Opinion articles that represent the views of the Forward’s editors.
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Opinion A Cynical Giveaway
They’re cheering in Kiryas Joel and other ultra-Orthodox enclaves in New York over a new provision in the state’s otherwise austere and demanding budget for 2011-2012. But the governor, the legislature and the Jewish leaders who pushed for this special-interest giveaway ought to be ashamed of themselves. At the same time that public colleges and…
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Opinion Goldstone’s New Tune
The United Nations report that bears Richard Goldstone’s name stung so very deeply, felt so very wrong, because its most incendiary claim struck at the heart of Israel’s character. In asserting that Israel intentionally targeted civilians during the Gaza military operation of 2008-2009, the Goldstone Report recklessly impugned the Israel Defense Forces and, by extension,…
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Opinion The Pragmatic President
“Speaker John Boehner complained that Obama ordered the U.S. military into combat in Libya without clearly defining the mission to the American people and Congress,” joked Jay Leno. “See, apparently you’re only allowed to do that when invading Iraq.” Well, inconsistency does seem to be the hallmark of governance, especially in complicated times. A waffler…
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Opinion Terror in Jerusalem
It had been more than three years since the last terrorist bombing targeting civilians in Israel — until a blast caused by an explosive pipe placed next to a telephone pole near the bus station in central Jerusalem on March 23 ended that period of relative quiet. Suddenly, the familiar images appeared across our screens,…
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Opinion Reform’s New Leader
Whoever leads the Union for Reform Judaism can really matter in American Jewish life. With 900 synagogues serving 1.5 million people, the Reform movement is the nation’s largest Jewish denomination and, despite its budgetary and organizational travails, remains the steadiest ship in the vast and sometimes inchoate sea of liberal Judaism. Its leaders tend to…
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Opinion The Courage of the Press
The horrific story of four journalists from The New York Times held captive in Libya underscores a brutal fact: Reporters and photographers place their lives on the line to deliver news and context so necessary for all of us to understand our world. To those who deride the “lamestream media,” we suggest a careful reading…
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Opinion The Fogel Photographs
Two images of the Fogel family are circulating after five of them were brutally murdered March 11 while sleeping in their home in the Israeli settlement of Itamar. The first is a montage of warm, sweet faces: Udi and Ruth, the parents, he with a full, neatly trimmed beard, she with a scarf covering her…
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Opinion The Triangle Legacy
A century later, why does a fire in a garment factory resonate so deeply? The deadly inferno at the Triangle Waist Company on March 25, 1911, is being commemorated in hundreds of different events, coast to coast, in word, song, poetry and deed, because it represents many of the touchstones of the American experience. It…
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News Who was Horst Wessel, and why are people comparing Charlie Kirk to him?
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Culture Charlie Kirk kept a ‘Jewish Sabbath.’ What did he mean by that?
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Film & TV Robert Redford’s legacy is surprisingly Jewish
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Antisemitism Decoded Israel is being blamed for Charlie Kirk’s death. Here’s what that conspiracy theory says about the far right’s divide
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Opinion The terrifying Nazi precedent for Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension — and the reasons to stay hopeful
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Fast Forward Freed hostage Edan Alexander says he’s returning to the IDF next month
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Yiddish World How a Yiddish acting troupe fooled the Tsarist government
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Fast Forward After years of war, world’s oldest synagogue paintings are revealed as intact in Damascus
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