Opinion

• Opinion

  Hamas Has Nothing To Lose — and Why That’s So Dangerous for Israel

  As the invading Israeli Defense Forces are consolidating their control of the border areas of Gaza, there are several important questions worth addressing. What are Israel’s military tactics? What is Israeli strategy? What are Hamas’s and do the two sides have an exit strategy in case events get of control? The IDF troops consist of…

  By Yossi Melman

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jews, Christians and Muslims Pray and Fast for Peace

  Nechama Liss-Levinson “Shalom!” – “Salaam!” – “Peace!” So started the evening, “Fasting together, Praying for Peace” at Temple Sinai in Roslyn, New York, this past Tuesday evening. Jews, Muslims and Christian neighbors gathered together to talk, learn, pray and break the fast together. The Jewish minor fast day of the 17th of Tammuz coincided with…

  By Nechama Liss-Levinson Jul 18, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Israel Is Right To Launch Gaza Ground War To Root Out Terror

  The ground offensive into the Gaza Strip that the IDF launched Thursday night represents the ultimate in asymmetric warfare. Israeli tanks, ground forces, artillery, drones, special tunnel detection equipment — all with massive air and naval cover — are moving deliberately west from the Gaza-Israel border fence in a methodical search for tunnels (eight unearthed…

  By Yossi Alpher Jul 18, 2014 | 4 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

  Graham Spanier Opens Up on Abuse — His Own

  Getty Images Graham Spanier, the Jewish president of Penn State ousted during the school’s sexual abuse scandal, opened up about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his immigrant father in a new profile in the New York Times Magazine by Mike Sokolove. Spanier, whose 16-year tenure at Penn State ended abruptly in November…

  By Hody Nemes Jul 18, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s ‘Moral Army’?

  Palestinians rush wounded boy to safety after Israeli mortar killed four boys playing soccer on a Gaza beach. Getty Images (Haaretz) — You probably know Israel’s army as the Israel Defense Forces, but the IDF has a more controversial name for itself: the “moral army.” For those unused to this rhetoric, hearing it at a…

  By Michael Mitchell Jul 18, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Black Hats and Wigs Do Not an Orthodox Jew Make

  Several years ago, when I was penning a weekly column for a Haredi magazine, the periodical declined to publish one of my submissions. It was about “Cultural Orthodox Jews,” a phrase I coined for people who eat only rabbinically supervised foods, wear black hats (or wigs), pray in synagogue daily and send their kids to…

  Jul 17, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Jews Everywhere Bear Brunt of Israel Actions

  German demonstrators join Europe-wide round of protests against Israel’s attack on Gaza. Unlike other groups, Jews are blamed for the actions of Israel — and are coming under attack worldwide. Getty Images. (Reuters) — As the death toll in Gaza rises, so does anger against Israel – and sometimes, by extension, Jews – in Europe…

  By John Lloyd Jul 17, 2014 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  I Remember Shock of First ‘Price Tag’ Attack

  The indictment today of three suspects for the revenge killing of the Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir has put this crime, knocked off the news agenda by the Hamas-Israel violence, back in people’s minds. As I have watched the reaction over the last 12 days to the news that Khdeir does appear to have lost…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jul 17, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  France Must Reckon With Its Anti-Semitism Problem

  When a crowd of people took the Bastille, the hulking prison in eastern Paris symbolizing the power of the monarchy, on July 14, 1789, they launched the French Revolution. This explains why popular demonstrations on behalf of the revolutionary ideals of 1789 — liberty, equality and fraternity — most often conclude at the towering column…

  By Robert Zaretsky Jul 17, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  From Crown Heights to Mississippi

  Malkie Schwartz stands in front of the Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Mississippi. Turn off Highway I-55 N at Frontage Road in Jackson, Mississippi and you’ll come across a non-descript squat brown building. Inside is a trove of Jewish learning. The Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) delivers rabbinic services, educational programs and…

  By Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel Jul 17, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Bibi Doesn’t Want To Invade Gaza

  It’s a harsh fact of life in a tough neighborhood like Israel’s, so Israelis will tell you, that when somebody hits you, even a little, you have to hit back hard. Otherwise the blows will keep coming until they do real damage. It doesn’t matter how puny today’s foe might look. If you let it…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 17, 2014 | 4 min read