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
How Benjamin Netanyahu’s Scowl Campaign Hurts Israel
As the world’s leaders converge in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is encountering an unusual confluence of activities and initiatives concerning nonconventional weaponry in the Middle East. Some of this activity appears to be working to Israel’s benefit, some of it against Israel. Netanyahu is working overtime…
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Opinion King Christian and the Yellow Star
Many people know the story of how the King of Denmark donned a yellow star to identify with his Jewish subjects. But few people know that the story is a myth. The tale is probably best known because of a scene in Leon Uris’s “Exodus,” published in 1958, in which an underground radio transmission reports…
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Opinion Mahmoud Abbas Preaches Peace to the Jewish Choir
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met with a group of prominent American Jews in New York Monday evening for a dialogue over a dinner of trout and saffron rice. Also on the menu were servings of hope, flattery, mutual frustration and a just soupcon of evident peace-process exhaustion and perhaps a hint of unstated despair. Abbas,…
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Opinion Abu Mazen’s Son Says No to 2-State Solution
Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority who is known as Abu Mazen, met Sept. 23 with American Jewish leaders, at a dinner hosted by the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace. There were plenty of former ambassadors, members of Congress, diplomats and dignitaries — former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright identified…
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Opinion To Reach Diaspora, Make Israel Welcoming to All Jews
I am always delighted by the Sukkot tradition of ushpizin. We invite guests, ceremonially and literally, into our homes to celebrate the spirit of Jewish hospitality — a central theme of this festival. This year, I challenge Israel and world Jewry to ask themselves a question: How big is our people’s sukkah? This question came…
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Opinion You Can’t Rebrand the Occupation
No sum of money can rebrand Israel’s occupation The Jewish Agency has teamed up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American Jewish philanthropists to launch the most exorbitant “pro-Israel” campaign ever — expected to reach an annual budget of $300 million by 2015. The stated aim of the lavish endeavor — which will only…
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Opinion News Quiz: What Sarah Silverman Wore
Sarah Silverman can always figure out how to yank our chains — so what did she do on a recent talk show? For that matter, what did Bob Dylan just do (but not on a talk show)? And what does the new kosher cell phone do? Take the quiz to find out!
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Opinion Why Was Denmark Different for Nazis?
Why did the Holocaust fail so spectacularly in Denmark while it succeeded in so many European countries? The peculiarities of the German occupation of Denmark may provide a clue. Denmark surrendered almost immediately after being invaded in April 1940, and agreed to cooperate with Germany. In return, the Nazis installed a plenipotentiary as supreme commander…
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Opinion Witnessing the Nairobi Mall Massacre
Running towards the sound of gunfire with my friend Goran Tomasevic felt familiar; we had worked together in Jerusalem during the start of the Intifada so gunfire and explosions were nothing new; what was different yesterday was that this was Nairobi, my home for the past six years and a place that has grown increasingly…
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Opinion My Journey to Borscht Belt Ruins
When I set out to write a story on the Catskills — its famed legacy, its tremendous decline and what the future holds — I knew I wanted to spend a couple of days upstate, talking with locals who witnessed the area in its heyday and seeing what’s left of it for myself. Photographer Marisa…
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Opinion A Place for Jewish Culture
Last year, Elise Bernhardt, president and CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Culture, gave a talk at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federations of North America about her favorite biblical character, Bezalel, “the original multi-media artist.” Without Bezalel, she argued, there would be no mishkan, no portable dwelling place for the divine. And without…
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Culture ‘My mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish’ — the Knicks chant capturing New York’s soul
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Opinion The Iran war ended terribly for the US, and even worse for Israel
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Opinion Cultural boycotts of Israel just reached peak absurdity
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Film & TV In ‘Disclosure Day,’ Steven Spielberg finds himself at odds with Jewish thought about aliens
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Fast Forward In Britain, a Jewish Culture Month aims to move the conversation beyond Oct. 7
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News This Jewish activist was arrested and deported for her book ‘Lesbian Love.’ 100 years later, will NYC apologize?
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Culture Ever the restless spirit, Tel Aviv-born architect and designer Ron Arad is still reinventing himself and his art
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News New Jewish-Arab political party debuts in Israel, aiming to topple Netanyahu