell you it’s not a clash of civilizations,…
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Opinion Zionist Polls Open: Who’s Running, How to Vote
Alert readers may have read my column from last week, explaining what the World Zionist Congress is about, how the American delegation is elected and why anyone should care enough to vote. Well, the online polls are now open. To register and vote, you need to pay $10 (via credit card) and affirm that you…
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Opinion Are 45% of Brits Really Anti-Semitic? Not So Fast.
British Jewish demand “Zero Tolerance for Anti-Semitism” at a London rally / Getty Images There it was on Wednesday, on the front page of The Independent. “The new anti-Semitism,” the headline read, and beneath it: “Majority of British Jews feel they have no future in the UK.” My interest was immediately piqued, not least because…
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Opinion What Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Can Learn from Boro Park
On a sudden whim one day recently, I changed my usual jogging route in Hayarkon Park. Instead of running alongside the stream or encircling the national soccer stadium, I turned south, heading toward Rabbi Akiva Street, the main road of Bnei Brak, the impoverished Haredi neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Tel Aviv. Since I…
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