In the Forward’s opinion section, you’ll find analysis and essays from diverse corners of the Jewish world.
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Opinion
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Opinion
Where Is Class Consciousness?
An absolute precondition for class warfare is class consciousness. And one of the great mysteries of American history is that with just a few transient exceptions, there has been near zero class consciousness here. Or, more precisely: The very rich have been well aware of their class privilege and have labored mightily to protect and…
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Opinion Flotilla Flub: Bibi Acted Poorly, Public Did Worse
Israel’s state comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, in his second-to-last report before retirement, delivers a searing critique of the Netanyahu-Barak government’s handling – make that catastrophic mishandling – of the lead-up to and aftermath of the May 2010 Turkish flotilla incident. The report charges haphazard, seat-of-the-pants decision making in place of planning, consultation and staff work. Yediot…
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Opinion Adelson "Limitless" Pledge Attacked…By McCain
Jewish Billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s recent pledge to pour $10 million into the Romney campaign coffers as part of a “limitless” cash infusion has shaken up the race for campaign dollars and is now coming under fire from an unexpected front — Romney’s own supporters. Senator John McCain, who was the Republican presidential candidate in 2008…
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Opinion Lawmaker Rebuked after Invoking Genitals and Judaism
Democratic State Rep. Lisa Brown won some local notoriety, and a temporary speaking ban from the Republican-controlled Michigan House of Representatives for invoking “my vagina” during a passionate floor speech in defense of abortion rights Wednesday. But for all the notice it garnered, Brown’s bodily personalization of the issue was just part of her broader…
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Opinion Avert Your Eyes from the Big Apple!
“Dear Jew: You are entering a dangerous place. Shield your eyes.” That’s the Hebrew-language text on a huge billboard that an Orthodox group has paid to post alongside a Brooklyn highway. The “dangerous place” is Manhattan. The danger isn’t specified, but it’s clear they’re not talking about muggings. Presumably directed at ultra-Orthodox Jews traveling to…
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Opinion The Depths of Nixonland
Will the extent of our 37th president’s anti-Semitism ever cease to shock? Just when it seems we might have arrived at the last recorded utterance of “Jew boy” (sometimes said in front of Henry Kissinger, the Jewish secretary of state), there are new tapes to endure. The latest piece of evidence to add to the…
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Opinion Time To Rethink the New York Jew
If you’re thinking that the newly released survey of New York’s Jewish population looks uncannily familiar, like you’ve seen it somewhere before, that’s because you have. The astonishing trends unearthed by UJA-Federation of New York’s researchers bear a striking resemblance to the much-reported demographic patterns currently keeping Israeli leaders awake at night. What both great…
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Opinion The Fallout From Two Soldiers Holding Hands
No one should have been surprised that a photo of two male Israeli soldiers holding hands would have gone viral and provoked a huge response after the IDF posted it on Monday on its Facebook page in honor of Pride Month. As of Tuesday evening, it had garnered 9,500 likes, 7,330 shares, and 1,360 comments….
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Opinion Bomb Iran, Says Bill Kristol’s ECI
The United States should bomb Iran today, a new advertisement released today by the Republican-linked Emergency Committee for Israel says. The ad, first posted by the website Buzzfeed, hits President Obama for failing to order military strikes on Iran. “President Obama has spent four years talking,” the narrator intones. “Iran has spent four years building.”…
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Opinion Cancel Putin’s Visit
It’s official. This summer, Russian president Vladimir Putin will be taking a trip to Israel, his first since 2005. It’s the consummation of a relationship that has been fostered by Israel’s Moldovan-born foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who also recently described Israeli-Russian relations — after 20 years of diplomatic contact — as “very positive.” That may…
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Opinion Barack Obama, Immersed in Jewish History
President Barack Obama has been spending a lot of time recently with old Jewish documents. First, there he took a look at 150-year-old papers documenting the Jewish community’s appeal to President Abraham Lincoln. They hoped to get Lincoln to overturn an order by General Ulysses Grant to prevent Jews from serving in the military department…
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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’
In Case You Missed It
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Opinion All American Jews should acknowledge Nakba Day — for Israel’s sake, and Palestine’s
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Fast Forward Jewish students wanted to bring J Street to Sarah Lawrence. Why did the student senate say no?
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Fast Forward Jewish Republican Paul Singer tarred with rainbow Star of David in Kentucky candidate’s anti-LGBTQ ad
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Culture Jack Kirby finally gets his corner of the city that made him super