Opinion

• Opinion

  Liberal Zionists Unite!

  The worst thing that can happen now to the Israeli liberal left is if Liberal Zionists around the world turn their backs on Israel and give up. The national anthem of Israel is called “Hatikva,” hope, and a recent op-ed in The New York Times by Antony Lerman, “The End of Liberal Zionism,” would have…

  By Elan Ezrachi and Naamah Kelman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Hamas Get Bibi to Freeze Settlements?

  Getty Images Settlements haven’t been in the news of late — and not simply because war pushed them off the media’s radar. They haven’t been in the news because since the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli yeshiva students back in June, there hasn’t been much settlement news to report. True, already-approved settlement construction…

  By Lara Friedman Aug 28, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How I Know Israel Won the Gaza War

  Getty Images In his press conference yesterday on the Gaza operation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was open and honest about at least one thing: the outcome. He noted that it was “too early” to tell if long-term quiet had been achieved. This was inevitable, given the vague nature of “quiet” as a goal for…

  By Brent Sasley Aug 28, 2014 | 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

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Moral Emptiness of Holocaust Survivors Who Took on Israel

  Given Hitler’s voluminous rants about Jews, it is not surprising that one aspect of his obsession is less known: the pleasure he took in the spectacle of Jews deriding and defaming other Jews. Hans Frank, one of Hitler’s top aides, quotes him as saying: “I am an innocent lamb compared to revelations by Jews about…

  By Alvin H. Rosenfeld Aug 28, 2014 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Fighting for Israeli Democracy Atop a Wedding Cake

  Last Sunday evening, just 24 hours before the latest ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was due to expire amid talks in Cairo, the top story on most Hebrew news sites was a small demonstration against a wedding of a “mixed” Israeli couple in central Israel. Morel Malka, a Jewish Israeli who converted to Islam and…

  By Mairav Zonszein Aug 27, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Growing a New Eden (Garden) in Detroit

  Scars in the Garden from Jewish Daily Forward on Vimeo. “The Black community was resistant to the Jewish community coming into the neighborhood at first,” explained Chava Karen Knox, an African-American woman who converted to Judaism a couple of years ago. Knox is referring to the Jewish volunteers who work on a weekly basis in…

  By Martyna Starosta Aug 27, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Why I Spent Shabbat Protesting Police Brutality

  Jews for Racial and Economic Justice march in New York / JFREJ Like many Jewish people around the world, I observed Shabbat this weekend. I didn’t light candles or recite Hebrew prayers; I didn’t eat challah or matzoh ball soup or brisket. I spent my Shabbat marching for justice for Eric Garner of Staten Island,…

  By Sara Gold Aug 26, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Did You Hear the One About Julia Child and Chubby Rabbis?

  Getty Images Overweight rabbis, 100-year-old sex therapists and Nazi spaghetti. Oh – and Amy Winehouse. Time for you to dive into this week’s Jewish News Quiz!

  By Lenore Skenazy Aug 26, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Emphasis on Life Makes Death Rituals a Gift to World

  It’s sometimes said that religion originated out of the fear of death. We all face the abyss, and we all grieve when our loved ones pass away. From this utter meaninglessness, the theory goes, myths of meaning arise. A review of Biblical literature, however, calls this theory into question. Unlike many indigenous and shamanic traditions,…

  By Jay Michaelson Aug 26, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t Return Your ‘Righteous Gentile’ Medal

  Henk Zanoli is second from right in this 1942 family photo / Yad Vashem It was at the insistence of Rivka Ben-Pazi that Henk Zanoli was deemed a “righteous gentile” by Yad Vashem, Israel’s state Holocaust museum. Ben-Pazi wrote a book about the Jewish boy that Zanoli saved, Elchanan Hameiri, and eventually got the museum…

  By Rivkah Ben-Pazi Aug 25, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How To Sell Americans on Israel’s Wars

  Thinkstock Americans have endured endless hours of Gaza media coverage in the past month, from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer crawling through Hamas tunnels to live reports of rocket launches and airstrikes. In between, spokespersons for both sides flooded the airways, each trying to formulate an argument able of convincing American viewers, already overwhelmed by news from…

  By Nathan Guttman Aug 25, 2014 | 3 min read