Opinion

• Opinion

  Presidents Conference Rejected J Street — and Me

  The author, center, addresses the J Street conference in Washington in 2013 / Rachel Cohen I’ve watched as millions and millions of dollars have been poured into youth leadership programs, summer camps, Taglit-Birthright trips and other “big initiatives” to foster identity amongst young Jews. And I’ve grown up listening to my parents’ and grandparents’ generations…

  By Rachel Cohen

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  The IDF’s First Digital Rebellion

  Israeli soldiers support a comrade punished for pointing a gun at a Palestinian teen / Facebook (Haaretz) — The almost routine clip of a violent clash between a soldier and Palestinians in Hebron that took the Internet by storm recently reveals much about the IDF’s procedure in the West Bank in the era of social networks….

  By Gili Cohen and Amos Harel May 1, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Mahmoud Abbas Holocaust Declaration Matters

  In late April, I met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his office in Ramallah. Responding to my suggestion that he address the Jewish people on Yom HaShoah, he stated emphatically that he considers the Holocaust to be “the most tragic event in the modern era” and that he would issue an official statement affirming…

  By Marc Schneier May 1, 2014 | 3 min read

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• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

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• Rob Eshman There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Music for May Day: Songs of Kibbutzim & Coal Mines

  Here’s a little video collection I put together for May Day 2010, with some updates, to help get in the holiday spirit. Fortunately, it’s still relevant. Unfortunately, that’s because we haven’t made much progress in the interim toward economic justice. First of all, the anthem of Zionist labor, Chaim Nachman Bialik’s “Birkat Ha’am” (“The People’s…

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

  How Young Is Too Young for Shoah Education?

  Getty Images Israel’s Education Ministry has left Israeli parents asking how young is too young when it comes to Holocaust education. Yesterday, on the Israeli Holocaust memorial day, Yom Hashoah, kindergartens began following a new government directive to teach the Holocaust. But is this really the right decision? First, it’s not just that every parent…

  By Nathan Jeffay Apr 29, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Can ‘New Israel’ in Texas Solve Mideast Crisis?

  Cowboy boots with Star of David / Congressional candidate Allan Levene (JTA) — With the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations floundering, it may, perhaps, be time to consider an entirely different kind of two-state solution. One that involves the State of Texas. Congressional candidate Allan Levene is proposing to cut the Gordian Knot of Middle East peace…

  By Anthony Weiss Apr 29, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Racist Trash Talk, From Top Court to Hardwood

  Those racist remarks attributed to Donald Sterling, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, reveal something very important about the state of race relations in America today. Everybody seems to agree about that. Just what they reveal, though, is anybody’s guess. On one hand you have the anxious observation of the executive…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 29, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Pull Back the Curtain — and Let J Street In

  If you want to know why ordinary American Jews, especially younger ones, are turning away from the communal establishment — not out of anger but out of disinterest or, perhaps, disgust — then look no further than the convoluted argument over whether J Street should be a member of the Conference of Presidents. J Street:…

  Apr 29, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Seth Meyers and Franz Kafka in One Quiz

  Seth Meyers, Alicia Silverstone and Franz Kafka all in one bizarre, confounding quiz? It’s like something out of…oh, never mind.

  By Lenore Skenazy Apr 28, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  The Moral Quandary That Is Hamas

  Before we can formulate a coherent opinion about Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to renege on commitments to both the Quartet and Israel and join forces with the still-unrepentant, bus-bombing, Kassam-lobbing, Holocaust-denying, expressly genocidal terror organization known as Hamas, or about the Israeli government’s decision to suspend peace negotiations as a result, or about the…

  By David Hazony Apr 28, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Ugly Truth Behind Donald Sterling’s Racist Rant

  L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling watches team play in NBA game / Haaretz (Haaretz) — I am doubly embarrassed by Donald Sterling’s contemptible, racist comments that surfaced this week. Once as an Angeleno and a second time as a Jew. Indeed, the world’s most racist basketball franchise owner is one of our own. Worse, in…

  By Eliyahu Fink Apr 28, 2014 | 4 min read