Opinion

• Opinion

  Video Madness

  The video deriding Muslims that allegedly sparked violence in Libya and Egypt probably would get a failing grade in any high school film class. Just watching it for a few minutes is enough — it is crude, mean, amateurish. Why anyone would produce and create such a film, why a Florida pastor would promote it,…

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Who Are Your Forward 50?

  Like the advent of cool autumn evenings, like the start of the school year and the wrap up of the baseball season, assembling the Forward 50, the annual list of America’s most influential Jews, is again under way at our office. Staff members have already met twice to discuss the people they believe have had…

  By Jane Eisner Sep 14, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Watch: Slain Envoy Saw Al Qaeda Take Root in Libya

  Rachel Maddow opened her MSNBC show this evening with a fascinating piece about a small city just east of Benghazi called Derna, which was reported several years ago by the late Chris Stevens, then a junior U.S. diplomat in Libya to be a hotbed of Islamic radicals and Al Qaeda wannabes. According to a 2008…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 14, 2012 | < 1 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

  Bibi’s ‘Snub’ Leak Makes Sense to Some

  It’s surely an irony of the current public spat between Israel and the White House: An Israeli government that tut-tuts every time important public figures speak their mind on Iran has no qualms about leaking sensitive information when it suits its own perceived interests. Whatever the truth of the current spat between Jerusalem and Washington…

  By Nathan Jeffay Sep 13, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Iraq War ‘Godfather’ Opposes Iran Strike

  The man once known as the intellectual godfather of the Iraq war opposes a military strike on Iran. Bernard Lewis, 96, the British-born expert on the Middle East who enjoyed exceptionally close ties to the Bush administration, told the Forward at a gala dinner held in his honor last night that he didn’t support military…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Sep 13, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel on the Ballot

  It’s difficult to recall a time when an Israeli prime minister has inserted himself into a presidential election campaign in the way that Benjamin Netanyahu has. It’s even harder to recall a time when a trusted ally openly urged the American president to undertake a questionable, unpopular and highly risky war. We sure hope Netanyahu…

  Sep 13, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Untangling the Oxymoron of the Secular Jew

  ‘Secular” is to “Jew” as “holy” is to “Torah,” as “noisy” is to “grogger,” as “crotchety” is to “Larry David.” Which is another way of saying that this coupling of adjective and noun sounds logical, natural and familiar. Could the same be said of a shiduch on the order of “secular Southern Baptist,” or “secular…

  By Jacques Berlinerblau Sep 12, 2012 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Reporter Watches Bris — And It Ain’t Pretty

  While I was researching my Forward story about circumcision and pain, I realized that I didn’t know what a circumcision actually looks like. I’ve only attended one bris — apart from my own — and there I didn’t have a good line of sight to the baby. I was particularly interested to know more about…

  By Paul Berger Sep 11, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Hard To Repent If It’s Everyone Else’s Fault

  Well, the High Holy Days are upon us once again, and from the look of things, it seems the season of repentance and atonement is going to prove harder than ever to slog through this year. Not that we won’t give it our best. The trouble is, it’s hard to repent effectively when you believe…

  By J.J. Goldberg Sep 11, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Doing Business With Mohamed Morsi

  More than 100 American business executives descended on Cairo to discuss new investments in Egypt’s beleaguered economy. The four-day mission, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt and the U.S.-Egypt Business Council, contains representatives from some of the United States’ largest corporations, including Boeing, Citigroup, ExxonMobil, and Microsoft, along with officials from the…

  By Aaron Ross Sep 10, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Our Forgotten Defenders

  In mid-August, 127 Americans flew to Israel with the intention of joining the Israel Defense Forces. They arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport to a boisterous and well-organized welcome, complete with a live band, balloon hats, and a speech delivered personally by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Photos of would-be soldiers joyously dancing in the airport arrival…

  Sep 10, 2012 | 3 min read