Opinion

• Opinion

  Marwan Barghouti Speaks, Through Wife

  He is the Palestinians’ most famous prisoner and most popular politician. Now Marwan Barghouti is speaking to the American public, through the voice of his wife. Every 15 days, Fadwa Barghouti is allowed to visit her husband in an Israeli prison, where he has served 10 years of five consecutive life sentences for helping to…

  By Jane Eisner

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Attack of the Super PACs

  Now that the election year has officially begun, we can take stock of something different about the landscape this time around. The momentous Supreme Court decision two years ago on campaign finance, Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee, has given rise to a new and potentially destructive player in this and future election cycles: the…

  Jan 6, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  When ‘Anti-Semitism’ Is Abused

  We were raised to be vigilant. We were taught to fight oppression, admonished to be New Jews — strong, muscular, defiant. We were told to look for the signs, the slogans and the double-speak. We learned at the knee of those with tattooed forearms; knelt at the feet of those who lost brothers and sisters,…

  By Sarah Wildman Jan 5, 2012 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Trump is backed into a corner on Iran. Get ready for him to start blaming Jews

  

• Dan Perry Israelis have no idea where the Iran war is going. But they know it’s part of Netanyahu’s campaign

  

• Emily Tamkin Hungary is poised to topple an authoritarian leader. American Jews have something to learn

  

• Jay Michaelson Epstein and Iran are an antisemitism mega-crisis. Here’s what Jewish organizations should do about it. 

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  The GOP’s Albatross

  The first votes in the 2012 elections have now been cast by the good people of Iowa, the beneficiaries of this quadrennial honor. And though the caucuses are often not the best indicator of what will happen as the primary contest proceeds — let’s not forget the triumphs there of Mike Huckabee and Pat Robertson…

  By Gal Beckerman Jan 5, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Eight Votes Between Them

  So where are we now that the decidedly low-tech process known as the Iowa caucuses is completed, all the little slips of paper have been counted and Mitt Romney was ahead by just eight votes? I can think of three basic takeaways and they coincide with the three candidates who have emerged last night as…

  By Gal Beckerman Jan 4, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  The Losers in Russia’s Adoption Ban

  I used to see them fairly often in airports, nicer hotels or restaurants. Living in Eastern Europe, first as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine and later working for a non-profit in Russia, I’d become adept at spotting other Americans in public. I sized them up, taking into account the color and style of their…

  By Susan Armitage Jan 4, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Cantor on Why Jews Vote Dem: To Repair the World

  Eric Cantor on “60 Minutes” Sunday night, grilled by Leslie Stahl on why most Jews are Democrats, unthinkingly digs himself into a hole and then tries pathetically to get out of it. He starts by saying it’s been “the bane of my existence for a long time,” being a serious, devoted member of a community…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 4, 2012 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Santorum Joins Gingrich in Not Seeing Palestinians

  “All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis. They are not Palestinians. There are no Palestinians.” — Rick Santorum

  By Gal Beckerman Jan 3, 2012 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  Wisc. Teens on Parade: You Can’t Scare Them.

  Marching in the Rose Bowl Parade on New Year’s Day, the Pulaski High School “Red Raiders” Marching Band, honoring their home-state University of Wisconsin Badgers. They proceed smartly through the streets of Pasadena, California, playing “On Wisconsin.” Then they stop in front of the reviewing stand—apparently an unplanned stop, as the announcers seem surprised—and while…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 3, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  GOP Candidates Take Hard Line on Iran

  With Iowa’s caucuses set for tonight, Republican hopefuls are doubling down on their rhetoric on the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions in an apparent effort to distance themselves from GOP candidate Ron Paul. Front-runner Mitt Romney, dark horse Michele Bachmann, and the late-surging Rick Santorum all promised a readiness to launch military strikes on…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 3, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  What Would Barack Do?

  Jewish Democrats don’t have a say in who wins tonight’s Iowa’s Republican caucuses. But they do have opinions about which candidate President Obama should be pulling for. Most hope an arch-conservative like Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry takes the key contest, beating frontrunner Mitt Romney and dark horse Ron Paul. If one of…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 3, 2012 | 3 min read