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Why The Forward Accepted An Ad From Jewish Voice for Peace

Dear Forward Reader:

We recently published an advertisement from Jewish Voice for Peace in the June 2 print edition of the Forward.

The ad gave us pause. It quotes Marwan Barghouti as “Leader of the Palestinian Hunger Strike,” but doesn’t say why he’s in jail. Barghouti was convicted of the murders of five Israeli civilians.

Printing this ad was not an easy decision

In the end, despite our reservations, we felt that at this time, when mass media itself is on the firing line, and freedom of expression is under pressure from our own government, we should do what our role requires and allow JVP to present its point of view. We leave it to our readers to make their own judgments.

Rachel Fishman Feddersen is publisher and CEO of the Forward.

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