Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Israel, the Jewish state in the Middle East founded in 1948.
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Opinion Israeli Democracy Is Just Fine
It’s over: Israel has picked “identity over democracy.” That’s both the premise and conclusion of a recent piece by The New York Times columnist Max Fisher, who sees in the lamentable “Nation-State” law passed last week by the Knesset a rejection of democracy, and an embrace of theocracy and ethnocracy. Fisher writes that Israel has…
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Community Can Syrians Find Political Asylum In Israel?
A version of this article originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian-Jewish publication. The first text message arrived on July 2, and it was frantic. “I expect our area to be handed over to the criminal [Assad regime] in a very humiliating agreement,” my contact wrote. “I am one of those people who will not be…
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Opinion Israel’s Democracy Is On Life Support. Diaspora Jews Must Speak Up.
It is time for the Jewish Diaspora to update some of its favorite lines for advocating on behalf of Israel. For example, “Arabic is one of Israel’s two official languages” is now a factually incorrect statement after Israel’s new Nation-State bill was passed by the Knesset last week. The bill downgraded Arabic from an official…
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The Schmooze Netta: I’m In Love With What Winning Eurovision Did For My People
Netta Barzilai, who won Eurovision this year representing her home country of Israel, owes the Holy Land a debt. And Israel owes Netta Barzilai a debt as well. In an in-depth live interview in New York City this weekend, Netta explained that since she grew up in Nigeria attending an international school till the age…
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Opinion Why Do Israelis Care So Much About Syrians But Not About Palestinians?
On Saturday night, the Israeli Defense Forces released footage of a rescue operation, in which over 400 humanitarian aid workers in Syria, known as White Helmets, were evacuated by Israel along with their families and ferried through the Golan Heights to safety in Jordan. It’s not the first time Israel has engaged in humanitarian efforts…
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Fast Forward Israel Shoots Down Syrian Fighter Jet Entering Israeli Airspace
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel fired two Patriot missiles at a Syrian fighter jet that penetrated more than a mile into Israeli airspace. The plane, a Russian-made Sukhoi model fighter jet, was shot down on Tuesday afternoon, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. It was not immediately confirmed if the jet’s two pilots ejected…
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Opinion A Letter To Southern Israelis, From Your Neighbor In Gaza
To Gaza’s Neighbors in southern Israel: Over the last month, you’ve had some of the most sleepless and terrible nights in years, and so have your Palestinian sisters and brothers in Gaza. Shabbat after Shabbat, you had only 15 seconds to shelter your loved ones; meanwhile, many Gazans had no time to escape, nowhere to…
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Letters No, ‘Protest Tourism’ Is Not A Thing
As a young-ish British Jewish anti-occupation activist, I’m sadly all too familiar with straw-man attacks. I and others like me are so viciously attacked online following any meagre expression of opinion that if you were to believe even just half of the things written about us on the internet, you may be excused for thinking…
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Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
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Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
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Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
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Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
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Fast Forward Reconstructionist leader to step down as head of movement riven by tension over anti-Zionism
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Culture Alfred Dreyfus was not the man you think he was — and the history of Jews in France is a little different too
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Yiddish World This synagogue ‘gets’ why you need Yiddish on Yom Hashoah
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Culture A subreddit notorious for Holocaust denial is back online — now as a memorial
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