West of Eden: Note

Kosher pizzeria in the Jewish compound of Isfahan. Photo by Larry Cohler-Esses.

Not feeling snarky or clever for the last day or two, sorry. Very pleased, though, about my congresscritter.

Jerrold Nadler, New York Congressman, to Endorse Iran Nuclear Deal http://t.co/X6JU8VGCeU So proud Jerry Nadler is my congressman

— Yastreblyansky (@Yastreblyansky) August 21, 2015

If you want to communicate with your representative on the subject of Iran, in a large-scale physical way, MoveOn.org is organizing a series of encounters  on Wednesday. Check it out here.

Meanwhile, if you haven't been reading the extraordinary reporting by Larry Cohler-Esses in the Forward, "A Jewish Journalist's Exclusive Look Inside Iran", you should be. Even more the latest installment, on the lives of the 9000 Jews still living in the Islamic Republic:

Jews’ place in Iranian society is perhaps vouchsafed most by the Jewish community’s own willingness to fight for its right to that place. Its leaders do so while avoiding any challenge to the fundamental legitimacy of Iran’s regime. But it is not a quiet or quiescent Jewish leadership.

Also in the Forward, in the editorial pages, a remarkable piece on "How Anti-Obama Zealots Have Gone Off the Rails on Iran Deal" including a little snark at the expense of war criminal Elliott Abrams:

Abrams was perturbed at Obama’s claim at [American University] that “many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal.” Obama warned that if there’s no deal, they’ll soon be calling for war against Iran. Abrams was incensed. He had every right to be. He was one of the most prominent people arguing for war in 2003 and opposing the Iran deal now. Who better than he to deny the charges?

And Juan Cole for the horrifying story of the three times Netanyahu and his then defense minister Ehud Barak almost went to war against Iran in 2010-12, fortunately blocked by the cabinet. (When people wonder how not signing the Iran nuclear deal could lead to war, you could point out how many times it almost did already.)