The Forward files a feature on Cohen, including some details on his government-supported trip last October to Kuwait and Jordan to help negotiate for the release of American aid worker Peter Kassig with jihadists close to ISIS. (ISIS beheaded Kassig on Nov. 16.)
According to Cohen, the failure of his mission was in part due to the U.S. government’s failure to act when his initiative was aborted midstream, just as the talks were showing promise.
Cohen, who had also been renting loft space on Avenue D the past 10 years, also shares his disgust for the development of the neighborhood.
"Look at that building going up next door,” he said, shaking a fist at the 11-story high-rise under construction just outside his south-facing window. "Everything’s crowding in. There’s no more light in here!"
Upon his release from prison, Cohen plans live in his Catskills country home.
As The New York Times has pointed out, "Cohen's clients have included political activists and terrorism defendants, among them Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, bin Laden’s son-in-law."
