Benny Morris facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Benny Morris
בני מוריס‎
Morris in 2007
Born	(1948-12-08) 8 December 1948 (age 76) Ein HaHoresh, Israel
Education	Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA) University of Cambridge (PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions	Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Thesis	The British Weekly Press and Nazi Germany During the 1930's (1977)

Benny Morris (Hebrew: בני מוריס; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. Morris is known for his work on the Arab–Israeli conflict.

He was part of a group of Israeli historians called the "New Historians". Morris himself created this name. These historians looked at the history of Israel and the conflict in new ways. They often used documents that were recently made public.

One of Morris's most important books is The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1948. This book used new information from Israeli archives. It showed that many Palestinian refugees left their homes in 1948 because of actions by Israeli forces. This was different from what many people had believed before.

Over time, some people have noticed a change in Morris's views. His perspective on the 1948 events has been described as becoming more conservative.

Biography

Early Life and Education

Benny Morris was born on 8 December 1948. His birthplace was Ein HaHoresh, a kibbutz in Israel. His parents were Jewish immigrants from the United Kingdom.

His father, Ya'akov Morris, was a diplomat, historian, and poet. His mother, Sadie Morris, worked as a journalist. Benny Morris grew up in a family that believed in pioneering and left-wing ideas. When he was one year old, his family moved to Jerusalem. He also lived in New York for a time when his father worked there.

Morris studied history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He then earned a doctorate in modern European history. This degree was from the University of Cambridge in England.

Military Service

Morris served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as an infantry soldier. He was a paratrooper from 1967 to 1969. He fought in the Six-Day War on the Golan Heights. He also served near the Suez Canal during the War of Attrition.

In 1969, he was hurt by an Egyptian shell. He left active service but continued in the military reserve until 1990. Later, in 1982, he served in the 1982 Lebanon War. He was part of a mortar unit during the Siege of Beirut.

In 1986, he did reserve duty in the West Bank. In 1988, he refused to serve in Nablus. He believed Israel should withdraw from the occupied territories. He did not want to help stop the First Intifada, which was an uprising. For this, he was sent to military prison for 19 days. After this, he was discharged from reserve service.

Academic Career

After publishing his book The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in 1987, Morris faced challenges. No university in Israel wanted to hire him at first. Ezer Weizman, who was Israel's president, convinced him to stay in the country.

From 2015 to 2018, Morris was a visiting professor at Georgetown University. He taught in the Department of Government there. He is married and has three children. He lives in Srigim, Israel.

Journalism Career

After finishing his studies at Cambridge, Morris returned to Jerusalem. He worked as a reporter for The Jerusalem Post for 12 years. He covered the 1982 Lebanon War for the newspaper. He also fought in this war as a reservist.

While working as a journalist in the 1980s, Morris started looking at old government documents. These were kept in the Israel State Archives. He first looked into the history of the Palmach, an Israeli military group. Then, he became interested in how the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight began.

At that time, many people believed Palestinians left their homes in 1948 due to fear or orders from Arab leaders. Morris found evidence in the archives that showed expulsions happened in some cases. He also found information about secret talks between Israeli officials and Lebanese groups. These findings were published in The Jerusalem Post in 1983.

Views on History

Benny Morris's work has received both praise and criticism. He sees himself as a Zionist, which means he supports the idea of a Jewish state in Israel. He has stated that he started his research simply to understand what happened in history.

Morris believes that Israel's actions in 1948, such as the movement of many Palestinian Arabs, were necessary. He argues that there was no other choice at the time. He has said that his views changed around the year 2000. This was after the Second Intifada, a period of conflict. He felt that the attacks during this time showed deep hatred towards Israelis.

Morris still considers himself to be left-wing. This is because he supports a two-state solution. This idea suggests having both an Israeli state and a Palestinian state living side-by-side. However, he believes his generation might not see peace in the region.

Morris has also expressed concerns about Israel's future. He thinks that a situation where one group rules another without equal rights cannot last. He believes that if Palestinians gain full rights, Israel might no longer be a Jewish state. He worries this could lead to more conflict.

In 2019, Morris criticized the Israeli government. He said they were making it harder to access historical documents from 1948. He called these restrictions "totalitarian."

Published Works

Benny Morris has written many books about the history of the Middle East.

1948 and After

This book is a collection of essays. It focuses on the Palestinian exodus of 1948 and events that followed. Morris discusses how different Israeli groups acted during this time. He also looks at an IDF report from 1948. This report suggested that Israeli forces caused 70% of the exodus. The report also said there were no orders from Arab radio stations telling Palestinians to leave.

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1948

This 1989 book looks closely at how the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight happened. Morris studied each Palestinian village that was emptied. He examined why people left and what happened to their homes. This book helped establish Morris as a leading historian of the 1948 Palestine war.

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited

Published in 2004, this book updates his earlier work. It includes new information found in archives over 25 years. It also looks at what happened in cities like Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Haifa.

1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War

In this book, Morris gives a detailed account of the 1948 Palestine war. This war led to the creation of the modern state of Israel. Historians have praised this book for its research and analysis.

One State, Two States

In this book, Morris discusses solutions for the conflict. He suggests that a two-state solution might not work. He also believes a one-state solution (where Israelis and Palestinians live in one country) is not possible. He mentions the idea of a three-state solution, possibly involving a Palestinian confederation with Jordan.

The Thirty-Year Genocide, Turkey's Destruction of its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924

This book describes how the Ottoman and Turkish governments destroyed Christian communities. It covers the murder of about two million Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Christians.

List of Publications

• The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949, Cambridge University Press, 1988. ISBN: 978-0-521-33028-2
• Israel's Secret Wars: A History of Israel's Intelligence Services, with Ian Black, New York, Grove Weidenfeld, 1991. ISBN: 978-0-8021-1159-3
• Israel's Border Wars 1949–1956: Arab Infiltration, Israeli Retaliation, and the Countdown to the Suez War, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1993. ISBN: 978-0-19-829262-3
• 1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1994. ISBN: 0-19-827929-9
• Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist–Arab Conflict, 1881–1999. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 2001 [Original in 1999] ISBN: 978-0-679-74475-7
• Correcting a Mistake: Jews and Arabs in Palestine/Israel, 1936-1956, Am Oved Publishers, 2000.
• The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2003. ISBN: 978-1-86064-812-0
• The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0-521-00967-6
• Making Israel (ed), University of Michigan Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-472-11541-9
• 1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War, Yale University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-300-12696-9
• One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict, Yale University Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-300-12281-7
• The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924 (co-authored with Dror Ze'evi), Harvard University Press, 2019. ISBN: 978-0674916456
• Sidney Reilly: Master Spy, Yale University Press, 2022. ISBN: 978-0-300-24826-5

Awards and Recognition

In 2008, Benny Morris received the National Jewish Book Award. He won this award in the History category for his book 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War.

See also

• Exodus of Palestinians in 1948
• History of Israel
• Palestinian refugee
• 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War, Morris' 2008 book

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