Steven Plaut

Infobox Writer
name = Steven Plaut


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birthdate = 1951
birthplace = Philadelphia
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occupation = Professor, University of Haifa
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subject = Israeli/Palestinian criticism
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Steven Plaut (born in 1951) is a Professor on the faculty of the Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Haifa and a writer.

His editorials are often published in "The Jewish Press", "Front Page Magazine" and other periodicals. In 2002 he authored the book "The Scout". He is also 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 into a Jewish family. In the 1930s, his father had been in Hachshara training camp set up in Europe for young Jews who intended to make aliyah, but the British White Paper of 1939 foreclosed his plans. He managed to escape from Nazi Germany to the United States and during World War II served under General Patton.

Steven Plaut grew up in a religiously Conservative Zionist home. In 1981, the Plaut family (including his parents) immigrated to Israel.

Plaut received his undergraduate degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, his MA from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his Ph.D in economics from Princeton University, specializing in international and urban economics and later in finance and 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.

In his 2002 book "The Scout" Steven Plaut describes his near-death experience as a kidney cancer patient at an intensive care ward (he has recovered from the illness). The historical novel is a series of life stories exchanged between him and his neighbor at the ward, an Israeli bedouin scout.

Political views

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 Oslo Accords were signed, he has argued that Palestinian and other Arab leaders would continue to seek the destruction of Israel through violence and terrorism. [ [http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives/stevenplaut/06-22-02.shtml Conservativetruth.org] ] 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 Al-Aqsa Intifada and the campaign of suicide bombing. [ [http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/14229/Selichos_For_Oslo_Supporters.html The Jewish Press] ]

In addition, Plaut has strongly attacked Israeli and Jewish leftists such as Michael Lerner and Norman Finkelstein. He claims that such figures are self-hating Jews and apologists for terrorism who promote the destruction of Israel [ [http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/14542/Stupid_Left%2C_Satanic_Left.html Jewishpress.com] ] ; 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 Israel Academia Monitor, a website monitoring such activity. [ [http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=20411 Frontpagemag.com] .]

Steven Plaut has also becme known through the controversy in which Neve Gordon , a faculty member at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Department of Politics and Government, sued Plaut for libel in several of Plaut's articles and alleged e-mails written about Gordon. In May 2006, the Israeli magistrate court in Nazareth ruled in favour of Gordon, and ordered Plaut to pay Gordon 80000 shekels in compensation plus 15000 shekels in legal fees. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=724857 U.S.-born professor guilty of libeling colleague] Ira Moskovitz, Haaretz 9 June 2006] Both sides appealed to the District Court in Nazareth and in February 2008, the court overturned all but one count relating to a publication in which Plaut called Gordon a "Judenrat Wannabe". The court then reduced the damages to just 10,000 shekels (about US$2,700), with no payment of legal costs required, because "Gordon put himself in the eye of the storm of public discussion".

cite web
title= Israeli Appeals Court Upholds Libel Judgment Against Academic but Reduces Damages
url= http://chronicle.com/daily/2008/03/1937n.htm
publisher= The Chronicle of Higher Education,
date= March 5, 2008
accessdate= 2008-07-01
last=Kalman
first=Matthew Only a summary is available without charge at the official website; the full article is copied at, for instance, [http://www.israelenews.com/view.asp?ID=1307 Istaelenews.com] ] [ 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 [http://www.takdin.co.il/search/NetisUtils/srvrutil_getdoc.aspx?path=/nepsdoc/1L3OtCJOtN34nE3HVONKkC3OkQ7HjR000/1184_au.06.html&ts=&cp=0 here] ] There is an ongoing appeal to the Supreme Court of Israel.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.zioncon.blogspot.com/ Blog] Commentaries on the current events in Israel
* [http://www.stevenplaut.blogspot.com Old Blog] Archive of Previous commentaries
* [http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/1451/No_Holds_Barred:_A_Frank_Conversation_With_Steven_Plaut.html No Holds Barred: A Frank Conversation With Steven Plaut] Interview with Jason Maoz, Senior Editor, "The Jewish Press" (December 31, 2002)
* [http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/8647/Plaut.html Jewish Press columns] Articles for "The Jewish Press"
* [http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=1223 FrontPage columns] Articles for FrontPageMag.com
* [http://conservativetruth.org/opinionet/archives/stevenplaut/toc-plaut.shtml OpinioNet columns] Older collection of articles
* [http://www.sacunion.com/pages/columns/articles/steve_plaut_life_in_israel_is_stranger_than_parody Karen Russo, Sacramento Union Columnist;Steve Plaut: Life in Israel is Stranger than Parody]