Opinion

• Opinion

  A Call for Social Justice on Tisha B’Av

  Israel is in the midst of an awakening, perhaps even a social revolution, but its official State Rabbinate and, indeed, virtually all religious officials, are silent. How can this be? Isn’t it the role of religious leaders to provide guidance? Three weeks ago a few people set up tents on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv…

  By Rabbi Andrew Sacks

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Examining the Palestinians’ Unilateral Bid for Statehood

  Give Them A Reason Not To Do It By Hussein Ibish The wisdom of the various plans for Palestinians to approach the United Nations in September with a statehood-oriented diplomatic initiative may be debated, but not the Palestinians’ right to make the approach. Israel was, in effect, created by the U.N. Partition Plan of 1947…

  Aug 5, 2011 | 7 min read
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  Opinion

  An American Coexistence

  There may be enduring enmity between Jews and Muslims in many parts of the world, but not, it seems, in America. The results of a new study by the Abu Dhabi Gallup Center examining the political, social and spiritual engagement of Muslim Americans found that those Muslims are generally happy, thriving and defiantly peaceful. That’s…

  Aug 5, 2011 | < 1 min read

Columnists View All

• Jay Michaelson What can really be done to prevent antisemitic attacks like Bondi Beach?

  

• Rob Eshman Australia shooting terrifies Jews worldwide — and strengthens the case for Israel

  

• Nora Berman Did crypto-Jews invent the modern tarot deck?

  

• Dan Perry The 3 responses to the Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that could make Jews safer

  

• Emily Tamkin The fundamental miscalculation behind the GOP’s antisemitism crisis

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  Comparing Bibi’s Israel to (Drum Roll) Monty Python’s ‘Cheese Shop’

  Israeli novelist-travel writer Yuval Ben-Ami weighs in at the +972 blog with a clever take on the snowballing Israeli economic Israel protest: Our situation as Israelis is currently comparable to that of the customer in Monty Python’s sketch, who walks into a cheese shop intent on buying cheese, only to discover that the shop is…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 4, 2011 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Even on Mexico Vacation, Boycott Debate Looms Large

  Recently my family and I were traveling in Oaxaca, Mexico — a place about as far away from Middle East politics as one might think, so I assumed. Then one evening, walking through the cobblestoned streets of the old city, I came across a wonderful looking artist’s hangout, the Café Lobo Azul (the “Blue Wolf…

  By Oren Safdie Aug 4, 2011 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Troubled Waters

  The debt deal approved by Congress and signed into law by President Obama leaves us feeling slightly seasick. The queasiness may disappear after a while if those charged with taking the next steps to right our dangerously imbalanced economy miraculously do the right thing. But in our gut, we fear the more likely scenario, as…

  Aug 4, 2011 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  The Rightward Pull of Our Political System

  August being America’s silly season, a lot of folks seem to feel compelled to come up with the silliest ideas they can think of and pop them on the rest of us. Some of them are good for a laugh, some are infuriating and some can scare the living kishkes out of you. And some…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 4, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Was There a Context for Breivik’s Madness?

  His lawyer says he is insane, which is a perfectly plausible diagnosis of Anders Behring Breivik, the slaughterer of 77 Norwegians, most of them children, on July 22. The diagnosis is not only plausible; it is comforting. For if we are dealing here with a madman, then no further inquiry regarding motive need detain us….

  By Leonard Fein Aug 4, 2011 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Debt Ceiling: How Jewish Lawmakers Voted

  House of Representatives: Of 25 Jewish members, 16 voted Yes on the final debt ceiling compromise and nine voted No. (Democratic votes overall: 95 Yes, 95 No.) Yes. Democrats: Shelley Berkley (Nev.), Howard Berman (Cal.), David Cicilline (R.I.), Susan Davis (Cal.), Ted Deutch (Fla.), Gabrielle Giffords (Ariz.), Steve Israel (N.Y.), Sander Levin (Mich.), Nita Lowey…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 2, 2011 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  You Read It Here First

  So imagine my surprise when, walking through the Miami airport, I spotted the front page of this Sunday’s New York Times and saw a familiar story. For ten days, my husband and I had been on vacation in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean, and though it was lovely to be cut off…

  By Jane Eisner Aug 2, 2011 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Talking Assimilation in Aspen

  Harold Grinspoon, the Jewish philanthropist who founded the PJ Library — a program that distributes free Jewish children’s books to families across the country — invites 50 or 60 of his closest friends and philanthropic collaborators to go hiking with him in Aspen, Colo., each summer. For some reason, this time he has invited me…

  By Larry Cohler-Esses Aug 2, 2011 | 3 min read