Opinion

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  Bibi to Watchdog: Bury African Migrants Report

  African asylum-seekers protest outside Israel’s Holot detention center in the Negev, February 2014 / Getty Images Prime Minister Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Harel Locker, has asked the state’s mismanagement watchdog to bury an upcoming report on the treatment of African migrants and asylum seekers, on grounds that publication would harm Israel’s international relations and national…

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Israeli Conversions Just Get a Lot Easier?

  Immigrants from the former Soviet Union arrive in Israel. / Getty Images Did you hear about the latest coup for the Reform and Conservative movements in the Knesset? A new piece of legislation that passed the Law Committee today and is ready for voting in a few weeks will apparently bring closer a day when…

  By Nathan Jeffay Mar 19, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Princeton Mom’ Susan Patton Is Back — and She’s Not All Wrong

  Princeton Mom Susan Patton is back. The Jewish mother of two boys, Princetonians natch, just came out with a book called “Marry Smart” in which she expands her letter that launched a thousand blog posts about why young women should find husbands in college into a 200-page treatise. In the book, she reups her original…

  By Elissa Strauss Mar 19, 2014 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• 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

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  Opinion

  Trading a Palestinian Flag for a Kid’s Freedom?

  IDF soldiers order Shadi Sidr to remove his Palestinian flag in Hebron. / YouTube Last week I wrote about that wacky video of a Hebron settler climbing onto a Palestinian’s roof to steal his flag, getting stuck, and calmly telling the Palestinian that the roof, house, and everything within shouting distance actually belonged to the…

  By Emily L. Hauser Mar 18, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Will Settlers and Arabs Unite To Tank Peace?

  John Kerry / Getty Images As Jerusalem and Ramallah wait anxiously to see the framework peace agreement that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is drafting, large numbers of Israelis are ready to take matters into their own hands if they don’t like what they see. A survey by the Israel Democracy Institute just asked…

  By Nathan Jeffay Mar 18, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Rabbi’s Meditation Lessons Changed My Life

  Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg On those very rare occasions when I start to get anxious or freak out or dive down the rabbit hole of “What if this bad thing happens and then this and then this?” I hear the lilting voice of Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg in my head, telling me to breathe and…

  By Brent Spodek Mar 18, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  N.J. Hillel Hosts 1-Stater. Relax, She’s Right-Winger

  Caroline Glick / Wikimedia Commons From the New Jersey Jewish News comes word that the campus Hillel at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, recently sponsored an appearance by a militant one-stater. The program was co-sponsored by, among others, two nearby Jewish federations including the state’s largest, the Jewish Federation of MetroWest (through its…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 18, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Peace Now Video Advances Mockery, Not Peace

  A new plea for Israelis to push toward an agreement with the Palestinians has been launched in the form of a Purim video sponsored by the Israeli group Peace Now. Called “It’s fun to be a rightist” and set to the song “Got my mind set on you,” the video is an unsubtle sendup of…

  By Mira Sucharov Mar 17, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Were Students Punished for Protesting Israel?

  A member of Students for Justice in Palestine protests in Washington, D.C. / Getty Images Debate about Israel and Palestine on college campuses is coming to a head this week, with over 200 activists expected to rally in solidarity with Northeastern University’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on Tuesday. Northeastern formally suspended…

  By Gabi Kirk and Joey Morris Mar 17, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  News Quiz: Golda Meir, Bar Rafaeli and the SeeSaw

  Free kidneys, chocolate falafel and Golda Meir? That was either a weird week we just had, or Manischewitz is making-80 proof Concord Grape. Or both. Getty Images

  By Lenore Skenazy Mar 17, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Only One Way To Change Hillel: Leave

  This just keeps happening. Institution after institution cancels, boycotts, bans, and otherwise excludes speakers who don’t toe the right line on Israel. Hillel International is beginning to recognize that it cannot both engage all Jewish students and inculcate a politically defined love of the state of Israel — and is choosing the latter. The Ramaz…

  By Jay Michaelson Mar 17, 2014 | 3 min read