Martin Peretz

<youtube size="tiny" align="right" caption="Brandeis University hails Peretz's achievements despite his controversial views">oAOFi7DynFg</youtube><youtube size="tiny" align="right" caption="Party for Marty: Harvard students protest Martin Peretz for his anti-Muslim/Arab comments">Z3hLOO3YFM8</youtube> Martin H. Peretz (born 6 December 1938) is the part-owner and editor-in-chief of The New Republic. He is known for his extreme hawkish views on Israel and his unconcealed antipathy towards Arabs and Muslims. He is a member of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Board of Advisors.

The Israel Prism

For media scholar Eric Alterman, '[i]t is really not too much to say that almost all of Peretz's political beliefs are subordinate to his commitment to Israel's best interests, and these interests as Peretz defines them almost always involve more war.' He adds:

Peretz insists that, yes, the interests of Israel and the United States are indeed identical. "Support for Israel," he claims, "is deep down, an expression of America's best view of itself." Which begs the question of just what "support" entails. For Peretz it has clearly meant support both for the Iraq war and, now, for yet another war against Iran.

Views

Racism

Peretz has been criticised for his views on Muslims, particularly Arabs. According to a former insider at The New Republic(TNR), writer Spencer Ackerman, '[Peretz] likes to flirt with descriptions of Arabs as subhuman. Everyone who works at TNR knows Marty is a racist.' Alterman has excoriated Peretz for 'his obsessive and unapologetic hatred of Arabs' which is 'visible nearly every day on Peretz's blog "The Spine."' Alterman goes on to provide a sample of Peretz's comments about Arabs.

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.

Liberal blogger and constitutional law attorney Glenn Greenwald has denounced Peretz's 'unbelievably overt anti-Arab/anti-Muslim bigotry' in a post citing examples of his egregious statements about Arabs. He calls Peretz's blog 'a museum for every anti-Arab/Muslim stereotype and caricature that exists.'

Islamophobia

Peretz has compared the Quran, the Muslim holy book, to Mein Kampf and The Communist Manifesto. He writes on his blog:

I've read for my sins the Koran myself, actually two and a half times. Of course, I also studied (and taught) the Communist Manifesto, and I suppose that some of my colleagues even saw in it a tract open to very soft interpretation. There are probably humane readings of Mein Kampf.

On another occasion, Peretz has declared that 'frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims'. He added:

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.

This statement led to a rift within the magazine's own editorial board and a public row between Peretz and the magazine's long-serving literary editor (also chief deputy editor) Leon Wieseltier. On the other hand, Peretz was defended by former charge Andrew Sullivan and influential Israel lobby journalist Jeffrey Goldberg (all three had pushed for the Iraq war).

Islamic Center controversy

Peretz has denounced the planned Islamic Center near Ground Zero in New York as 'a sleazy venture combining religion, marriage catering, sports activity, political propaganda and what would pretend to be kultcha'. He has described the project's planner Sharif El-Gamal as a 'real estate hustler' and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf as the 'theological desperado.' He has praised the right-wing campaign against centre.

In my view, the really modest struggle against the mosque is probably the closest thing we’ve had to a genuinely grass roots effort against the casual and elitist First Amendment fundamentalists.

Peretz adds: 'yes, there are different kinds of Muslims as there are different kinds of Christian Fundamentalists.' New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof cited the post as 'a glimpse of how venomous and debased the discourse about Islam has become.' Pointedly, he asked: 'Is it possible to imagine the same kind of casual slur tossed off about blacks or Jews?' Peretz's statement also prompted students at his alma mater Brandeis University to issue a call for a public apology. They called his statement 'appalling...unacceptable, irresponsible, and wrong'. For the signatories, Peretz's statement violated Brandeis's commitment to fighting 'discrimination, bigotry, and fear of minorities.'

A Kind of Culpa

Following widespread condemnation, and especially stung by Kristof's column, Peretz posted what he said was 'An Apology'. Therein he apologized for demanding that Muslims be deprived of first amendment rights. However, he emphatically reiterated the stereotype based on which he had made his demand. He writes:

The other sentence is: "Frankly, Muslim life is cheap, especially for Muslims." This is a statement of fact, not value.

Affiliations

• Coalition for a Democratic Majority
• The New Republic
• Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Euston Manifesto United States
• Ground Zero Mosque