Tagged Op-Ed

Belgian editor defends publication of column saying Jews have ‘ugly noses’

"Being Jewish is not a religion, no God would give creatures such an ugly nose," Dimitri Verhulst wrote. (Screenshot from YouTube)
August 9, 2019 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — The editor of a prestigious Belgian daily defended an op-ed described as anti-Semitic, saying its critics were trying to silence criticism of Israel. The column, written by Dimitri Verhulst, was published July 27 in De Morgen and quickly drew outrage. It describes Jews in Israel as land… Read more »

When America doubted my grandmother’s loyalty

Jeanette Kern, left, receiving one of the two commendations she earned for her work during World War II as a clerk in the Army Signal Corps, July 27, 1944. (Orn Hayon)
November 23, 2018 / Oren Hayon, JTA

After my grandmother Jeannette died in December 1996, the process of settling her estate worked in the same way it does in most families: There was a house to be sold and possessions to be distributed. The surviving family members were left with a few souvenirs of my grandparents’… Read more »

OP-ED How anti-Zionists fueled a far-right victory

The American Jewish Historical Society is housed at a Manhattan address that includes several other Jewish organizations. (Wikimedia Commons, JTA montage)
October 18, 2017 / Daniel Treiman, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — Last month, New York’s Center for Jewish History was the target of a right-wing campaign seeking to oust its new president, David Myers, over his dovish views on Israel. The campaign drew an appropriately outraged response from leading Jewish scholars, who rallied around Myers, a… Read more »

OP-ED Harvey Weinstein shows us how perpetrators pose as victims

Harvey Weinstein speaking at National Geographic's Further Front Event at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, April 19, 2017. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for National Geographic)
October 18, 2017 / Ruti Regan, JTA

(JTA) — In an interview with The Daily Beast, George Clooney described Harvey Weinstein as a very powerful man with a tendency to hit on young beautiful women over whom he had power. Despite the “rumors” he had heard about Weinstein’s openly predatory behavior, Clooney expressed sincere shock and outrage at… Read more »

OP-ED How to get more women speakers at big Jewish events

The General Assembly is one of the largest annual gatherings of the organized Jewish world. (Jewish Federations of North America)
October 11, 2017 / Esther D. Kustanowitz, JTA

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In November, the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America is coming to Los Angeles for the first time since it became my home city in 2008. Over the course of my Jewish professional life, I have eagerly attended at least six General Assemblies,… Read more »

OP-ED 11 former White House Jewish liaisons: Trump doesn’t understand anti-Semitism

President Donald Trump shown before making a statement on the violence in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 14, 2017. (Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)
August 21, 2017 / JTA Editorial Staff

(JTA) — As Jewish liaisons to four different presidents, we had the responsibility inside the White House to give voice to the perspectives and priorities of the American Jewish community. While our community may not be unified in matters of policy and politics, our spiritual practice, cultural traditions and… Read more »

OP-ED What Trump can do for Mideast peace on day one

President Donald Trump reads the first of three executive orders he will sign in the Oval Office, Jan. 23, 2017. (Ron Sachs/Pool/Getty Images)
January 23, 2017 / Jonathan A. Greenblatt, JTA

(JTA) — In the run-up to his swearing-in on Friday, President Donald Trump made a series of big promises to Israel. Aside from his oft-repeated pledge to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he has talked about reviving the peace process with the Palestinians, with a goal… Read more »

OP-ED Honor Alberto Nisman’s sacrifice by continuing his probe of Iran

A vigil in Buenos Aires on the first anniversary of AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman's death, Jan. 18, 2016. (Omer Musa Targal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
January 18, 2017 / Toby Dershowitz and Gardner Lange, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — On Jan. 18, 2015, Argentine terrorism prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in what was almost certainly murder, not suicide. Whoever murdered him didn’t just want to kill him but rather his body of work. They wanted to bury… Read more »

OP-ED Blaming Obama doesn’t advance the cause of Middle East peace

President Barack Obama speaks with John Kerry during a bilateral meeting with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in New York City, Sept. 21, 2016. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
January 4, 2017 / Rick Jacobs, JTA

(JTA) — What did Secretary of State John Kerry say last week that caused former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren to say that U.S. policy toward Israeli has become “sad, tragic and dangerous?” That led Sen. Ted Cruz to say that Kerry and President Barack Obama are… Read more »

OP-ED A white Jewish reporter, a black newspaper and a century of common causes

The Defender newsroom on Chicago's South Side in the late 1940s, with Audrey Weaver, the first woman city editor of any American newspaper, in the center. (Courtesy of Abbott Sengstacke Family Papers)
December 7, 2016 / Ethan Michaeli. JTA

CHICAGO (JTA) — Forged at the dawn of the 20th century as both peoples arrived in northern cities, the political coalition between African-Americans and Jewish Americans has endured through defeat as well as victory. Jews and African-Americans were Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s two most enthusiastic constituencies, as they have… Read more »

OP-ED While Israel tarries on pluralism, the Diaspora may be running out of patience

Orthodox Jews try to prevent a group of Conservative and Reform rabbis and Women of the Wall members from bringing Torah scrolls into the Western Wall compound in Jerusalem, Nov. 2, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
December 5, 2016 / Andrew Sacks, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Like many of my friends, I grew up in the United States with a strong affinity for Israel. As a child we saved money to buy trees, learned Israeli songs, studied Hebrew, visited Israel and marched in Israeli Independence Day parades. I recall well that my… Read more »

Israeli officials escalate war of words with N.Y. Times
December 22, 2011 / Ron Kampeas, JTA
Netanyahu adviser Ron Dermer, right, cited a recent column by Thomas Friedman, left, in accusing The New York Times Op-Ed page of anti-Israel bias. (Photos: Rebecca Zeffert, Flash 90/Miriam Alster)

Israeli officials are stepping up their criticism of The New York Times, slamming columnist Thomas Friedman and arguing that the newspaper is an unfit venue for an Op-Ed from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a scathing letter first leaked last week to The Jerusalem Post, Ron Dermer, a top… Read more »