Doron Ben-Atar
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Doron Ben-Atar (; born 25 May 1957) is an
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i-born American historian and playwright. He is a professor of history at
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.


Biography

Doron Ben-Atar was born in Kfar Shmaryahu,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. His father, Arye Ben-Atar, immigrated to
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
from Turkey in 1936. He was a basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv. His mother is a
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
survivor from Poland. In 2006, Ben-Atar wrote a play based on his mother's experiences, ''Behave Yourself Quietly.'' In the 1970s, Ben-Atar, who is two meters (7') tall, followed in his father's footsteps and began to play basketball. He studied at Tichon Hadash high school in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
and joined Peace Now, taking part in left-wing demonstrations. In 1988, he worked for Israel's
Meretz Meretz (, ; ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It had no seats in the Knesset following its failure ...
party. He went to the United States to study American history at
Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
and completed his doctorate at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1990. He taught at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
before moving to Fordham University. Ben-Atar is married to an American Jew and has three children.


Academic career

Ben-Atar is a noted expert on
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
piracy, "where he has "rocked the current patent debate by saying that piracy is not only inevitable, it may even be beneficial." He claims U.S. economic development was founded on the illegal misappropriation of intellectual property. Business World India calls him "a genial giant from the world of academia" who has undermined conventional arguments in the hotly debated question of who owns intellectual property by looking at the issue through the prism of the past. Ben-Atar maintains that "it is impossible to contain the abuse of technology without undermining the free flow of knowledge that is the prerequisite for innovation." Christine MacLeod of
Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...
wrote "Doron S. Ben-Atar wears his heart on his sleeve. It's a good heart, but historically the wrong sleeve." His work on intellectual policy builds on his earlier work on
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
. He criticized Jefferson for vacillating between viewing commerce as a threat to republican virtue and recognizing the necessity of promoting prosperity. As a result, Jefferson "failed to recognize America's larger stake in defeating Napoleonic France."


Playwrighting career

After ''Behave Yourself Quietly,'' Ben-Atar wrote '' Peace Warriors'' about the demonization of Israel in the academic world. He says that writing plays is a way of grappling with the issue of Jewish identity and its significance in the 21st century.


Published works


Books

* ''Trade Secrets: Intellectual Piracy and the Origins of American Industrial Power'' (Yale University Press, 2004) * ''What Time and Sadness Spared: Mother and Son Confront the Holocaust'' together with Roma Nutkiewicz Ben-Atar (University of Virginia Press, 2006) * ''The Origins of Jeffersonian Commercial Policy and Diplomacy'' (Macmillan, 1993) * ''Federalists Reconsidered'', co-edited with Barbara B. Oberg (University Press of Virginia, 1998)


Selected articles

* "Pirates of the Potomac," Legal Affairs (2004) * "Pride, Ambition and Resentment: The American Revolution Revisited," for the Oxford History of the British Empire (2000) * "The Jewish American Question," Journal of Urban History (1999) * "Nationalism, Neo-Mercantilism, and Diplomacy: Rethinking the Franklin Mission," Diplomatic History (1998).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ben-Atar, Doron 1957 births Living people Jewish Israeli writers American people of Israeli descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent American people of Turkish-Jewish descent Israeli historians Jewish American dramatists and playwrights Jewish American historians Brandeis University alumni American male dramatists and playwrights American dramatists and playwrights American male non-fiction writers