Opinion

• Opinion

  Is Gaza Carnage Just the Start?

  (Reuters) — The existential vise in which the state of Israel lives is tightening as the civilian body count and property destruction in the Gaza Strip mount. The latest war between Israel and Hamas is further testament to the historical fact that Israel’s forefathers had to conquer the land that today’s Israelis dwell in and…

  By John Lloyd

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why No Photos of Hamas Militants?

  Getty Images (JTA) — There’s no shortage of images from the Gaza conflict. We’ve seen rubble, dead Palestinian children, Israelis cowering during rocket attacks, Israeli military maneuvers and IDF footage of Hamas militants emerging from tunnels to attack Israeli soldiers. What we haven’t seen are practically any images of Hamas fighters inside Gaza. We know…

  By Uriel Heilman Aug 4, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  New Fights Loom as Israel Slows Gaza Fire

  The determination that the Israeli infantry officer thought to have been captured is in fact dead has changed the trajectory of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, Operation Protective Edge, which now appears to be winding down. Military officers were quoted by Walla News and Haaretz late Saturday night as saying that IDF engineers will be…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 4, 2014 | 6 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

  The Turkey Conundrum

  On July 23, a Turkish group called on social media for a boycott of the books of Turkish Jewish novelist Mario Levi. The famous novelist was born in Istanbul, and one of his best-known novels is “Istanbul Was a Fairy Tale.” However, being throughly Turkish did not shield him from the anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli wind…

  By Ofra Bengio Aug 4, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  An IDF Reservist on Life at the (Protective) Edge

  This was posted this morning at Haaretz in Hebrew by Niv Shtendel, an Israeli blogger, filmmaker, author, film and television critic for Haaretz and Maariv. It describes his experience of — and impressions of — Operation Protective Edge as a middle-aged reservist called up to the front. My translation, so any mistakes are mine alone….

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 3, 2014 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  Where Is Our Compassion?

  It is all too easy to become inured to the horrors of war. What at first shocks us soon ceases even to arouse our attention. After decades of violent conflict, Israelis have become tragically accustomed to violence. Operation Protective Edge is just the latest in a long line of military operations and wars that Israel…

  By Dov Waxman Aug 3, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Prayers for the State of Israel. Yes, Now, on Tisha B’Av

  I get the impression that a lot of folks are feeling lost and helpless right now as we watch the tragedy unfolding in Israel and Gaza. Especially with Tisha b’Av approaching, people are looking for some way to express what they’re feeling in a manner that joins them with others in a community of spirit,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 1, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Genocide Is Always Wrong

  It seems impossible to me that I am typing this line: Genocide is never permissible. Full stop. That one would even need to type such a line destroys me. That an author proposed such an idea? A horror. But It is also his newspaper. It is also the world he – they? We? – live…

  By Sarah Wildman Aug 1, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Israel Refuses To Learn Lessons From Ground Invasions Past

  It’s surely no coincidence that the flurry of cease-fire talk between Washington, Jerusalem and Cairo over the weekend of July 25 was followed immediately by a deadly wave of Hamas tunnel attacks. From the look of things, it appears as though Hamas was afraid Israel might be preparing, under American pressure, to declare victory and…

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

  Shabbat Shalom, Comic Con!

  Jewverine displays ‘adamantium’ menorah hands at Comic Con What’s it like to host Shabbat dinner at Comic Con? This year, my wife Chana and I decided to find out. We attended S. Diego Comic Con International, the annual nerd mecca that ran this past weekend and attracts comic book fans and pop culture geeks from…

  By Mordechai Lightstone Jul 31, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Open Letter to Penelope Cruz From Her Jewish Doppelganger

  Inna Vernikov, left; Penelope Cruz, right / Courtesy of the author; Instagram Dear Penelope, You are a remarkable actress and a strikingly beautiful model. I have been following your successful career for years. Your performance in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” was an inspiring work of art. In fact, I am often complimented on just how much…

  By Inna Vernikov Jul 31, 2014 | 3 min read