Opinion

• Opinion

  Founder of Canadian Nazi Party Runs for Office

  John Beattie / Youtube Will voters in a small Canadian town overlook the hate-filled past of a town-council candidate? John Beattie is betting on it. Beattie, the 73-year-old founder of the Canadian Nazi Party, has thrown his hat in the ring for elected office in Minden, an Ontario hamlet of 5,600 better known for tidy…

  By Michael Kaminer

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Did We Obsess Over Israel’s War in Gaza? Capitalism.

  A journalist films as rescue workers remove the body of a Palestinian man from the rubble of his home in Gaza / Getty Images The American media covers Israel more than almost any other pressing geopolitical concern. The disproportionate coverage was continually pointed out (as it had been in the past) as reporters crawled in…

  By Elisheva Goldberg Sep 2, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Was Elvis Jewish at Heart?

  Wikimedia Commons Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley and Harry Houdini. It’s no illusion; they are all bound together in this week’s quiz. Good luck getting out of this one!

  By Lenore Skenazy Sep 2, 2014 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry The moral degradation of Israel’s far-right is even worse than you think

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Antisemitism is exploding on the right but the Jewish establishment is focused on the left

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  So You Really Think Liberal Zionism Is Dead?

  There are many ways to describe this summer’s conflict between Israel and Hamas: accidental, inevitable, horrific, unnecessary, lopsided, tragic. Take your pick — each captures part of the truth. There’s one thing it wasn’t, though, despite what some pundits have been declaring: a death-knell for liberal Zionism. That characterization isn’t just wrong; it’s weirdly off-base….

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 2, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Fascism and France Today

  Zeev Sternhell is one of our era’s pre-eminent historians of modern France. In a series of path-breaking works, Sternhell has argued that fascism is far from being a foreign import to France, but actually has its intellectual and political roots in French soil. While historians still debate his painstaking and provocative interpretation, there is little…

  By Robert Zaretsky Sep 2, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Labor Day Movie Time: Once Were Unions

  Before saying goodbye to Labor Day weekend and heading back to work and school tomorrow morning, here’s a movie to get you into the spirit of Labor Day. It’s an hour-long documentary called “The Inheritance,” and believe me, it’s a great way to spend an evening. It was made in 1964 for the Amalgamated Clothing…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 1, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Gaza, an Israeli Scribe Holds Up a Harsh Mirror

  In an unusual step, Ynet has published an English translation of Nahum Barnea’s weekly Friday column from the August 28 Yediot Ahronot weekend supplement. It’s a powerful indictment of the way the Gaza war was managed, its costs to Israel’s long-term security and political integrity. He talks to the soldiers and officers as well as…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 1, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  On Elvis’ Yahrzeit, His Not So Secret Jewish History

  Tablet magazine has a charming podcast (originally broadcast on Santa Monica public radio station KCRW-FM, they note) of Memphis native Harold Fruchter, son of the late Rabbi Alfred Fruchter, reminiscing about his family’s relationship with Elvis Presley. Elvis lived downstairs from the Fruchters as a teenager, befriended them and occasionally served as their Shabbos goy….

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 30, 2014 | 5 min read
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  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 Aug 29, 2014 | 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