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
Shin Bet Big: Bibi’s Stand Keeps Abbas from Talks
Speaking of intelligence leaks, Israel had one last week that speaks volumes about the prospects for Secretary of State Kerry’s Middle East peace mission. Consider how a June 4 classified briefing to the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee was described the next day in Maariv’s lead headline: “Shin Bet chief: Abu Mazen Doesn’t Believe…
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Opinion At Women of the Wall Service, Tables Are Turned
The tables were well and truly turned at the Western Wall this morning, as the Israeli Police, which until this spring detained women holding communal prayers, executed a mass operation to protect them and facilitate their worship. Until April 25, the police treated the monthly gatherings by the feminist alliance Women of the Wall as…
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Opinion On Palestinians, Israel’s Leadership Has a Split Personality
In late February 2002, shortly after Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah presented columnist Thomas Friedman with his famous Saudi peace plan, the director of Israel’s vaunted Mossad went to his boss, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. His advice: Welcome the initiative as a bold step toward peace. The plan offered Israel full recognition and normalized relations with…
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Opinion Artist and Writer Rachel Abrams Dies
Writer, editor and artist Rachel Abrams died June 7 of stomach cancer, at age 62. Abrams came from a noted neo-conservative family that included her mother, Midge Decter, a founder of the Project for a New American Century; her stepfather and longtime Commentary editor Norman Podhoretz, and her husband, political scientist and diplomat Elliott Abrams….
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Opinion The One About Clinton, JNF, Peres and the $500K Bill
Like many urban legends, the myth — and now mess — of the Jewish National Fund’s supposed agreement to pay former President Bill Clinton $500,000 in charitable funds to speak for 45 minutes to an exclusive group of Israeli dinner guests began with an incorrect press report — which then got repeated until it was…
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Opinion Genocide, Lies & Video: Sliming Samantha Power
Even in a political culture as poisonous as ours is of late, there’s still something deeply disturbing about the perverse dishonesty of the right-wing attacks on Samantha Power, President Obama’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations. There are so many layers of bad faith at work here that it’s hard to know where to…
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Opinion Samantha Power Already Faces Knives Out From Some on Israel
The knives are already out. Samantha Power, it is alleged, is an enemy of Israel — this based on comments she made in response to a “thought experiment,” comments she subsequently disavowed. Power was asked, back in 2002, how her support for liberal interventionism to defend human rights abroad might be applied to a situation…
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Opinion Will Walmart Swamp Toronto’s Jewish Heart?
Will Walmart’s arrival spell the end of Kensington Market, the quirky, vibrant Toronto neighborhood that housed most of the city’s Jews in the early 20th century? Locals think so. And more than 40,000 of them have signed a Change.org petition urging the city to reject a property developer’s proposal for a three-story mall whose anchor…
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Opinion Turkey’s Moment of Tumult
Weeks before Turkish protesters took to the streets, alcohol fueled the flames of revolt. It was not drunkenness, however, that turned up the political heat; rather, it was government rhetoric that denied alcohol’s Turkishness. First, the conservative government initiated bans on selling alcohol. Then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed for constitutional reform in order…
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Opinion Dueling Satmars Unite for Huge Anti-Draft Rally
A rare joint rally sponsored by both of the dueling factions within the Satmar Hasidic movement could bring upwards of 20,000 protesters to downtown Manhattan this Sunday, according to Satmar insiders. The Satmar factions, led by two warring brothers who each claim the title of rebbe, rarely cooperate. Yet activist supporters of both sides are…
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Opinion News Quiz: L.I. Princesses, Female IDF Soldiers
Welcome back to the Forward’s weekly news quiz! It’s time to think about diamonds, dementia and the fifth edition of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. (Which may include a name for people who think about diamonds, dementia and diagnoses.) Also: Think about Michael Cera. Are you sure you’re thinking about Michael Cera?
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