Opinion

• Opinion

  Anti-Semitism and Anonymity on Twitter

  “Anonymous” is a pretty apt name for the motley crew of anarchist hackers who like to disable and deface the websites of groups or people “they” don’t like. We can’t interrogate their motives. Only their work offers clues, sometimes quite unambiguous ones. When Anonymous recently tried to take down the website for Yad Vashem —…

  By Gal Beckerman

  4 min read
• Opinion

  LA Times: Boston Cops ‘Question Saudi National’

  The Los Angeles Times now confirms what the N.Y. Post first reported, that the Boston police are questioning a Saudi national in connection with today’s bombings. The Times attributes its report to federal law enforcement officials. Earlier, I reported on the initial N.Y. Post story and flippantly dismissed it as a presumably false rumor. A…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 14, 2013 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  The Forward’s Winning Newsroom

  It’s awards season again in the journalist world, and I’m honored to report that Forward staffers have received some worthy recognition for their work. At the annual Ippies Awards ceremony March 28, which highlighted the work of New York City’s ethnic and independent media, the Forward’s Naomi Zeveloff and Nate Lavey won second place for…

  By Jane Eisner Apr 14, 2013 | < 1 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 is not deliberately killing journalists in Gaza. But it does bear responsibility for their deaths

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

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  Opinion

  Taking a Jewish Page From the Book of Mormon on Interfaith Marriage

  When it comes to interfaith marriage, is there anything that Jews can learn from Mormons? Most Jewish leaders would not relish this comparison. After all, what does a liberal, cosmopolitan group of immigrant grandchildren have in common with this American-born collection of conservative Christians? Well, more than you might think. For one thing, they make…

  By Naomi Schaefer Riley Apr 14, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Shul Axes Pamela Geller, and 2 Others Invite Her

  Her April 14 appearance at Great Neck Synagogue was canceled amid liberal protests, but anti-Islam blogger Pamela Geller got the last laugh: The next morning, two other area synagogues invited her to speak the same day as the canceled speech. “Two courageous and magnificent Rabbis have asked me to speak on Sunday,” Geller wrote last…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 14, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Air-Raid Sirens on Israel Memorial Day Evoke Clarion Call for Jewish People

  There are those sounds, that when heard, instantaneously rouse within us trenchant thoughts and emotions frequently relegated to the deepest recesses of our psyche. While sound affects us in many ways, its psychological effects are undeniably the most profound. According to Jean-Luc Nancy, the French philosopher, “Sonority is both time and meaning.” Like no other…

  By Edward Jacobs Apr 13, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Why Pamela Geller’s Hate Speech Should Be Barred — But BDS Allowed

  When it comes to Israel, freedom of speech has become its own battleground. We’ve seen plenty of it in New York already in 2013. Progressive groups defended a talk at Brooklyn College by two Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists in February, and right-wingers rallied around anti-Muslim blogger Pamela Geller this week. The two episodes…

  By Mitchell Plitnick Apr 12, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What’s at Stake After Hugo Chavez

  On Sunday, April 14, Venezuelans will vote to replace their late president, Hugo Chavez. And while Chavez may have succumbed to cancer last month, his shadow looms large from the grave. The campaign of Nicolas Maduro, Chavez’s handpicked successor, continues riding the intense emotions around the longtime strongman’s death. That has made the campaign an…

  By Michael Kaminer Apr 12, 2013 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Icon, Was Wiser Than Friend Ronald Reagan

  Say what you will about former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the “Iron Lady” who passed away April 8 at age 87: If she imposed unnecessary suffering on ordinary Brits through her heartless economic policies, which we call Reaganomics and the rest of the world still calls Thatcherism, she at least had an excuse. Ronald…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 12, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Shul Cancels Pamela Geller — But Fails To Take Stand

  It was after 11 p.m. yesterday that I first heard the news that my synagogue, the Great Neck Synagogue, had announced the cancellation of a speaking engagement by Pamela Geller, founder of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), described as a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center. I breathed a great sigh of relief….

  By Nechama Liss-Levinson Apr 11, 2013 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Orthodox Push Back on Kotel

  The rabbi of the Western Wall Shmuel Rabinowitz isn’t opposed to the plan for an egalitarian prayer section there, he announced in a statement emailed to reporters yesterday. But it’s already clear that he doesn’t speak for the Haredi mainstream. Rabinowitz is Haredi, but softer on religious issues than most Haredi leaders. This is partly…

  By Nathan Jeffay Apr 11, 2013 | 2 min read