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
L.A.’s Eric Garcetti Dons Kippah for Instagram
Getty Images After a year on the job, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, 43, has enjoyed mostly positive reviews from Angelenos and from observers of City Hall, who have credited his low-key governance style with helping reform the daily operations of the city’s government as well as with moving his “back to basics” initiatives forward…
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Opinion Is Gaza Fight Israel’s ‘War of Choice’?
Israeli armored personnel carrier rolls at army deployment near Israel’s border with Gaza / Getty Images In his piece “Israel’s Moral Army?” in these pages, Michael Mitchell impressively deconstructs the Israel Defense Force’s conduct during its current military operation in Gaza. Using a variety of pedagogical criteria (international law, Jewish tradition, ethical theory) he ultimately…
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Opinion As Gaza Toll Rises, So Will Pressure on Israel
Mark your calendars: It was on Sunday, July 20, that the momentum turned against Israel. Sometime around noon the wind shifted and the tide began to roll out, and Israel started to lose international sympathy for its Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Up until Sunday morning Israel had a pretty clear field, owing to a…
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Opinion Dan Markel’s Meaningful Life Ends in Senseless Death
There was a time, not too long ago, when what we wanted were explanations. Religion, philosophy, art – these were meant to tell us how things fit together, how they made sense. Even today, many of us — religious, secular, spiritual-but-not-religious — hold to this view. “It was meant to be.” “God works in mysterious…
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Opinion Tel Aviv Is Under Red Alert — In Many Ways
In 15 years of political activism, and about eight as a journalist, I cannot remember a time when people around me were so afraid to speak their minds. Not Jews, anyway, and definitely not in Tel Aviv. Palestinians in the occupied territories always knew that stepping up against the occupation, even with the most nonviolent…
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Opinion From Shul to Shrimp in New Orleans
The French Quarter in New Orleans. We spent the last night of our road trip through the Jewish South in New Orleans — not really part of the South at all. The Big Easy is more like the northern extension of the Caribbean. And its Jewish life reflects that. The pattern we saw here differed…
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Opinion When We Stop To Really See Each Other
A phrase — actually, just a word — in Ethan Bronner’s recent New York Times analysis of the “divorce” between Israelis and Palestinians caught my eye. In lamenting that daily interactions between Israelis and Palestinians have virtually disappeared, Bronner writes, the two peoples “who once knew each other intimately” have become “virtual strangers.” The separation…
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Opinion 3 Takes on the Hamas Endgame
From the “If You’ve Only Got Time To Read One Thing” Dept. Actually, I’ve got three items to recommend, each of which casts invaluable light on what’s going on right now in Gaza. In a moment I’ll rank them in order of importance, but first, a comment on what they have in common. The three…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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