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| {{Short description|Israeli economist and writer (1951–2017)}} | |||
| '''Steven Plaut''' (born in ]) is a Professor on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business Administration at the ] and a writer. | |||
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| {{Infobox writer | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| | name = Steven Plaut | |||
| | image = Steven Plaut in 2011.JPG | |||
| | imagesize = | |||
| | caption = Steven Plaut giving a lecture at Central European University in 2011 | |||
| | pseudonym = | |||
| | birth_name = | |||
| | birth_date = 1951 | |||
| | birth_place = ] | |||
| | death_date = {{death date and given age|2017|1|17|65}} | |||
| | death_place = ], ] | |||
| | occupation = Professor, ] | |||
| | nationality = | |||
| | ethnicity = | |||
| | citizenship = | |||
| | period = | |||
| | genre = | |||
| | subject = Economics, business | |||
| | movement = | |||
| | notableworks = | |||
| | spouse = | |||
| | partner = | |||
| | children = | |||
| | relatives = | |||
| | influences = | |||
| | influenced = | |||
| | awards = | |||
| | signature = | |||
| | website = | |||
| | portaldisp = | |||
| }} | |||
| ⚫ | '''Steven Plaut''' (1951 – January 17, 2017) was an Israeli economist, academic and writer. He was an associate professor of Business Administration at the ] as well as a member of the editorial board of the '']'', a publication of the ] think tank. | ||
| ==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
| Steven Plaut was born in ]. In 1981, Plaut ] to Israel with his family. He died on January 17, 2017, in ], ] at the age of 65 after battling cancer for many years.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gotlieb|first1=Andy|title=Former Philadelphian, University of Haifa Professor Steven Plaut Dies at 65|url=http://jewishexponent.com/2017/01/19/former-philadelphian-university-haifa-professor-steven-plaut-dies-65/|accessdate=20 January 2017|work=Jewish Exponent|date=19 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Levi Julian|first1=Hana|title=Professor Steven Plaut, z'l|url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/professor-steven-plaut-zl/2017/01/19/|accessdate=21 January 2017|work=The Jewish Press|date=19 January 2017}}</ref> | |||
| ===Academic career=== | |||
| Steven Plaut was born in ] into a ]ish family. In the 1930s, his father had been in ] training camp set up in Europe for young Jews who intended to make ], but the British ] foreclosed his plans. He managed to escape from ] to the ] and during ] served under General ]. | |||
| ⚫ | Plaut received his ] from ] in Philadelphia and his ] from ]. He received a ] in ] from ],<ref name=ProCon>{{cite web|title=Steven Plaut, PhD|url=http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=006291|work=ProCon.org|accessdate=7 April 2014|date=August 6, 2013}}</ref> specializing in international and urban economics and later in ]. Plaut worked at the ].<ref name=ProCon/> Before his professorship at the Haifa University, he taught at ], the ], ], ], ], ], ], and Athens Laboratory for Business Administration.<ref>{{cite web|last=Plaut|first=Steven|title=Steven Plaut, CV attachment|url=http://economics.ceu.edu/people/steven-plaut|publisher=Central European University|access-date=22 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130143846/http://economics.ceu.edu/people/steven-plaut|archive-date=30 January 2016}}</ref> | ||
| Steven Plaut grew up in a religiously ] ] home. In 1981, the Plaut family (including his parents) immigrated to ]. | |||
| ⚫ | Plaut received his undergraduate degree from ] in Philadelphia |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | ==Political views== | ||
| Blue is Israel and green is Palestine.]] | |||
| Steven Plaut has been one of the most persistent and outspoken Israeli critics of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and of Israel's unilateral withdrawal policy. Ever since the ] were signed, he has argued that Palestinian and other Arab leaders would continue to seek the destruction of Israel through violence and ]. For much of the 1990s, he was an isolated voice in Israeli opinion, but he believes that his views have been vindicated by outbreak of the ] and the campaign of ]. | |||
| ===Literary career=== | |||
| In addition, Plaut has strongly attacked Israeli and Jewish leftists such as ], ] and ]. He claims that such figures are ] and apologists for ] who promote the destruction of Israel ; he calls them "Israel's Academic Fifth Column". Plaut is particularly opposed to what he sees as left-wing extremism in Israeli universities, and is actively involved in ], a website monitoring such alleged extremism. . | |||
| Plaut first work was ''Import Dependence and Economic Vulnerability'', published in 1983.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Plaut |first1=Steven E. |title=Import dependence and economic vulnerability |date=1983 |publisher=JAI Press |location=Greenwich, Connecticut |isbn=978-0-89232-392-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jfcVAQAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| In his 1985 book titled ''The Joy of Capitalism'', Plaut argues for ] economics and compares the profit motive to the ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Plaut |first1=Steven E. |title=The Joy of Capitalism |date= |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0-582-29671-8 |pages=7-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeBHAAAAYAAJ |access-date=26 October 2024 |language=en |chapter=2}}</ref> In the book he discusses energy, housing, banking and agricultural policy as well as equality and income distribution.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Plaut |first1=Steven E. |title=The Joy of Capitalism |date=1 January 1985 |publisher=Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc |location=New Jersey |isbn=0582296714 |language=en}}</ref> | |||
| ==Neve Gordon civil suit== | |||
| ⚫ | ''The Scout'' is a fictionalized account of Plaut's near-death experience as a ] patient in an ] ward. It is structured as a series of life stories exchanged between himself and another patient in the ward, an Israeli ] scout. This novel was published in 2002.{{cn|date=February 2021}} | ||
| In 2006, Steven Plaut lost a civil suit in an Israeli court in which he was accused of libeling Neve Gordon. He is now appealing this decision. He had been ordered to pay the plaintiff ], an anti-Zionist Marxist faculty member at the ] Department of Politics and Government, about $18,600 in compensation plus $3,500 in legal fees. | |||
| ⚫ | ===Political views=== | ||
| Emphasizing that the court's role was not to adjudicate opposing political views, Judge ] ruled that Plaut did cross a line between legitimate criticism and unlawful defamation of character. Judge Naddaf came to this decision after reading several articles written by Plaut, where he described Neve Gordon as a "fanatic anti-Semite" and a "Judenrat wannabe." Other supposed cases of defamation of Gordon included a message forwarded by Plaut but not composed by him, urging readers to write an “Israeli Leftist” a mock-condolence letter for the death of a Hamas member (a targeted assassination by the IDF). Neve Gordon's e-mail address was one of about 30 included in this request. | |||
| Plaut was an outspoken critic of the Israeli-Arab peace process and Israel's unilateral withdrawal policy. Since the ], he argued that Arab leaders would continue to seek the destruction of Israel through violence and ].<ref>{{cite web|last=Plaut|first=Steven|title=The Oslo Final Solution|url=http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives/stevenplaut/06-22-02.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205235822/http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives/stevenplaut/06-22-02.shtml|archive-date=2012-02-05|access-date=2016-01-22|url-status=dead|publisher=Conservative Truth|date=2012-06-22}}</ref> Some of his political writings are criticisms of ].<ref>{{cite web|last=Plaut|first=Steven|title=Op-Ed: Happy Nakba Day!|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/11654#.UVYXlpPvuSo|work=Israel National News|accessdate=29 March 2013|date=15 March 2012}}</ref> | |||
| Plaut was critical of many Israeli left-wing figures,<ref>{{cite web|last=Plaut|first=Steven|title=Personal Blog|url=http://stevenplaut.blogspot.co.il/|accessdate=29 March 2013}}</ref> as well as some Americans such as ] and ], whom he described as ]s and apologists for terrorism that are promoting the destruction of Israel.<ref>{{cite web|last=Plaut|first=Steven|title=Stupid Left, Satanic Left|url=http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=1870|work=Jewish Press|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050427085537/http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=1870|archive-date=2005-04-27}}</ref> Plaut was opposed to what he saw as left-wing extremism in Israeli universities, and was actively involved in Isracampus, a self-proclaimed watchdog organization that publicizes anti-Israel people and groups.<ref>{{cite web|title=Main Page|url=http://www.isracampus.org.il/|work=IsraCampus|accessdate=29 March 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nesher|first=Talila|title=10 percent of Israeli academics labeled 'anti-Zionist' by campus watchdogs|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/10-percent-of-israeli-academics-labeled-anti-zionist-by-campus-watchdogs-1.408535|work=Haaretz|date=22 January 2012 |accessdate=29 March 2013}}</ref> In the Canadian '']'', he denounced ], a group protesting the ] which he said was composed of "violent hooligans and anarcho-fascist thugs."<ref>{{cite news|last=Plaut |first=Steven |title=Pepe Le Pew makes aliyah and protects the Jews |url=http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php/200907221846/Pepe-Le-Pew-makes-aliyah-and-protects-the-Jews.html |access-date=22 July 2009 |newspaper=The Jewish Tribune |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727093000/http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php/200907221846/Pepe-Le-Pew-makes-aliyah-and-protects-the-Jews.html |archive-date=July 27, 2009 }}</ref> | |||
| According to Gordon, Plaut was orchestrating a campaign - including letters to donors and members of the university's appointments committee - aimed at blacklisting him and denying him tenure. The use of the Holocaust motif against him was a decisive factor in Gordon's decision to file a SLAPP suit. "Once someone is labeled as a Holocaust denier that person becomes illegitimate, and rightly so," he explained. "Israeli society tolerates a relatively wide range of political views and that is why Plaut had to resort to this Holocaust mechanism to try to shut me down," Gordon said. Gordon has built much of his career around promoting Norman Finkelstein, widely regarded as a Holocaust Denier, including by the anti-Defamation League. | |||
| ==Libel case== | |||
| Commenting on the verdict, Plaut said: "Because it will go to appeal, I prefer not to go into detail about it. I will just say that the judgment amounts to selective protection of freedom of speech in Israel, under which the most outrageous and even illegal behavior and statements made by anti-Israel extremists is always protected speech while denunciation of the public political activities and behavior of such people is deemed 'libel.'" While Plaut never claimed Gordon himself was a Holocaust Denier, merely a fan of Holocaust Deniers, a few other writers and newspapers have claimed that Gordon himself is indeed a Holocaust Denier, such as the Jewish Voice and Opinion]. | |||
| Plaut was sued for libel by ], a faculty member at the ] Department of Politics and Government, claiming that Plaut slandered him in certain articles and alleged e-mails. In May 2006, the ] Magistrate's Court ruled in favor of Gordon, and ordered Plaut to pay Gordon 80,000 shekels in compensation plus 15,000 shekels in legal fees.<ref>{{cite news|last=Moskowitz|first=Ira|title=U.S.-born professor guilty of libeling colleague|url=http://www.haaretz.com/u-s-born-professor-guilty-of-libeling-colleague-1.189859|accessdate=29 March 2013|newspaper=Haaretz|date=9 June 2006}}</ref> Both sides ]ed to the Nazareth District Court, and in February 2008, the court reversed three out of four of the libel claims but upheld a libel judgment relating to the fourth, a publication in which Plaut called Gordon a "] Wannabe". It reduced the damages to 10,000 shekels (about $2,700) on the basis that, in the court's view, Plaut was entitled to criticize Gordon.<ref name=chron>{{cite web | |||
| |title= Israeli Appeals Court Upholds Libel Judgment Against Academic but Reduces Damages | |||
| |url= http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/03/1937n.htm |publisher= ] | |||
| |date= March 5, 2008 |accessdate= 2008-07-01 |last=Kalman |first=Matthew }} | |||
| </ref><ref>ע"א (נצרת) 1184/06 - פרופ' סטיבן פלאוט נ' ד"ר ניב גורדון . תק-מח 2008(1), 11886. (Hebrew) 1184/06 Steven Plaut Vs. Dr. Neve Gordon, Takdin-District 2008(1) Full text of the District Court's decision is available {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721140515/http://www.takdin.co.il/search/NetisUtils/srvrutil_getdoc.aspx?path=%2Fnepsdoc%2F1L3OtCJOtN34nE3HVONKkC3OkQ7HjR000%2F1184_au.06.html&ts=&cp=0 |date=July 21, 2011 }}</ref> | |||
| ==Letter to Turkish Prime Minister== | |||
| Judge Naddaf stated in her ruling that an informed discussion of the political uses made of the hisorical memory of the Holocaust neither denies its factual basis nor diminishes its horrifying nature in any way. Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz defended Plaut and denounced Gordon as a friend of neo-nazis and anti-Semites, and also denounced Gordon's judge and her verdict , adding "if Finkelstein and Gordon aren't themselves explicitly neo-Nazi, they're at least very highly regarded by those who are - and for good reason." Israeli writer Alon Dahan has denounced Gordon as a neo-nazi . | |||
| In March 2013, a letter from Plaut was received by the office of ], Prime Minister of Turkey. The letter condemned as illegal Turkey's occupation of ] and attacked the Turkish Prime Minister, accusing him of being behind the Gaza Flotilla "terrorist attack" on Israeli soldiers. Plaut apologized for Israel not killing a larger number of "terrorists" on the flotilla ship. He claimed it was time to give back "occupied Constantinople" to its "true owner", namely, Greece.<ref>{{cite news|title=Netanyahu'nun özrü İsrailli profesörü çılgına çevirdi |url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/dis-haberler_netanyahunun-ozru-israilli-profesoru-cilgina-cevirdi_2070169.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130329081438/http://www.zaman.com.tr/dis-haberler_netanyahunun-ozru-israilli-profesoru-cilgina-cevirdi_2070169.html |archive-date=29 March 2013 |newspaper=] |date=26 March 2013 |language=tr |agency=] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Köseoğlu |first=Ferhan |title=Netanyahu'nun özrü İsrailli profesörü çılgına çevirdi |url=http://dunya.milliyet.com.tr/netanyahu-nun-ozru-israilli-profesoru-cilgina-cevirdi/dunya/dunyadetay/26.03.2013/1685582/default.htm |accessdate=29 March 2013 |newspaper=] |date=26 March 2013 |language=tr |agency=Cihan }}</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| Besides Dershowitz, other conservative publicists criticized the decision. ] argued that this was one of a growing number of attempts by anti-democratic judges in Israel to suppress freedom of speech . The Jerusalem Post's Jonathan Rosenblum criticized the verdict as interfering with the freedom of speech. Gordon responded to Dershowitz's charges in an article titled . In the article, Gordon accuses Dershowitz falsely of being a plagiarist. | |||
| *] | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}} | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| * Commentaries on the current events in Israel | |||
| * Archive of Previous commentaries | |||
| * Interview with Jason Maoz, Senior Editor, ''The Jewish Press'' (December 31, 2002) | |||
| * Articles for ''The Jewish Press'' | |||
| * Articles for ] | |||
| * Older collection of articles | * Older collection of articles | ||
| *, ], 10 June 2006 | |||
| * Neve Gordon, "Anti-Semitism? You just don't like what I say", Jerusalem Post, November 8, 2006 | |||
| {{Authority control}} | |||
| * Steven Plaut, "DePaul's Moment of Truth", American Thinker, October 5, 2006 | |||
| * Norman Finkelstein, "Heinz Beans Professor of Zio-Flatulence Studies Lets Loose Another Lethal Emission", October 6, 2006 | |||
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Latest revision as of 13:38, 26 October 2024
Israeli economist and writer (1951–2017)
| Steven Plaut | |
|---|---|
 Steven Plaut giving a lecture at Central European University in 2011 | |
| Born | 1951 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | (aged 65) Haifa, Israel |
| Occupation | Professor, University of Haifa |
| Subject | Economics, business |
Steven Plaut (1951 – January 17, 2017) was an Israeli economist, academic and writer. He was an associate professor of Business Administration at the University of Haifa as well as a member of the editorial board of the Middle East Quarterly, a publication of the Middle East Forum think tank.
Biography
Steven Plaut was born in Philadelphia. In 1981, Plaut immigrated to Israel with his family. He died on January 17, 2017, in Haifa, Israel at the age of 65 after battling cancer for many years.
Academic career
Plaut received his undergraduate degree from Temple University in Philadelphia and his MA from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He received a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University, specializing in international and urban economics and later in finance. Plaut worked at the Federal Reserve Bank. Before his professorship at the Haifa University, he taught at Oberlin College, the Technion, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Central European University, Tel Aviv University, University of Nantes, and Athens Laboratory for Business Administration.
Literary career
Plaut first work was Import Dependence and Economic Vulnerability, published in 1983.
In his 1985 book titled The Joy of Capitalism, Plaut argues for free market economics and compares the profit motive to the libido. In the book he discusses energy, housing, banking and agricultural policy as well as equality and income distribution.
The Scout is a fictionalized account of Plaut's near-death experience as a kidney cancer patient in an intensive care ward. It is structured as a series of life stories exchanged between himself and another patient in the ward, an Israeli Bedouin scout. This novel was published in 2002.
Political views
Plaut was an outspoken critic of the Israeli-Arab peace process and Israel's unilateral withdrawal policy. Since the Oslo Accords, he argued that Arab leaders would continue to seek the destruction of Israel through violence and terrorism. Some of his political writings are criticisms of Nakba Day.
Plaut was critical of many Israeli left-wing figures, as well as some Americans such as Michael Lerner and Norman Finkelstein, whom he described as self-hating Jews and apologists for terrorism that are promoting the destruction of Israel. Plaut was opposed to what he saw as left-wing extremism in Israeli universities, and was actively involved in Isracampus, a self-proclaimed watchdog organization that publicizes anti-Israel people and groups. In the Canadian Jewish Tribune, he denounced Anarchists Against the Wall, a group protesting the Israeli West Bank barrier which he said was composed of "violent hooligans and anarcho-fascist thugs."
Libel case
Plaut was sued for libel by Neve Gordon, a faculty member at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Department of Politics and Government, claiming that Plaut slandered him in certain articles and alleged e-mails. In May 2006, the Nazareth Magistrate's Court ruled in favor of Gordon, and ordered Plaut to pay Gordon 80,000 shekels in compensation plus 15,000 shekels in legal fees. Both sides appealed to the Nazareth District Court, and in February 2008, the court reversed three out of four of the libel claims but upheld a libel judgment relating to the fourth, a publication in which Plaut called Gordon a "Judenrat Wannabe". It reduced the damages to 10,000 shekels (about $2,700) on the basis that, in the court's view, Plaut was entitled to criticize Gordon.
Letter to Turkish Prime Minister
In March 2013, a letter from Plaut was received by the office of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey. The letter condemned as illegal Turkey's occupation of Northern Cyprus and attacked the Turkish Prime Minister, accusing him of being behind the Gaza Flotilla "terrorist attack" on Israeli soldiers. Plaut apologized for Israel not killing a larger number of "terrorists" on the flotilla ship. He claimed it was time to give back "occupied Constantinople" to its "true owner", namely, Greece.
See also
References
- Gotlieb, Andy (19 January 2017). "Former Philadelphian, University of Haifa Professor Steven Plaut Dies at 65". Jewish Exponent. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
- Levi Julian, Hana (19 January 2017). "Professor Steven Plaut, z'l". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
- ^ "Steven Plaut, PhD". ProCon.org. August 6, 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- Plaut, Steven. "Steven Plaut, CV attachment". Central European University. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
- Plaut, Steven E. (1983). Import dependence and economic vulnerability. Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press. ISBN 978-0-89232-392-0.
- Plaut, Steven E. "2". The Joy of Capitalism. Longman. pp. 7–9. ISBN 978-0-582-29671-8. Retrieved 26 October 2024.
- Plaut, Steven E. (1 January 1985). The Joy of Capitalism. New Jersey: Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. ISBN 0582296714.
- Plaut, Steven (2012-06-22). "The Oslo Final Solution". Conservative Truth. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2016-01-22.
- Plaut, Steven (15 March 2012). "Op-Ed: Happy Nakba Day!". Israel National News. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Plaut, Steven. "Personal Blog". Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Plaut, Steven. "Stupid Left, Satanic Left". Jewish Press. Archived from the original on 2005-04-27.
- "Main Page". IsraCampus. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Nesher, Talila (22 January 2012). "10 percent of Israeli academics labeled 'anti-Zionist' by campus watchdogs". Haaretz. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Plaut, Steven. "Pepe Le Pew makes aliyah and protects the Jews". The Jewish Tribune. Archived from the original on July 27, 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- Moskowitz, Ira (9 June 2006). "U.S.-born professor guilty of libeling colleague". Haaretz. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- Kalman, Matthew (March 5, 2008). "Israeli Appeals Court Upholds Libel Judgment Against Academic but Reduces Damages". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
- ע"א (נצרת) 1184/06 - פרופ' סטיבן פלאוט נ' ד"ר ניב גורדון . תק-מח 2008(1), 11886. (Hebrew) 1184/06 Steven Plaut Vs. Dr. Neve Gordon, Takdin-District 2008(1) Full text of the District Court's decision is available here Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- "Netanyahu'nun özrü İsrailli profesörü çılgına çevirdi". Zaman (in Turkish). Cihan. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013.
- Köseoğlu, Ferhan (26 March 2013). "Netanyahu'nun özrü İsrailli profesörü çılgına çevirdi". Milliyet (in Turkish). Cihan. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
External links
- OpinioNet columns Older collection of articles