Righteous Victims

Book excerpt: Tracing the roots of the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews for possession of the land they both claim, this text examines the deep religious, ethnic, and political differences between the Zionist immigrants and the native Arab population.;Drawing on archives and memoirs as well as secondary works, Benny Morris portrays the chief protagonists among the politicians, generals and diplomats on both sides, evaluating their successess and failures, recording the shifts of military advantage and the vicissitudes of the peace efforts from the post-1948 negotiations.