At a time when the Middle East has come closer to achieving peace than ever before, eminent Israeli historian Benny Morris explodes the myths cherished by both sides to present an epic history of Zionist-Arab relations over the past 120 years. Tracing the roots of political Zionism back to the pogroms of Russia and the Dreyfus Affair, Morris describes the gradual influx of Jewish settlers into Palestine and the impact they had on the Arab population. Following the Holocaust, the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948 resulted in the establishment of the State of Israel, but it also shattered Palestinian Arab society and gave rise to a massive refugee problem. Morris offers distinctive accounts of each of the subsequent Israeli-Arab wars and details the sporadic peace efforts in between, culminating in the peace process initiated by the Rabin Government. In a new afterword to the Vintage edition, he examines Ehud Barak's leadership, the death of President Assad of Syria, and Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, and the recent renewed conflict with the Palestinians. Studded with illuminating portraits of the major protagonists, Righteous Victimsprovides an authoritative record of the middle east and its continuing struggle toward peace.
Making sense of any particular episode in the long and convoluted conflict between Arabs and Israelis can seem a Sisyphean task--engineering peace in the Middle East has become nearly clichéd in its complexity, with each individual dispute traceable back to years of anger, mistrust, and mutual misunderstanding fueled by cycles of violence and revenge. To add to this confusion, the historical record has been colored by "emphatic partisanship by commentators and historians from both sides, as well as by foreign observers," adds Middle East historian Benny Morris. So what Morris has undertaken in this volume--an inclusive, dispassionate, and rigorous history of the conflict, from Zionism's birth in the wake of the Russian pogroms through to the uncertain prospects for peace in 1999--is no mean feat.
A calm, balanced voice (although a controversial one among some who fear revisionism), Morris has previously proven his scholarship with such definitive titles as Israel's Border Wars and The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem. Righteous Victims likewise doesn't waver in its task, methodically unearthing the political and military roots of the struggle, from early friction between Zionist "colonizers" and native Arabs slowly through to the establishment of Israel and the bloody wars and terrorism that followed. --Paul Hughes
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Benny Morris scored again:
Benny Morris makes history come alive, and provides facts and new insights as time goes by. He researches exhaustively, and it not afraid to modify his views and conclusions in light of new facts, experience, and just because time has a way of modifying one's preliminary conclustions. Amazon makes it possible to amass a huge library on a given subject without spending all of one's discretionary budget.
Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001:
Fantastic book. Written by a natvie born Jewish/Israel citizen, History professor. Anyone interested in the Middle East problems should read this. A real shame our political leaders have not read.
he's really just begging for money:
Benny Morris, has found fame because he has chosen to betray the truth, and embrace the lies of the Arab League, the PLO, and Hamas so he can sell more books, and get more money. The fact he is a "renegade" of sorts is what sells his trash. I think anyone looking for the truth behind Benny Morris should read Efraim Karsh's essays and book "Fabricating Israeli History." Morris basically dedicates his book to omitting key phrases from key people, taking things out of context, and overall distortion. Benny... more info
It is racism after all:
This is encyclopedic review and a detailed chronicle of the events surrounding the birth of nation of Israel, first as a homeland for the disposessed and decimated Jewish masses and then eventually as a colonizing military regional superpower. It is extremely detailed and well researched. Facts and salient information is presented without much fanware and distracting analysis. I chanced upon this jewel as it was a textbook for a course on this topic at my son's college. The only shortcoming is that it... more info
