Opinion

• Opinion

  Torn Between West and (Mid) East

  Should Israel’s two-day weekend include Friday or Sunday? The question has a far deeper meaning than may meet the eye. It touches on Israel’s identity: Are we part of the Arab Middle East or part of the West? The two-day weekend that has evolved in Israel in the course of the past three decades or…

  By Yossi Alpher

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Measuring Distance Between Us

  ‘Distancing” is the current favored word to describe the reaction of many American Jews, especially young Jews, to the ongoing situation in Israel. (Curiously, Peter Beinart’s essay in the New York Review of Books in May 2010, which catalyzed much of the conversation, nowhere uses the word.) But “distancing” is inadequate to describe the range…

  By Leonard Fein Dec 25, 2011 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Climate Change Gives Reason To Vote

  I was planning to write this week about some startling news regarding Jewish day schools, but an incident over Shabbat changed my plans. At dinner with friends, I was surprised to find that nearly everyone present saw President Obama as hostile toward Israel. Here was a liberal-leaning, Upper West Side crowd, yet most hoped for…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 23, 2011 | 4 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Does Hamas Joining PLO Mean It Accepts 2 States?

  If you’ve been following the news in the American and international press, you’ve probably heard that the unity talks between Fatah and Hamas have reached a new and alarming phase. According to an Associated Press report that’s been widely reproduced, Hamas has agreed to join the Fatah-dominated umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization, the body that has…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 22, 2011 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Grinch Stole Chrismukkah

  In my opinion, Jews shouldn’t celebrate Christmas. And that was the sentence that launched a thousand lips. I encapsulated my feelings on Jews and Christmas in a blog post I wrote for Kveller, a Jewish parenting website for which I am a contributing editor. I wrote that “if you really look at the meanings of…

  By Jordana Horn Dec 22, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Israel Factor — Minus the Women

  Let me begin by saying that I have great respect for The Jewish Journal, a smart Los Angeles-based newspaper and website. The Forward is part of the Journal’s new iPad app, the first in the Jewish world. And nobody covers Jewish Hollywood better. So I’ve been following the work of Shmuel Rosner, a well-known Israeli…

  By Jane Eisner Dec 21, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Hanukkah in Santa Monica

  We are starting to get in the spirit of the holiday here at the Forward. And who better to help us than the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (hat tip to Shmuel Rosner for pointing us to this foot-tapper). This makes me love America:

  By Gal Beckerman Dec 20, 2011 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Havel Was Friend of Israel and Jews

  In the summer of 1990, the newly elected president of Czechoslovakia, Vaclav Havel, caused not a small degree of controversy when he announced his attendance at the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria. Classical music galas tend not to be scenes of political dispute, but this involved the resurrection of European ghosts other than Mozart. Austria’s…

  By James Kirchick Dec 20, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Women Honorees Barred From Science Award Stage

  The following article was posted today (December 20) on the Hebrew-language website DoctorsOnly.co.il (the translation is mine). It pretty much speaks for itself. Thanks to Chemi Shalev for flagging it on Facebook. Exclusion of Women in the Health System: Two female researchers who won an award were not permitted to come up on stage to…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 20, 2011 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Beyond the Protests

  There’s the committee. And then there’s the person. The Trajtenberg Committee was formed last August by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and charged with devising policy responses to the social justice protests that were sweeping the nation. The committee presented its report at the end of September, and it’s been the subject of government action…

  By Jane Eisner Dec 19, 2011 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Darfuri Helps Fellow Newcomers Get Start

  I intended to write about an Israel too often overlooked. I wanted a feel-good story for a change, a story that did not include the word “however.” And I had, so I thought, exactly such a story, the truly inspiring story of a 30 year-old man — we’ll call him Hamza — with whom I…

  By Leonard Fein Dec 18, 2011 | 3 min read