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
The Dark Forces Behind the Balfour Declaration — And Its Lasting Legacy
Why does the Balfour Declaration, written in 1917 during the darkest days of World War I, tug at our elbow, insisting we pay attention to it? Indeed even today, “Operation Protective Edge” in Gaza harkens back to Balfour. Political analyst Avishai Margalit said, “You can unspool this vendetta back to the Balfour Declaration.” The Balfour…
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Opinion Who Leaked Israel’s Top-Secret Briefing About Reoccupying Gaza?
Six weeks into a Gaza conflict that continually lurches from cease-fire to live fire and back again, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing what could turn into the greatest challenge of his political career. Pressure is building in the Knesset and in the security services for a criminal investigation into the leak in early…
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Opinion In WWI, Jews Fought for Britain. So Why Didn’t Britain Fight for Jews?
“Britain has been all she could be to Jews” — a recruitment poster issued at the beginning of World War I reads — “Jews will be all they can to Britain: Join the special Jewish unit.” At the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, it was the policy of the established Jewish community in Britain…
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Opinion How Should U.S. Teachers Talk to Kids About War in Gaza?
Getty Images (JTA) — With the new school year nearly upon us, Jewish educational leaders are scrambling to prepare their teachers to discuss this summer’s Gaza War. The most pressing challenge is to design age-appropriate conversations: At which grade level might classroom discussions include potentially frightening topics, such as the wounding of non-combatants, kidnapping of young…
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Opinion Why Jewish Silence on Ferguson Is Not an Option
Demonstrators protest the killing of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri / Getty Images After weeks upon weeks of news reports that detail what seemed to be never-ending violence in Israel and Gaza, compounded by accounts of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks in Europe and Canada and even across the United States, it would have…
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Opinion The Forward Remembers Leonard Fein
Leonard Fein was part of this newspaper from the time the Forward began publishing a regular English edition in 1990. Fein had heard that founding editor Seth Lipsky was planning to create a serious national Jewish newspaper and called Lipsky from Boston. They met for a drink at the Harvard Club in New York —…
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Opinion Israeli Soldier David Menachem Gordon in His Own Words
David Menachem Gordon / Facebook David Menachem Gordon, the IDF soldier from Ohio who was found dead on Tuesday, left a record explaining his journey from budding American journalist to Israeli army recruit. The 21-year-old’s personal blog, “Shields of David,” together with his writings available elsewhere online, offers a glimpse of an articulate young man…
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Opinion News Quiz: What Jewish Character Did Robin Williams Play?
Getty Images Mayor Bloomberg, Robin Williams and Leonard Nimoy are all together in this week’s news quiz – something that probably never happened in real life. But I suppose it might have.
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Opinion Why Jews Should Care About Ferguson
In many ways, it has always been like this. As long as there has been an American republic, there have been white men in power oppressing everyone else. And more particularly, (disproportionately) white soldiers and cops committing acts of violence against (disproportionately) people of color. Not much new here. And yet, it has never been…
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Opinion Summer Camp With Leonard Fein Changed Me Forever
Leonard Fein The Jewish media has been awash with words of admiration for Leonard Fein, who died August 14. They come from those who mourn the passing of a person who embodies his name, a lion who roars. Their tributes rightly reflect upon his fire for social justice, his eloquence and his willingness to put…
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Opinion How Israelis and Palestinians Cope — With Two Different Wars
Getty Images The first thing I noticed when my shared taxi dropped me off in Jerusalem earlier this month were the flags. In the Beit Hakerem neighborhood where I was staying — a mostly secular Jewish area in southwest Jerusalem — balconies were strung with large Israeli flags and rows of miniature ones. Car antennas…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Books In ‘Something We Said,’ Richard Pryor’s daughter finds words to discuss the unspeakable
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Opinion It’s time for Jews who love Israel to give up on Zionism
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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