Opinion

• Opinion

  The Death of Leo Frank

  This editorial was translated from Yiddish by Chana Pollack Frank is dead. The tragedy ended with blood and murder. The hand that persecuted the unfortunate one for more than two years didn’t rest until it made an end to his young life. A heavy hand! A cruel hand! This is the same hand that held…

  By Ab Cahan

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t Buy the Story Iran’s Government Is Selling You

  I have no doubt that the Forward’s Larry Cohler-Esses has . The trouble is, he seems to have seen and learned only a sliver of a vastly more nuanced and tangled reality. As a result, he ends up reinforcing some half-truths, served up by the regime to well-meaning foreign media, which they take up and…

  By Gina Nahai Aug 17, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Forward Discovers the Real Iran — Not Netanyahu’s Caricature

  Over the course of the past 25 years, the image of Iran presented by the Israeli government has become increasingly simplistic, one-dimensional, void of any nuance — in short, incomplete at best and inaccurate at worst. The Iranian government itself has contributed greatly in reducing the image of Iran to an invariably menacing entity with…

  By Trita Parsi Aug 17, 2015 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry A US official just made history in the West Bank — did he imperil prospects for peace?

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  5 Most Common Misconceptions About Iran

  Americans have a long way to go before they will be able to cast off misconceptions about Iran, which have been nurtured by nearly 40 years of estrangement between the two nations, and which are now fueling opposition to the nuclear deal. has been effective in providing a more balanced perspective on Iranian life than…

  By William Beeman Aug 17, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Letters

  What Does Schumer Hope To Gain by Opposing Iran Deal?

  What does Charles Schumer want from his — but hopefully soon-to-be-reconsidered — vote against the Iran deal? We used “distrust but verify” on all arms control deals with the Soviet Union — that is, with an untrustworthy “evil empire” that covered one sixth of the land surface of the entire earth — over decades, and…

  By James Adler Aug 16, 2015 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Longing for the Day When My Wife Can Return to Iran

  Larry Cohler-Esses has written that sheds light on a country we often hear about through hyperbole or romanticism. Modern Iran should be subject to neither of those things; it is simply another country among all the nation-states on Earth. But it means much more than that to me. My wife was born and raised in…

  By Jonathan Greenblatt Aug 16, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How Anti-Obama Zealots Went Off Rails on Iran Deal

  The campaign against President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal tends toward the apocalyptic even when it’s in repose. Right now it’s virtually jumping the rails, plunging into a swamp of anti-Obama conspiracy theory, with a gaggle of conservative pundits openly accusing the president of anti-Semitism. The charge has been a staple of the extreme far right…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 15, 2015 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Iran Deal Opponents Change Subject — After Losing Argument

  (JTA) — Debaters know that when they are losing an argument, a good tactic is to change the subject. So it goes with the current accusations, completely untethered from reality, that President Obama is resorting to anti-Jewish “dog whistles” in his defense of the nuclear deal with Iran. Let’s begin with the facts. The president…

  By Alan Solow Aug 14, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Look Inside Iran Is Invaluable Journalism — With Limits

  What a fascinating report by Larry Cohler-Esses! I commend him for his persistence, against the odds, in seeking the chance to return to Iran as a reporter for the Forward, more than 35 years after his last encounter with the country. And I applaud the Forward for supporting his successful effort to gain entry —…

  By David Harris Aug 13, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  What Iranians Really Think About Israel

  The Forward’s Larry Cohler-Esses is the first journalist from a Jewish publication to get to talk to ordinary Iranians in decades. Watch for yourself what they told him about Israel.

  Aug 13, 2015 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Dump Stereotypes When Debating Iran Deal

  (JTA) — Congress and the American people are focused on what everyone agrees is a historic, serious and consequential foreign policy decision — the fate of the nuclear deal with Iran. While we all hope for a debate based on substance and conducted with civility, the truth is that political debates today are often characterized more…

  By Jonathan Greenblatt Aug 12, 2015 | 3 min read