In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
To pitch an opinion piece, email our Opinion Editor, Talya Zax.
Opinion
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Opinion
Standing Up for Israel
In recent days, Republican strategists and conservative mega-donors have lined up behind a campaign to distort President Barack Obama’s strong record of support for the state of Israel in hopes of winning over Jewish voters in a few swing states. I wonder what those critics would have said if they had been in the Oval…
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Opinion What’s Israel’s Capital, Jay?
White House spokesman Jay Carney refused to reiterate the official U.S. position that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, sparking a mini-frenzy on the internet. When questioned by reporters during a press briefing, Carney dodged a reporter’s request to clarify the policy, the Times of Israel reports. In an exchange caught on video, Carney said:…
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Opinion Mitt’s Balancing Act
Mitt Romney started off his overseas tour on the wrong foot, with a series of gaffes in his first stop in London. But the presumptive Republican nominee seems well aware of the pitfalls waiting ahead as he reaches Israel on Saturday night. The main point for Romney is to avoid overtly criticizing President Barack Obama…
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Opinion Boy Scouts’ Anti-Gay Stand Betrays Jewish Roots
“What is a nice Jewish boy doing in a uniform like this?’” asked Maryland psychiatrist Alan J. Horowitz in his 1986 essay entitled “Reflections of a Jewish Scouter.” Today, almost twenty years later, it may seem like the Boy Scouts of America may be moving further than ever from Jewish values, as evidenced by the…
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Opinion Little Israel Buzz About Romney’s Trip
I remember the day clearly. The buzz was everywhere. Israelis were certainly suspicious, but they were fixated by Barack Obama’s visit, ahead of his successful Presidential election. Four years on, with Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney about to visit Israel on Sunday, the situation could not be more different. Back in 2008, the daily newspaper…
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Opinion Jewish Angle in Chinese Dissident’s Struggle
My documentary “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” about a Chinese artist who fights for freedom of expression and clashes with authorities because of it, had its first public screenings in January at the Sundance Film Festival. I was wide-eyed, dazzled and overwhelmed that week, my first film festival experience with my first film: audiences clapping, countless…
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Opinion Mitt’s Trip to Israel
President Obama’s critics like to acknowledge that official visits to foreign countries are more about style than substance, but when it comes to Israel, that’s a disingenuous feint. As Mitt Romney, presidential candidate, takes his campaign to Israel, conservative pundits see an opportunity to point out that Barack Obama hasn’t been there since moving into…
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Opinion Diva in the Headlights
Mindy Meyer may be the Diva of the District, but the wannabe state senator from Brooklyn has a little homework to do if she hopes to make it big in politics. The 22-year-old Brooklyn law student looked a bit like a deer in the headlights when a local TV anchor asked her to identify some…
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Opinion In Praise of Day Schools
As the mother of two grade-school boys in a Conservative day school, I read the Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011, a comprehensive survey of the world’s largest and most diverse Jewish community outside Israel, with great interest. It has clearly raised some significant issues and pointed out real challenges facing the Conservative movement….
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Opinion Nice To Meet You
Those who are dedicated to maintaining Jerusalem as a pluralistic capital of all of Israel won a small but important victory in July: The Ministry of Transportation ordered Cnaan, the agency that handles advertising on Egged buses, to include images of women. The ruling was in response to a petition by Yerushalmim, a group that…
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Opinion More Than Just a Farm
A few months ago I sent an email to my editor, pitching a story on Yiddish Farm. (That piece is in this week’s paper, and online here.) I didn’t have to make a hard sell. An organic farm, run by 20-something-year-olds, where everyone speaks Yiddish? The piece practically writes itself. Indeed, Yiddish Farm is one…
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Holy Ground A Jewish farmer broke ground on a synagogue in an Illinois cornfield. His neighbors showed up to help.
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Opinion I discovered anti-Zionism at the University of Michigan. I’m glad it lives on there
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Opinion An alarming new battleground in campus fights over Israel
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Culture An Israeli genocide scholar looks to Israel’s history to understand ‘what went wrong’
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