Nora Berman

1 week ago | forward.com | Nora Berman

You wouldn't think that linguistic debates surrounding a geopolitical conflict 6,000 miles away would pull focus from local issues like affordable housing in a hotly contested mayoral race. But this is New York City, after all. Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has found himself in the hot seat after he did not condemn the use of the phrase " globalize the intifada," a term that many Jews understand as a call for anti-Jewish violence, during a recent podcast appearance.

2 weeks ago | forward.com | Nora Berman

"My name is Greta Thunberg, and I am from Sweden. If you're seeing this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped."That somber statement by Thunberg, a 22-year-old Swedish climate activist, appeared in one of 11 "SOS Call" videos uploaded after a boat bearing a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza - alongside high-profile activists like Thunberg - was intercepted by the Israeli navy late last night.

4 weeks ago | forward.com | Nora Berman

"These days I really can't nurse without thinking about Gaza, whether I want to or not," Rabbi Emily Cohen told me. Initially, Cohen struggled with breastfeeding her son, who was born in December. She feared she wouldn't be able to produce enough milk for him, despite being safe at home in Brooklyn. "I can't fathom being the mother of a newborn in Gaza who has nothing, who can't produce breast milk because she doesn't have enough to eat," she said.

1 month ago | forward.com | Nora Berman

Jodi Kreines, an organizer for the 2025 New York City Dyke March, was concerned. It was mid-March; in barely three months, between 15,000 and 30,000 self-identified dykes would converge in Manhattan for the annual march, which explicitly centers queer women. But no logistics work had begun. Kreines, who is Jewish, was standing in the way - by refusing to sign off on an Instagram statement explicitly defining the Dyke March as anti-Zionist.

1 month ago | forward.com | Nora Berman

In the new documentary Ada: My Mother the Architect, renowned Israeli architect Ada Karmi-Melamede overhears a tour guide delivering a surprising description of the inspiration behind one of her most acclaimed creations: the Israeli Supreme Court building. "You see here," the guide says confidently, pointing to a small fountain inlaid in a white, wide courtyard: "This water here is bubbling, to represent the womb." Karmi-Melamede looks at the camera with raised eyebrows and a grin.