Opinion

• Opinion

  It’s Jew vs. Jew as Iran Sanctions Fight Gets Ugly

  Sanctions bill sponsor Sen. Robert Menendez addresses AIPAC annual policy conference, Washington Convention Center, March 5, 2013 / Getty Images The debate over the Menendez-Kirk Iran sanctions bill in the Senate just keeps getting uglier. And now the nastiness is seeping – make that pouring – right into the heart of the Jewish community, as…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  5 min read
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  Opinion

  What York University Can Learn From Israel

  Aerial photo of York University, Toronto, in 2010. / City of Toronto The ongoing dilemma of accommodating religious beliefs in a liberal and multicultural society is again glaringly apparent. News reports reveal that at York University, a large, publicly-funded post-secondary institution in Toronto, a student in a sociology course requested that he be exempt from…

  By Mira Sucharov Jan 14, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Scarlett Johansson: ‘No Guilt’ About SodaStream

  Scarlett Johansson poses for photographers on November 10, 2013, in Rome. / Getty Images Scarlett Johansson signed on this week as the new “global ambassador” for the West Bank-based Israeli company SodaStream and will be featured in the company’s 2014 Super Bowl advertisement. For SodaStream, this deal makes sense: Johansson is remarkably sexy, eco-friendly, loves…

  By Elisheva Goldberg Jan 14, 2014 | 3 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 A new humanitarian outrage is unfolding in the Middle East. It’s not in Gaza

  

• Nora Berman The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  What If Ariel Sharon Had Died 8 Years Ago?

  If today has proven one thing, it is that time can be a healer here in Israel. Imagine that Ariel Sharon had died the day after his stroke in 2006, instead of clinging on to life, unable to communicate. On the personal level, it would have probably been far easier for his family. But on…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jan 13, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Got No Business Banning Nazi Symbols

  A swastika symbol painted on the wall of a synagogue in Petah Tikva, Israel. / Getty Images Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted for a bill yesterday that, if it passes three readings in the Knesset, would impose penalties on those who use the term “Nazi” as a comparison, employ Nazi symbols, or call in…

  By Brent E. Sasley Jan 13, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Tunisia Makes Progress on Minority Rights — And the World Ignores It

  “News of disaster is the only narrative people need. The darker the news, the grander the narrative.” This observation, made by a character in Don DeLillo’s novel Mao II, has never seemed truer than today. Just ask the citizens of Tunisia, who are marking on January 14 the third anniversary of the overthrow of Zine…

  By Robert Zaretsky Jan 13, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Gary Shteyngart, Tiger Mom and the Pope

  Welcome to probably the only place you can find the Tiger Mom, the Modern Language Association and the Pope all hanging out together. Watch out!

  By Lenore Skenazy Jan 13, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  A Portrait of Ariel Sharon

  This week, all of Israel and not a few world leaders gathered to mark the passing of former prime minister Ariel Sharon. Cartoonist Eli Valley offers his own unique graphic take on the much-memorialized man.

  By Eli Valley Jan 13, 2014 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Menachem Stark — Just Another Hasid?

  I was pained to read Jay Michaelson’s article about murdered Hasidic businessman Menachem Stark. With its ‘Us-vs.-Them’ mentality, simplistic black-and-white view of human character, and broad stereotypes, it was an ugly and shameful slur. It was almost down-right Haredi. I don’t claim to possess any more information about Stark than Michaelson does. Just like him…

  By Mordechai Lightstone Jan 12, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Sharon’s Legacies — in Life and Death

  I was saying kaddish for my mother when Ariel Sharon was felled by a stroke in January 2006. To me, Sharon was a complicated, divisive figure, whose attitude towards Palestinians left me so disgusted that I once walked out on a speech he gave. I remained skeptical of his political conversion and concerned about the…

  By Jane Eisner Jan 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Fighting Jewish Slumlords Isn’t Anti-Semitic

  Menachem Stark’s death and the media’s inflammatory response to it highlight a particular kind of anti-Semitism: the kind that can emerge as a result of the religious Jewish community’s involvement in real estate and the horrible living conditions in many of those buildings. As a tenant organizer at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, I work…

  By Elise Goldin Jan 12, 2014 | 3 min read