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
U.S. Sharply Boosts Aid to Syria Rebels: Report
America is reportedly stepping up its commitment to the Syrian rebels with new injections of money, upgraded weapons and intelligence coordination, according to several respected Arab news sources, the Abu Dhabi-based The National and the Jordanian-based Ammon News. The moves are said to include supply of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, which Saudi Arabia has been eager…
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Opinion News Quiz: Millionaire Matchmaker, Google and Sephardi Jews
Gathered here today are hipsters, con men, Orthodox Jews and at least one Yenta. What could possibly go right?
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Opinion Israeli ‘Semi-Citizenship’? No Thanks!
Getty Images Yesterday in these pages Mira Sucharov explored the concept of qualified Diaspora Jewish citizenship in Israel. She was responding to Naftali Bennett’s floating of the idea (he called it “semi-citizenship”), but she seems open to the notion. However vague, both Bennett and Sucharov meant more than just the ability of ex-pats to vote…
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Opinion Haredi Draft Refusers May Go to Jail Smiling
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish volunteer to the Israeli Army’s Nahal Haredi brigade. / Getty Images Plans to draft ultra-Orthodox men to Israel’s army are moving ahead — complete with a surprise. There has been lots of tough talk regarding the need for universal service, but there was a widespread expectation that the government would stop short…
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Opinion Kiev Is Burning
(JTA) — The scenes from Kiev are reminiscent of Cairo in 2011— or perhaps the Battle of Stalingrad or revolutionary Paris. A ring of burning barricades surrounds the stage on which opposition leaders, European Union parliament members and protesters speak. Images in the news are filled with blood and smoke, burning cars, streets denuded of…
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Opinion The Silence Around Sex in the Haredi World — and Its Unfortunate Consequences
It was the evening before Israel’s Memorial Day more than five years ago. I was living on Mount Scopus and waiting for any form of transportation to take me to the Kotel for the state ceremony. With little time to spare, a taxi pulled up with a Hasid in the back and a seemingly secular…
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Opinion Will Hollywood Get New Intermarriage Script?
A still from the Woody Allen film “Annie Hall” represents a fading paradigm of intermarriage. These days, more American Jewish women than men are marrying out, as the Forward’s Josh Nathan-Kazis recently reported. The story’s headline, “Jewish Woman Is New Face of Intermarriage, Pew Study Data Reveals,” led me to wonder: If Jewish women have…
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Opinion De Blasio on Backing AIPAC: Yes, It’s My Job
New York City mayor Bill De Blasio just appeared on MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes” and was asked in the last few minutes about his January 23 speech to an AIPAC gathering at the New York Hilton, where he told the pro-Israel lobby he would “stand by you” whenever he’s needed “’cause that’s my…
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Opinion Hoarder Wants ‘Nazi’ Art Back — Looted or Not
Art historian Meike Hoffmann speaks to the media regarding the seizure in 2011 of 1,500 paintings from Cornelius Gurlitt in Germany. / Getty Images It looks like the German lawmakers will be too late. Cornelius Gurlitt’s spokesman, Stephan Holzinger, announced today that Gurlitt’s lawyers filed a complaint at an Augsburg court, arguing that tax authorities’…
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Opinion How Not To Brainstorm the Jewish Future
Supporters of Naftali Bennett celebrate in Tel Aviv in 2013. / Getty Images When I heard that the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency were spearheading a three-day “Online Brainstorming Marathon to Plan the Future of the Jewish People,” the international crowdsourcing initiative instantly grabbed my attention. Partly, it was because I’d heard that Israel’s…
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Opinion Gold Medalist Charlie White Not Really Jewish
Getty Images (JTA) — Earlier this week, Jewish news outlets ran reports on American ice dancers Charlie White and Meryl Davis winning Olympic gold. All these outlets reported — based on previously published articles — that White was Jewish. It appears we were all misinformed. The Detroit Jewish News — which initially report White’s supposed…
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News Protesters picket Manhattan synagogue over Israel real estate sale, testing Mamdani and new law
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