Opinion

• Opinion

  A Balance of Interests

  The Forward’s interview with Mousa Abu Marzook highlights some fundamental truths about peacemaking: You make peace with your enemies, not your friends; you make peace not to be nice, but because it is in your self-interest; real peace must reflect a balance of interests, not an imbalance of power, and security arrangements, not trust, will…

  By Lara Friedman

  2 min read
• Opinion

  ‘There Is No Breakthrough Here’

  The real significance of Mousa Abu Marzook’s Forward interview appears to be that the Hamas leadership wants to make sure that Israelis and the American pro-Israel community understand its positions and its terms. Under the influence of its mentor, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which is ascending to power in Cairo, it wants to be understood…

  By Yossi Alpher Apr 29, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Unfortunate, but Illuminating

  David Makovsky could not have been more understated in describing to the Forward Hamas’s somewhat bizarre charm offensive via Mousa Abu Marzook’s interview. “Unfortunately,” he said, “it’s a validation of those who believe Hamas has a far way to go before it becomes a legitimate Palestinian interlocutor.” It is indeed unfortunate, but hugely illuminating. Despite…

  By Laura Kam Apr 29, 2012 | < 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 The challah that changed everything: Tracing Jewish baking back to Poland

  

• Nora Berman The world is outraged by a reporter’s death in Gaza. It’s part of a much bigger problem.

  

• Dan Perry Netanyahu’s new Gaza plan is a disaster. But it contains a tiny kernel of wisdom

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Reading Hamas

  The Forward’s interview with Mousa Abu Marzook, a top Hamas official, elicited a wide range of different reactions, all of them important to the discussion going forward. In this week’s print edition, we presented responses from eight prominent observers of the Middle East peace process. We strove to spark dialogue and to get readers thinking…

  Apr 29, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Still a Proud, Disappointed Zionist

  My father was skeptical of Zionism. He saw no reason to assume that the Jews would do better with nationalism than all the others had. Yet he winced only weakly when I joined Habonim Dror, the Labor Zionist youth movement, which became for the next 10 years as much my home/family as my family home…

  By Leonard Fein Apr 29, 2012 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  The Interview in Context

  Reading the long interview with the No. 2 Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzook, reminded me of the first time I was given a chance to interview then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for the Palestinian daily Al Quds. At one point in the interview (the first ever to a Palestinian daily), which took place in…

  By Daoud Kuttab Apr 29, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  No Secrets

  There was a time when Megan Kanka’s name was well-known for all the reasons that a parent most fears: The 7-year-old New Jersey girl was raped and murdered by a neighbor who, it turns out, had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting young girls. He lured little Megan into his house to see a puppy,…

  Apr 27, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Super PAC’s Party Like It’s 1896

  ‘There are two things that are important in politics,” Republican power-broker Mark Hanna once said. “The first is money and I can’t remember what the second one is.” Hanna posed his riddle, if that’s what it was, more than a century ago, while managing William McKinley’s successful 1896 White House bid. It’s remained a mystery…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 27, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  An Anthem for All?

  There are times when beautiful, soulful music can transport us to a new and challenging place, a place we might never have visited were we not swept along with song. Neshama Carlebach performs that sort of music — when, for instance, she mixes ancient Jewish tropes with the pulsating rhythms of an African American Baptist…

  Apr 26, 2012 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Bibi: Iran Making a Bomb. IDF Chief: No It’s Not

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to CNN: Sanctions “better work soon” — so far they “haven’t rolled back the Iranian program — or even stopped it — by one iota.” IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz to Haaretz: The sanctions are beginning to bear fruit … CNN to Netanyahu: How do you know what they’re doing…

  By J.J. Goldberg Apr 25, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Le Pen Is Real Winner in Vote in France

  Several years from now, historians may recount a conversation at the Elysée Palace, the residence of France’s president. While watching the returns of the first round of the presidential elections on Sunday night, Nicolas Sarkozy shrugs: “It’s a rebellion.” And an adviser, in turn, replies, “No, Monsieur le Président, c’est une revolution.” Or they may…

  By Robert Zaretsky Apr 25, 2012 | 4 min read