Opinion

• Opinion

  Anti-African Crackdown Ruled Illegal

  Fear spread across Israel’s illegal immigrants from Sudan last summer. As the Forward reported, it has seemed in recent days like the Interior Ministry’s deadline was looming and they would soon be imprisoned. In August he announced plans to jail all Sudanese illegals without trial starting on October 15 and was expected to get underway…

  By Nathan Jeffay

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Inequality Hurts Us All

  Biblical Judaism knew what to do about income inequality: observe the sh’mitah, the sabbatical year. Every seven years, according to the laws of Leviticus, debts are to be forgiven and all agricultural activities — plowing, planting, pruning and harvesting — are to be suspended. The gap between rich and poor, those who have and those…

  Oct 25, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Jack Lew’s Shabbat Helper

  When Jack Lew was appointed chief of staff to President Obama in January, many in the Jewish community wondered how he could observe Shabbat in such a demanding position. Luckily, Lew has the most powerful man in the world to keep track of time as the sun starts to dip low in the sky on…

  By Nathan Guttman Oct 25, 2012 | 2 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson Mamdani’s victory is an opportunity for Jews to relearn the art of disagreement

  

• Rob Eshman Pro-Palestinian protesters are suddenly supporting Iran. They might want to talk to some Palestinians

  

• Nora Berman Did Netanyahu coerce Trump into attacking Iran? No — but he tried with Obama

  

• Dan Perry For Trump and Netanyahu, statecraft is now synonymous with stagecraft

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  The Forward’s Election Poll: Jewish Issues

  What do you think about the presidential election? We want to hear your opinions on a number of topics, so answer today’s question. We’ll have a new question waiting for you each night this week and a final roundup blog post on Friday. In our second question, we asked readers which issues matter most to…

  By Forward Staff Oct 24, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Dan Senor Is No Neocon

  After Monday’s debate, many took note of the way in which Mitt Romney shifted his foreign policy towards what constitutes the center on Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. It was as if the previous ten months or so had never happened, with The New York Times editorial page suggesting that Romney now “does not actually have…

  By Liam Hoare Oct 24, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Romney Voters Are Fig Leaf for Christian Right

  As William F. Buckley once reminded us, classical conservatives tended to be anti-Semitic. They looked down on Jews, blacks and immigrants, and had chauvinist ideas about women. It’s part of what being a conservative meant. That began to change 50 years ago, when neoconservatism — that is, Jewish conservatism — began to take hold. Neoconservatism…

  By Jay Michaelson Oct 24, 2012 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  The Forward’s Election Poll: The Big Issues

  What do you think about the presidential election? We want to hear your opinions on a number of topics, so answer today’s question and then check back Wednesday evening for the results. We’ll have a new question waiting for you each night this week and a final roundup blog post on Friday. Last night we…

  By Forward Staff Oct 23, 2012 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Chabad Post Jumped to Conclusions

  When I heard that the rabbi of a Chabad house on a university campus was in trouble for providing alcohol to students, I assumed that I didn’t need to hear any further details to understand what the story was. That led me to write this post. I approached the subject with prejudice and without a…

  By David A.M. Wilensky Oct 23, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Bibi’s Brazen Defiance

  With brazen defiance, just a day before he is due to meet with the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs Catherine Ashton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went over the Green Line and defended building there. “United Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital, we have a full right to build in it,” he declared today…

  By Nathan Jeffay Oct 23, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Tweeting the Boca Debate

  Monday night marked the final presidential debate of 2012. For those voters sad to wait another four years to hear their favorite talking points, we’ve captured the best reactions from the Twitter-verse on the action from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla. Comedian David Wain, new to live-tweeting debates, was quick to catch on to…

  By Seth Berkman Oct 23, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s African Problem and Us

  About 60,000 African asylum seekers have entered Israel since 2005, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea. Many died along the way, of starvation or dehydration in Sinai. Many were tortured or raped by Bedouin criminal organizations. And many were immediately stopped at the border by Israel and sent back to Egypt, where they were then deported…

  By Maya Paley Oct 23, 2012 | 3 min read