Opinion

• 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…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  5 min read
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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…

  By Jay Michaelson Jul 21, 2014 | 3 min read
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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…

  By Haggai Matar Jul 21, 2014 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz My summer plans prove it: The Jewish Catskills are alive and kicking

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry A new proposal to radically destabilize Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

The Latest

• 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…

  By Anne Cohen and Sigal Samuel Jul 21, 2014 | 2 min read
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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…

  By Leonard Fein Jul 19, 2014 | 3 min read
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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…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jul 18, 2014 | 4 min read
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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…

  By Yossi Melman Jul 18, 2014 | 3 min read
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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…

  By Nechama Liss-Levinson Jul 18, 2014 | 4 min read
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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…

  By Yossi Alpher Jul 18, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Graham Spanier Opens Up on Abuse — His Own

  Getty Images Graham Spanier, the Jewish president of Penn State ousted during the school’s sexual abuse scandal, opened up about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his immigrant father in a new profile in the New York Times Magazine by Mike Sokolove. Spanier, whose 16-year tenure at Penn State ended abruptly in November…

  By Hody Nemes Jul 18, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s ‘Moral Army’?

  Palestinians rush wounded boy to safety after Israeli mortar killed four boys playing soccer on a Gaza beach. Getty Images (Haaretz) — You probably know Israel’s army as the Israel Defense Forces, but the IDF has a more controversial name for itself: the “moral army.” For those unused to this rhetoric, hearing it at a…

  By Michael Mitchell Jul 18, 2014 | 5 min read