Like every treatment of the Arab Israeli conflict, this book will not please everyone (or anyone?). The book is brisk. Fortunately, Morris has an even tone throughout and does not remain fixed on any one subject for too long. As anyone knows who has written on a broad topic, this is an exceptional accomplishment. Even at 600 plus pages, this book could have easily gotten bogged along the way on the wealth of detail about this well researched conflict. And this book shows that despite some of Morris' more inflammatory interviews recently, he can still present a work of historical research that is even handed and fair.

Benny Morris rose to the forefront of Israel's 'New Historians' in the 1980's with the publication of 'Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem,' which provided radically new evidence which altered modern perceptions of the region forever. Morris retains his important findings in Righteous Victims and expands on them, covering virtually the entire history of the Israel-Palestine conflict. I found the earlier chapters leading up to the creation of the State of Israel on the earliest Zionist settlers to be particularly interesting; Morris presents a picture which indicates that the current bloodshed is by no means a product of natural necessity. The ethnic cleansing of Palestine and subsequent military occupation is the cause. However, Morris becomes overly ideological in the concluding sections of the book, allowing his harsh realist politics to creep in. Nevertheless, this is arguably the most comprehensive single volume about the history of the conflict.

I have read several works on the historical roots of the conflict, but this book is probably the best overall history in one work. Morris does pretty well at taking an even hand with his writing; although he probably could have shortened it by a couple hundred pages by leaving out some of the "breathless" play-by-play commentary of battle tactics in the various wars. Overall, it is well worth the time invested if you want a better understanding of the subject.

I have read several works on the historical roots of the conflict, but this book is probably the best overall history in one work. Morris does pretty well at taking an even hand with his writing; although he probably could have shortened it by a couple hundred pages by leaving out some of the "breathless" play-by-play commentary of battle tactics in the various wars. Overall, it is well worth the time invested if you want a better understanding of the subject.

If you want to understand the Arab Israeli conflict this is the best book that you can get. Covers the relevant history and deals evenly with both sides. Points out Israel's start of the suicide bombings and shows the ineffective nature of the PLO in getting their demands through unreasonable leadership. Overall it is just an excellent book that gets straight to the point about its topic. If you are looking for a book that talks about terrorism or the conflict in the Middle East this is a great place to start. This was a wonderful textbook for a class on the Arab Israeli conflict. The history was clearly outlined and made for useful discussions of how the conflict evolved.

If you want to understand the Arab Israeli conflict this is the best book that you can get. Covers the relevant history and deals evenly with both sides. Points out Israel's start of the suicide bombings and shows the ineffective nature of the PLO in getting their demands through unreasonable leadership. Overall it is just an excellent book that gets straight to the point about its topic. If you are looking for a book that talks about terrorism or the conflict in the Middle East this is a great place to start. This was a wonderful textbook for a class on the Arab Israeli conflict. The history was clearly outlined and made for useful discussions of how the conflict evolved.

Don't be fooled by the deceptive calm of the apparent "even-handed" tone of this book. Although it is aimed at being the comprehensive history of the land that has become Israel/Palestine from 1881-2001, and is certainly long enough, I was impressed with what it left out rather than what it added to the existing histories, and what it leaves out is telling as to where the author's sympathies lie. He admits he's a Zionist and this book is really an apologia for what Zionists have done since 1881 - I believe that is the reason this book exists. He also reveals his political affiliations and shows more of his colours towards the end of the book - I really don't think a historian needs to lead readers to fabricated conclusions based on his opinions - we should be clever enough to do that if he just shows us the facts. Although he is a lot more honest than most historians of the ongoing conflict, and includes much detail that casts both Zionists and Arabs in a morally reprehensible light, the author doesn't tell the half of it.

For example, he doesn't document from when, how, and how much Zionists obtained their massive support from America during this period - America's relationship with Israel is only glancingly mentioned and only becomes prominent during the excitement of the first Camp David. The deal made with the Hashemites and the Arab Legion to limit themselves largely to Jerusalem in 1948 is not sufficiently covered, making their relative docility seem part of the "miracle" of 1948. There's hardly any analysis regarding the refugee question "did they run or were they forced to leave?" We are just left with "fled or were expelled" - note which word was used first. The Occupation material didn't cover exactly why the Palestinians were so angry at the multifarious ways in which their basic living conditions were continually eroded in Gaza and the West Bank (which the author refers to, tellingly, as Judea and Samaria) from 1967 onwards. Indeed, the second Intifada seems to be a complete mystery to the author as to why it happened at all - as if things had got any better for them since the first - though the author is never short of reasons why they might be themselves to blame for their own frustration. At one point, on p565, he suggests that the Occupation brought good things to the West Bank and Gaza, including access to Israeli hospitals "which lead to a dramatic expansion of the population and overcrowding, especially in Gaza" - you sense the author rues the fact that they didn't just die off naturally..."but none of this sufficed to erase...the inhabitant's political frustration or anger". Some people are hard to please.

The author continues by glossing over the reasons why Arafat could not come to an agreement with Barak at Camp David II, Sharm El-Sheikh, or Taba - far from the 27 pages devoted to who said what to whom at the first Camp David talks in 1979, the second Camp David in 2000 got 1 page (in a 700 page work), Sharm El-Shiekh talks got one paragraph and Taba was not even mentioned at all - I got the distinct sense that the author was furious with Arafat for rejecting "the best deal he was ever going to be offered" - and refusing to explore why he might have done so.

Structurally, once the author finishes with the interesting early history of the region, he basically lurches from one war to the next as a way of relating "history". This is clever, because since the Jews and then Israel "won all its wars" (and far too much of the book is devoted to admittedly exciting, blow-by-blow accounts of those winning wars), whether they deliberately provoked them or not, it presents one side in a glowing, winning light - which is disappointing because there's a lot more to history than the number of planes one can shoot out of the sky in an exhilirating afternoon - it is more about under the table alliances and vote buying support for resulting political and material gain, and covert subversion of opposing state apparatus. It's about media manipulation so the public only hear one side of the story. It's about sucking the water out from under Palestianians' feet in Gaza and elsewhere - it's all the interwar plotting and planning that goes on that results in wars. It's about straitjacketing their land and livelihoods and then wondering why there are suicide bombers and intifadas.

In his conclusions, the author decides to tell it straight as to why the Palestinians lost to Israel because (p680) "It was Europeans versus Third World people". I've lost count of the number of times he basically blames the Palestinians for losing because their own culture was backward and primitive and it basically got what it deserved. In the final analysis, Morris concludes that Israel is in the position it is in right now (in terms of holding all the cards, winning wars against Palestinians and Arabs in general - "So the Zionists have been winners in this conflict" he writes in his final page) because it has and has had a superior culture and social structure - as if successful US lobbying and massive financial and materialsupport had nothing to do with it. The Arabs only have themselves to blame for their current situation. The book's thrust is a detailed retelling of Palestinian aggression, for the most part, and, with only rare though honest exceptions, the Jewish response to those aggressions (paraphrasing the book's final sentence). Small wonder the book is called "Righteous Victims". We are left in no doubt as to who the righteous victims are.

This is an apologia.

Actually, for a topic this fascinating, it could've been longer. Great book. One gets the impression Morris genuinely desires to be objective. The problems, however, were these: It WAS slightly biased towards the Palestinians. However, my guess is this was not ideologically based and more the result of another flaw: the overwhelmingly Israeli source material and the paucity of Arab documentation. This is glaring. How can one be totally objective with such missing data? It's easy to discuss Israeli aggressions with pages of detailed reports. Would he have found the same evidence of atrocity and plotting with adequate Arab documentation? My guess is the information would be rather disturbing and might vindicate the Jews a little more than does the tone of this book. Still..........great book.

Actually, for a topic this fascinating, it could've been longer. Great book. One gets the impression Morris genuinely desires to be objective. The problems, however, were these: It WAS slightly biased towards the Palestinians. However, my guess was this was more a result of another flaw: the overwhelmingly Israeli source material and the paucity of Arab documentation. This is glaring. How can one be totally objective with such missing data? It's easy to discuss Israeli aggressions with pages of detailed reports. Would he have found the same evidence of atrocity and plotting with adequate Arab documentation? My guess is the information would be rather disturbing and might vindicate the Jews a little more than does the tone of this book. Still..........great book.

In response to Alyssa A. Lappen's repeat of Anita Shapira's claim that Benny Morris never properly responded to Ephraim Karsh's attacks on his work, Morris did in fact respond in the Journal of Palestine studies with a fifteen page review of the Karsh book that comprehensively refuted much of Karsh's argument. See Journal of Palestine Studies Winter 1998 pp. 81-95.

I really enjoyed this one. I don't know where the other reviewers are coming from in calling it biased. I did not see that at all. Morris does not appear to be a fan of Ben Gurion, but he also did not give a lot of attention to the Israeli massacres in Lebanon. He is not into emotionalism in this book but more into just recounting the facts of history. This is not a book to build up one particular side or another on the issue. It is a good book to learn the actual history though.

I really enjoyed this one. I don't know where the other reviewers are coming from in calling it biased. I did not see that at all. Morris does not appear to be a fan of Ben Gurion, but he also did not give a lot of attention to the Israeli massacres in Lebanon. He is not into emotionalism in this book but more into just recounting the facts of history. This is not a book to build up one particular side or another on the issue. It is a good book to learn the actual history though.

This is a fascinating and detailed examination of the evolution of Israel from the perspective of early Zionist aspirations, through to the Hagannah and the IDF. Morris clearly has access to high quality IDF intelligence and archives. While many reviewers have focused on the Arab vs. Zionist sections of the book - presumably because these tensions feed naive political emotions - the text itself devotes a large amount of space to the double dealing by Britain that sowed the seeds of much of the current conflict. In my opinion, an understanding of international subterfuges plotted against, and subsequently thwarted by, a nascent Israel is proably the primary added value of this text. Irrespectove of one's ideological stance, Morris draws together a compelling account of the injustices directed at the early state of Israel (Yishuv). Well worth reading. Packed with detail and certainly not propaganda.

This is a fascinating and detailed examination of the evolution of Israel from the perspective of early Zionist aspirations, through to the Hagannah and the IDF. Morris clearly has access to high quality IDF intelligence and archives. While many reviewers have focused on the Arab vs. Zionist sections of the book - presumably because these tensions feed naive political emotions - the text itself devotes a large amount of space to the double dealing by Britain that sowed the seeds of much of the current conflict. In my opinion, an understanding of international subterfuges plotted against, and subsequently thwarted by, a nascent Israel is proably the primary added value of this text. Irrespectove of one's ideological stance, Morris draws together a compelling account of the injustices directed at the early state of Israel (Yishuv). Well worth reading. Packed with detail and certainly not propaganda.

Benny Morris has tackled a difficult subject with flair. He has avoided the extremes that an emotionally provocative subject as this usually inspires in some people. He has presented both sides of the conflict, or at least done so as good as anyone could expect, as well as pointing out the failures on both sides that have conspired to leave us with a seemingly hopeless situation today.

For anyone looking for a broad introduction into the history, causes, contributing factors and personalities of the Arab-Zionist conflict, this book is hard to go past. It is comprehensive, well-written, well-referenced and very balanced in its presentation.

Morris is a lively writer, and has struck a happy medium between detail and the need to keep on track in what is a complex subject.

Benny Morris represents a new, modern strand of Israeli historians who do not shrink from presenting their nation's history as it occured. His prose is lucid, flowing and fascinating as he brings the reader from the Zionist colonization process in the 19th and early 20th centuries all the way into the present. The depth and breadth of his research are simply unassailable - which, I suspect, is one of the greatest irritants to his critics, of which there are many.

History is inseparable from political implication, and for that reason, almost any honest historical work will be labelled "unfair" or "biased" by someone - just ask Howard Zinn. But do not shrink from this book because some criticize it. In fact, a good sign that you've found a solid piece of research is that it has been reviled by those who criticize historians for not being "patriotic" enough.

Personally, I disagree with some of Morris's conclusions (I think he's far too easy on the Zionist project), but I must agree that he's written a solid book here. If you're looking for a good primer or refresher piece on Israeli history, you've found it.

Anita Shapira's New Republic essay, "The Past is Not a Foreign Country," (online) decimates this book. Adding to Efraim Karsh's 1996 study (Fabricating Israeli History), she reminds readers that Morris failed to reply. He ignored 50 Karsh references to his own work, Avi Shlaim, primary sources and major historical and journalistic studies.

In this work, Morris ironically refers to many of Karsh's sources, but nevertheless arrives at incorrect conclusions. The book is thus a politically charged revision of the Israeli-Arab conflict covering the pre-1948 through the history of Arab wars on Israel. The book shows culprits and casualties, and blames Arab regimes for violent incursions into Israel in the 1950s, for the secret war between Israel and terrorist groups, for Naser's threat to Israel before the Sinai and Six-Day wars, and for many Arab calls for Israel's destruction. Morris even notes that Israel's West Bank and Gaza rule "was never as restrictive or repressive as the Palestinians made out."

One big problem is Morris' large reliance on Israeli and secondary sources. He consults only a few primary Arab documents (and those, only in English translation), thus all but ignoring available Arab memoirs and state files. Oddly, Morris exploits every Israeli contingency plan and idea as conclusive evidence of Zionist expansionism, but ignores Arab plans for a "Greater Syria" as well as King Hussein's designs.

Another is Morris' exclusion of regional effects of the cold war, and Soviet arms that poured into Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and other Arab states, worsening Arab-Israeli relations from the 1950s on. In short, Morris ignores the fact that the opportunity for Arab-Israeli peace opened up only following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which left Arab hard-liners without support for their traditional rejections.

Worse, Morris misconstrues the notorious topic of " transfer," a term commonly used between the two world wars to describe population exchanges like that between Turkey and Greece in the 1920s. In his first work on that topic, Morris rightly concluded that the "Palestinian refugee problem was born of war, not by design, Jewish or Arab," but was (rather) a by-product of both people's fears and the protracted, bitter fighting of the first Arab-Israeli war. But that conclusion provoked attacks from Arab historians and Israeli revisionists.

Whatever the reason, Morris in this book reverses his earlier conclusion, standing history on its head. He makes effect into cause, and falsely translates the results of war into a paradigm for Arab-Jewish relations. He writes, "fear of territorial displacement and dispossession was to be the chief motor of Arab antagonism to Zionism down to 1948 (and indeed after 1967 as well)."

This reading libels Zionism and its foundations.

Actually, the Peel Commission first proposed, in 1937, to transfer the Arab minority from territory designated for the tiny Jewish state as part of a planned partition of western Palestine into Jewish and Arab states. Morris presumes that Zionist leaders "played a role in persuading the Peel Commission to adopt the transfer solution." But he provides zero proof.

In fact, Ben-Gurion welcomed the British idea only to persuade Zionists to accept a tiny Jewish state (and the proposed partition)--but also warned of its inherent dangers. Furthermore, Zionist leaders believed that a Jewish majority would come from massive immigration, and that Western Palestine could accommodate millions of Jews and Arabs. History proved them right on that score, although the peace they expected remains ever-elusive.

The Arabs initiated war in 1948 in preference to accepting a Jewish state--and thought they could win. And everywhere they prevailed, Arabs expelled every last Jew. Benny Morris should get real.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

The author covers a long period of this one century old conflict. He makes alot of efforst in maintaining an unbiased view of the events, and covers the the important events and incidents of this conflict. This book can be used as a good starting point to learn about the enormous web of people, events, plots, plans, wars that shaped and still shaping this conflict without a forseeable end.

Commencing from the roots of zionism and continuing through the downward spiral of peaceful relations between the settlers (Jews) and the occupants (Palestinians), "Righteous Victims" attempts to clarify the historical realities of the Middle East. In just under 700 pages its author, Benny Morris, accurately details a large portion of the history of one of the most conflicted lands in the world.
As a professor at Ben-Gurion University, Morris, puts his occupational status on the line with his depictions of traditionally well-acclaimed Israeli leaders and events of the past. Although unnecessarily wordy at times, the work accomplishes its goal of giving a two-sided evaluation of the conflicts. With this in mind, it is imperative to impress the point that no work is commpletely unbiased. This is quite obvious through portions of the text in which Morris overtly focuses on unnecessary IDF (Israeli) aggression.
The most conclusive portion of the text, appropriately, gives a final "so what" evaluation of the complexities at hand. With most of the text focusing on wars and conflicts, Morris leaves his audience with emphasis on the need for peace in the region. Along with receiving a comprehensive historical text, the reader of "Righteous Victims" will gain an appreciation for communication, tolerance and respect among all people with the ultimate goal of preventing more violence in the name of vengeance.

This well written and organized book is an effort to provide a fair narrative history of the Zionist/Israeli-Arab/Palestinian conflicts. It is based largely on secondary sources and published documents and not on any extensive archival research. As pointed out by the author, the Israeli historian Benny Morris, there is considerably more documentation available for the Zionists/Israelis. Indeed, much of what Morris can tell us about the Arab/Palestinian side comes from Zionist/Israeli sources. Morris, however, interprets material carefully and this is generally an evenhanded book.
As can be seen from prior reviews, individual reviewer reactions are influenced by prior conceptions of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I am impressed that much of the book is devoted to debunking Zionist mythology. Some examples. Many, if not all Zionist leaders, including most of the founders of the state of Israel, were aware that construction of a Zionist state would require dispossesion of the native Arab populations. The British Mandate was largely beneficial for the Zionists. In the wars of 1947-1948, the Zionists enjoyed significant advantages. While there is less written about the Arabs/Palestinians, several important themes emerge. Palestinian national consciousness is largely a result of the confrontation with Zionism. The Palestinians suffered from incredibly poor leadership. Some of the Palestinian problems, particularly their poor leadership, is a product of the fact that Palestinian society was essentially pre-modern in social and political organization. The Palestinians have been treated poorly by Arab states.
This book is particularly useful for episodes that Americans are unlikely to be familiar with. The 1973 war is described well, including the near victory of the Syrians in the north of Israel. The invasion and occupation of Lebanon, ultimately the only real defeat ever suffered by the Israeli armed forces, is very well described and analyzed.
While I think Morris is correct on broad outlines and is generally fair to both sides, I think he is wrong on some specific points. He suggests that Israeli decision makers misinterpreted Arab nation intentions prior to the 1967 war and that it was avoidable. Michael Oren's recent and very good book on this subject, published after the publication of Morris's book, emphasizes the aggressive intentions of the Arab states and the difficult but probably correct decision made by the Eshkol cabinet to initiate hostitilies. Similarly, Morris states that the US become unswervingly committed to Israel during the Kennedy administration. It is probably closer to the truth to see considerable deepening of the US commitment to Israel as a consequence of the great success in the 1967 war.
Overall, this is the best historical introduction to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and really useful for understanding the genesis of the present and very complex state of affairs.

Morris' review is coloured in his attempt to provide equity between Palestinians and Israelis. Historically, the bottom line is that Israel absorbed almost 1 million Arab and Perisan Jews, while the Arabs failed to absorb less than half a million displaced Arabs from the creation of Israel. (Population transfer was the original mandate for Israel, see League of Nations Mandates of 1917, which also created mandates for independent states such as Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt, and were affirmed in the first paragraph of the UN Charter) If you're looking for historically documented facts, I suggest Joan Peters' 'From Time Immemorial'. She is a journalist who set out to write a pro-Palestinian book and ended up finding (in almost exclusively Arab sources) a strong history which debunks current Arab claims about refugees and the right of Israel to exist in all of the land west of the Jordan river. For instance, it is interesting that even the UN claims that only 20% of the Arab refugees were landowners (and that the other 80% were migrant workers from other Arab lands and not indigenous to Israel at all), and that these displaced persons were included in the refugee rolls because Arab countries refused to take them back [and they needed shelter and food, which UNRWA could provide). We find from Peters' multiple Arab sources that Arabs openly stated repeatedly that they would use these non-refugees politically (and so far successfully) in attempts to destroy nascent Israel. Morris also completely ignored the facts that 1) until 1981, most Palestinian refugees held Jordanian citizenship, and 2) that Jordanian law, based on the Mandate from 1917, carries a clause which stipulated [until 1981] that all non-Jewish Palestians have a 'right of return' to Jordan. Peters' book is completely annotated, and as I mentioned earlier, her sources are almost exclusively Arab, which lends her book a lot of validity and debunks the most basic premises' of revisionist histories of the conflict.

Morris manages to synthesize a vast quantity of information in this evenhanded and very readable history. He concentrates on military and diplomatic events, making the book a bit repetitive and depressing. He treats the founders of the Jewish State as humans and not the supermen they have been portayed as in many Israeli histories to date. He makes the very important point that the Jews, although technically outnumbered in the War for Independence, were better organized, trained and motivated (and later on, even better armed) than their Arab adversaries. On the whole though, it's a fast read considering it's almost 700 pages long. I would recommend this book for those with an interest in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.