Opinion

• 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

  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
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  Opinion

  Judging the Yad Vashem Debate

  The final debate is over — the last one ever for Obama and for us this election cycle — and it’s time for some flash judgment. Israel, Israel, Israel: As anyone could have predicted, Israel was mentioned a lot. As “true friend.” As “greatest ally.” I think I counted 6 mentions by the president to…

  By Gal Beckerman Oct 23, 2012 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz Class assignment: Get to know your murdered Jewish neighbors

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry A new proposal to radically destabilize Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Obama Won by Talking Like a Republican

  This late in the campaign, everything is about swing states – and the foreign policy debate was largely about Florida, where moderate Jews could well decide who gets the state’s 29 electoral votes. On those grounds, on the basis of issues important to Florida Jews, President Obama won this debate, but in a bizarre, looking-glass…

  By Jay Michaelson Oct 23, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  The Forward’s Election Poll: The Debate

  What do you think about the presidential election? For the next three days, we want to hear your opinions on a number of topics. First up, the latest presidential debate. Answer these two questions now, then check back Tuesday evening for the results. We’ll have a new question waiting for you each night this week…

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

  Leaders Must Speak Out on Wailing Wall Arrest

  Israel’s Declaration of Independence provides that “The State of Israel…will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex” and “will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture.” Last week, officials of the Jerusalem police violated Anat Hoffman’s most basic civil and human rights…

  By Menachem Z. Rosensaft Oct 22, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  What Is the ‘Jewish Vote’?

  No one can say whether the Jewish vote actually exists. Jews vote, but not as a block. Thus, the idea of a distinctly Jewish vote is, in a way, a mirage, more in our heads than in the heads of voters as they go to the polls. The Jewish vote is the accumulation of votes…

  By Shmuel Rosner Oct 22, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Sheldon vs. Shelley: Inside Vegas’ Ugly Jew v. Jew Tiff

  Politico’s Steve Friess has a fascinating story online today about the longstanding personal feud between two of Nevada’s “most prominent Jewish figures,” hotelier Sheldon Adelson and Rep. Shelley Berkley, who’s running for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican family-values guy John Ensign. It’s a gripping look at how Adelson operates — the intensity and…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 22, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Real Tax Debate? Eisenhower vs. Reagan

  For all the frantic debate-watching that’s swept the nation this fall, one of the most important debates of the current election season has gone largely unheard. It’s a whispered debate between the two most celebrated Republican presidents of the last century, Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, over how to achieve economic growth. Eisenhower, serving from…

  By J.J. Goldberg Oct 21, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  We Got Plenty

  Between two holidays that celebrate plenty — Sukkot and Thanksgiving — we are entitled, if not downright obliged, to inquire into the implications of plenitude. Accordingly, let us start with a Happy Birthday greeting. The greeting is in honor of Mazon, now in the second year of its second quarter century. Mazon began as a…

  By Leonard Fein Oct 20, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Gilad Shalit’s Return, One Year Later

  On the morning of October 18 last year, like the rest of Israel I anxiously awaited the return of Gilad Shalit. The deal had been made and the arrangements were set, but we didn’t know what kind of a young man would return. What his health would be like, his psychological state, his social abilities…

  By Nathan Jeffay Oct 19, 2012 | 2 min read