Marty Peretz

Martin H. "Marty" Peretz (pronounced /pəˈrɛts/; born December 6, 1938), is an American publisher. Formerly an assistant professor at Harvard University, he purchased The New Republic in 1974 and took editorial control soon afterwards. He retained majority ownership until 2002, when he sold a two-thirds stake in the magazine to two financiers. Peretz sold the remainder of his ownership rights in 2007 to CanWest Global Communications, though he retained his position as editor-in-chief. In March 2009, Peretz repurchased the magazine with a group of investors led by ex-Lazard executive Laurence Grafstein. He is a member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Board of Advisors.

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 in Government, going on to lecture in social studies. He has seven honorary doctorates, and in 1982 received the Jerusalem Medal.

Peretz is currently separated from Anne Labouisse Farnsworth Peretz, daughter of Henry Richardson Labouisse, Jr. and an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine Company fortune. Anne's inherited wealth is widely credited as having given Peretz the means to acquire The New Republic. He is also a descendant of the Yiddish writer I. L. Peretz. He is the father of director Jesse Peretz and writer Evgenia Peretz. Peretz is a long-time friend and supporter of Al Gore.

In 1993, Harvard inaugurated the Martin Peretz Chair in Yiddish Literature in his honour. The Chair is currently held by Ruth Wisse.

Editorial stance

Under the leadership of Peretz, the magazine generally maintained liberal and neoliberal positions on economic and social issues, and assumed hawkish and strong pro-Israel stances in foreign affairs. Peretz has said "Support for Israel is deep down, an expression of America's best view of itself." Alexander Cockburn and Ken Silverstein have stated that Peretz said "I am in love with the state of Israel."

Peretz has long supported Democrats over Republicans, including being a major behind-the-scenes benefactor of Eugene McCarthy's primary presidential bid in 1968. He strongly supported Senator Barack Obama in both his Democratic primary race and in the 2008 general election.

On January 8, 2010, Peretz referred to himself as a "loyalist" to the Democratic Party, albeit a "strained" one:

I do not want the Republicans to gain any [Congressional] seats, the more so as that party stands for (almost) nothing in which I believe. So call me a party loyalist, even though my loyalties are very much strained. But, then, I care most about foreign policy ... and my party does not give a damn.

A strong supporter of Israel, in opposing the appointment of Charles W. Freeman, Jr. as chief of the National Intelligence Council, Peretz wrote:

But Freeman's real offense (and the president's if he were to appoint him) is that he has questioned the loyalty and patriotism of not only Zionists and other friends of Israel, the great swath of American Jews and their Christian countrymen, who believed that the protection of Zion is at the core of our religious and secular history, from the Pilgrim fathers through Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy. And how has he offended this tradition? By publishing and peddling the unabridged John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt book, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, with panegyric and hysteria.

In spite of his electoral support for Obama, Peretz strongly criticized him in his column of July 14, 2009:

Frankly, I am sick and tired of President Obama's eldering--more accurately, hectoring--Israel's leaders. It is, after all, they whose country is the target of an armed and ideological cyclone that Obama has done precious little to ease. He brought nothing back from Riyadh and Cairo, absolutely nothing except the conviction of the Arab leaders that they need do nothing but sit and wait until the president squeezes one concession after another out of Jerusalem.

Controversy

On March 6, 2010, Peretz admitted in a blog post to prejudice against Arabs, writing:

Frankly, I couldn’t quite imagine any venture requiring trust with Arabs turning out especially well. This is, you will say, my prejudice. But some prejudices are built on real facts, and history generally proves me right. Go ahead, prove me wrong.

Peretz later edited his piece without comment, changing "any venture requiring trust with Arabs" to "any venture like this in the Arab world."

On September 4, 2010, Peretz posted an editorial which concluded:

But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse.

In popular culture

Peretz was portrayed by Ted Kotcheff in the 2003 film Shattered Glass, based on the Stephen Glass controversy.

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