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Ben Cohen. Credit: Courtesy.

Ben Cohen

Featured Columnist

Ben Cohen is a senior analyst with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) and director of FDD’s rapid response outreach, specializing in global antisemitism, anti-Zionism and Middle East/European Union relations. A London-born journalist with 30 years of experience, he previously worked for BBC World and has contributed to Commentary, The Wall Street Journal, Tablet and Congressional Quarterly. He was a senior correspondent at The Algemeiner for more than a decade and is a weekly columnist for JNS. Cohen has reported from conflict zones worldwide and held leadership roles at the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee. His books include Some of My Best Friends: A Journey Through 21st Century Antisemitism.

Yellow Star of David with shadow on black background. Credit: Ausra Barysiene/Shutterstock.
Featured Columnist
Anti-Semitism: Back to square one?
We can no longer assume that basic knowledge of the Holocaust plays an immunizing role, especially as the Nazi extermination program fades further and further into history.
Aug. 5, 2022
Ben Cohen
Russian President Vladimir Putin negotiates with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Ukrainian wheat, July 18, 2022. Credit: 42nd Street in Manhattan/Shutterstock.
Featured Columnist
Mr. Putin goes to Tehran
Iran and Russia further bind their ties—one an authoritarian regime claiming Divine sanction, the other an authoritarian regime promoting nationalist chauvinism, both of them sworn enemies of Western democracy.
Jul. 22, 2022
Ben Cohen
Hamid Nouri on trial in Sweden on May 2, 2022 Credit: Voice of America via Wikimedia Commons.
Featured Columnist
Iran’s ‘death corridor’ is open for business
The trial of former Iranian regime operative Hamid Nouri provides a harrowing glimpse into the systemic abuse of human rights in the Islamic Republic.
Jul. 15, 2022
Ben Cohen
Anti-Zionism, Zionism Is Racism Sign
Featured Columnist
Banning anti-Zionism: Feasible? Desirable?
The depiction of Israel as an apartheid state is wrong and immoral, but it shouldn’t be illegal, for the simple reason that banning certain types of speech is a gateway to further, unexpected restrictions.
Jul. 8, 2022
Ben Cohen
Graffiti displaying Koran verses seen in the center of Nablus in the West Bank, Nov. 15, 2016. Photo by Sebi Berens/Flash90.
Featured Columnist
Wishing Israel away
Islam is not the only faith to dress up superstition as credible assertion. Still, the significance of such beliefs is better gauged by measuring their popularity rather than debating their contents.
Jul. 1, 2022
Ben Cohen
Art from the Documenta 15 exhibit in Berlin, Germany, June 2022. Source: Screenshot.
Featured Columnist
The ‘Judensau,’ then and now
It is presented to the public as a particularly shameful episode in the long history of Jewish persecution in Germany. There is no endorsement of the sculpture, officially or otherwise.
Jun. 24, 2022
Ben Cohen
A result of the oil crisis in 1973, when the OPEC oil cartel embargoed sales to Israel's allies during the Yom Kipper War. Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock.
Featured Columnist
Goodbye to the oil weapon
If the European Union wants to reduce its dependency on Russian gas by turning to Israel as an alternative supplier, then Israel is entitled to attach some political conditions to the arrangement.
Jun. 17, 2022
Ben Cohen
Migrant workers in the West Bay area of Doha, Qatar, waiting for a bus on Feb. 1, 2014. Credit: Alex Sergeev via Wikimedia Commons.
Featured Columnist
Qatar’s blood-stained World Cup
When the winning team lifts the trophy after the final on Dec. 18, it will do so over the unmarked graves of more than 6,000 workers who died on the job so that the game could be played.
Jun. 10, 2022
Ben Cohen
Lyon, France. Credit: Pixabay.
Featured Columnist
Another Jew is murdered in France
If the brutal death of René Hadjaj is to mark a sea change in the country’s approach to anti-Semitic crimes, the connections between hate speech and violence need to be analyzed and exposed.
Jun. 3, 2022
Ben Cohen
Iraqis protesting at the Massachusetts State House in Boston take a stand against a lack of jobs, corruption and poor public services in their home country, Oct. 5, 2019. Credit: Jan van Dasler/Shutterstock.
Featured Columnist
Iraq’s blood-curdling bill targets Israel (and its own people)
A new law with the ominous title, “Criminalizing Normalization and Establishment of Relations With the Zionist Entity,” could end in lifetime prison sentences or even the death penalty for Iraqi citizens who disobey it.
May. 27, 2022
Ben Cohen
Palestinian Kids, Military Camp
Featured Columnist
‘Ideology of rage’ comes to Congress
When you examine the impact of the various anti-Zionist initiatives in the United States and Europe over the last 20 years, it quickly becomes apparent that their principle effect has been to diminish the security of Diaspora Jewish communities.
May. 20, 2022
Ben Cohen
Lufthansa aircraft at ground ready for boarding during the reduced traffic situation due to corona at Frankfurt Airport, June 8, 2022. Credit: travelview/Shutterstock.
Featured Columnist
‘Say yes to the world’ but no to the Jews: Lufthansa’s anti-Semitic scandal
It can emerge from this appalling episode with its credibility intact. For that to happen, the airline needs to recognize that its ground staff implemented an anti-Semitic policy and apologize for that offense specifically.
May. 13, 2022
Ben Cohen
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