Martin H. Peretz, also known as Marty Peretz, (born December 6, 1938), is an American publisher and former Harvard University lecturer. He owned The New Republic from 1975 to 2007, [1] and served for many years as its editor-in-chief. In 2007, he sold his shares to CanWest Global Communications Corporation but retained his editor-in-chief position. Peretz is a member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) Board of Advisors.
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Personal
Peretz is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science. He received his B.A. degree from Brandeis University in 1959, and M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, going on to lecture in social studies. Additionally, Peretz has seven honorary doctorates, and in 1982 received the Jerusalem Medal. Peretz is married to Anne Labouisse Farnsworth Peretz, heiress to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune and daughter of H.R. Labouisse and Elizabeth Scriven Clark. Her wealth is widely credited as having given Peretz the means to acquire The New Republic. Peretz is a long-time friend and supporter of Al Gore. He is also a descendant of the Yiddish writer I. L. Peretz. He is father of director Jesse Peretz.
Editorial stance
Under the leadership of Peretz, the magazine has generally maintained liberal and neoliberal positions on economic and social issues, and assumed hawkish and strong pro-Israel stances in foreign affairs. Peretz has long supported Democrats over Republicans, including being a major behind-the-scenes benefactor of Eugene McCarthy's primary presidential bid in 1968.
Controversies and criticisms
In a November 28, 2006 posting on his TNR blog 'The Spine,' Peretz referred to former United States President Jimmy Carter, writing: "That's how he will go down in history: as a Jew hater." [2] On February 16, 2007 he added: "...he (Carter) is animated by a very strong animus towards Jews." Peretz's commentaries rarely mesh with the moderate opinions and analysis expressed by the The New Republic's writing staff. In the movie Shattered Glass, which portrays the unmasking of writer Stephen Glass' serial fabrications in the pages of The New Republic, Peretz was played by Canadian director Ted Kotcheff. Writer Eric Alterman noted that Peretz has often used language to describe Arabs and Palestinians:
- They are "violent, fratricidal, unreliable, primitive and crazed … barbarian"; they have created a "wretched society" and are "cruel, belligerent, intolerant, fearing"; they are "murderous and grotesque" and "can't even run a post office"; their societies "have gone bonkers over jihad" and they are "feigning outrage when they protest what they call American (or Israeli) atrocities"; they "behave like lemmings," and "are not shocked at all by what in truth must seem to them not atrocious at all"; and to top it all off, their rugs are not as "subtle" and are more "glimmery" than those of the Berbers.[3]
On September 8, 2006 Peretz joined the Libby Legal Defense Trust as an Advisory Committee Member. [4]
References
- ^ Carr, David. "Franklin Foer Is Named Top Editor of New Republic", The New York Times, February 28, 2006.
- ^ http://www.tnr.com/blog/spine?pid=60511
- ^ http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=my_marty_peretz_problem_and_ours
- ^ http://www.scooterlibby.com/
External links
- TNR biography
- "The Spine", Martin Peretz's blog at TNR
- "The Perpetually Perfervid Peretz," Slate
- "Marty Peretz's Word Power", Slate
- "My Marty Peretz Problem--And Ours", The American Prospect
- "DEPAUL'S DISGRACE", by Martin Peretz, New Republic blog, 10.09.2006
- "Peretz Dossier", a collection of Martin Peretz quotes on Palestinians and Arabs
