Opinion

• Opinion

  Who Isn’t a Jew?

  Last July, when Chelsea Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky in a wedding that juxtaposed Jewish objects, rituals and traditions with non-Jewish ones, the ensuing conversation was laced with all the ambivalence American Jews feel about intermarriage. But when an assassination attempt nearly took the life of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in early January, ambivalence took a back…

  2 min read
• Opinion

  There Is a Partner, Just Read the Papers

  Well, well, well, isn’t this awkward? After all that talk about Israel having “no partner” for peace, it turns out the Palestinians were ready to make a deal after all, on terms that weren’t far from Israel’s bottom line. If you’ve been following the news about the so-called Palestine papers, the newly leaked trove of…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 26, 2011 | 4 min read
• Letters

  Goldstone vs. the Mob

  In effect what Alan Dershowitz and Yaacov Lozowick have suggested with their letters to the editor is that since they disagree with the findings of Judge Richard Goldstone’s Gaza report, he is fair game for all who take issue with him and should be treated horribly (“Goldstone Critics Have a Real Case,” January 14). This…

  Jan 26, 2011 | < 1 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 The left is turning on AOC over Israel — and imperiling its own agenda

  

• 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

• Letters

  Libeling Palin

  As a child of Holocaust survivors who was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany, I take issue with Ronald Florence’s contention that the term “blood libel” may not be legitimately used except in relation to past accusations against Jews that stimulated persecution and bloodshed (“The True Meaning of ‘Blood Libel,’” January 28). Florence…

  Jan 26, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Libeling Begin

  In trying to compare Sarah Palin to Menachem Begin, Benyamin Korn can’t be serious (“Breaking Begin, but Not Palin,” January 28). Did Governor Palin ever serve in a Siberian prison? Did she ever fight for her country’s freedom from foreign rule? Did she ever serve in the opposition for several decades? Did she ever do…

  Jan 26, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Realpolitik or Toadying?

  Granting that Henry Kissinger was dealing with “realpolitik” and that “context” is of some importance, words still count and often reflect character (<“Why Kissinger Said U.S. Jews Acted ‘Traitorously,’”> December 24). That Kissinger, a highly sophisticated man, used the language he did indicates a flagrant careerist mentality. He was toadying to Nixon, a pronounced anti-Semite….

  Jan 26, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Opinion

  A Speech Chasing a Dream

  “Tepid,” they said, and “flat.” “No specifics,” they charged; “a missed opportunity,” they concluded. When the commentators of CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN and MSNBC all have similar takes on a straightforward event — in this case, the president’s State of the Union message — I’m inclined to invoke my own private anti-trust act. Were there…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 26, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Returning to Moscow, Where Jews Are Building, Not Fleeing

  I last visited Russia in 1986. I came then, along with the late Judaic studies scholar Benny Kraut, to meet with refuseniks, the courageous Jews who demanded the right to emigrate to Israel. Our activities were covert, and during the course of a single week Benny and I experienced the fear that constantly accompanied the…

  By Jonathan D. Sarna Jan 25, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Malley & Agha in the N.Y. Review of Books, Channeling Avigdor Liebeman

  Now I’ve Seen Everything Dept.: Among the items featured as recommended reading in the January 20 edition of the Daily Alert, the electronic news digest of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, is the latest essay by Rob Malley and Hussein Agha in The New York Review of Books. Why is this…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 23, 2011 | 5 min read
• Opinion

  Our Fight on Mount Soledad

  When did separation of church and state become a slogan rather than a core element of the American way of life? When did a cross become an ecumenical symbol that is appropriate for military memorials on federal property? Regrettably, these questions remain unanswered — and our courts have not provided much in the way of…

  By Robert Zweiman Jan 20, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  A Rainbow in Tucson

  Here is just one of the very many Tucson stories that have now become part of who we are: It is a story told by the political commentator Mark Shields, quoting his friend Allen Ginsberg, a historian in Maine: What we have witnessed (in part) is a white, Catholic, Republican federal judge murdered on his…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 19, 2011 | 4 min read