On January 8, Morris headlined
his Haaretz op-ed "The day after Iran's tomorrow," saying:
"If Iran feels Israel or (America) are about to attack it soon, it could
use missiles to attack attack Israel's military airfields and perhaps
additional strategic installations as well, in a pre-emptive strike."
He knows Iran threatens no one. It hasn't attacked another country in
over two centuries. Its neighbors aren't threatened. It prioritizes peace,
not war.
Morris way overstepped. He's done it throughout his career. He substitutes
lies for truth. More on his duplicitous comments below.
In August 2008, James Petras headlined "Racism and Genocide: Lies of Our
Times." He discussed Morris. He called him a "Zionist genocide promoter."
He "practices the Big Lie."
He falsely said he "never supported the brutal expulsion of all Palestinians…I
have said, repeatedly, that the expulsion of the Palestinians is immoral
and impracticable."
More recently he said:
"Under some circumstances, expulsion is not a war crime. I don’t think
that the expulsions of 1948 (of nearly a million Palestinians) were war
crimes. You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs."
"You have to dirty your hands." If Ben-Gurion expelled all Arabs, "he
would have stabilized (Israel) for generations."
Genocidal slaughter is a small price to pay, he believes. Hitler tried
purifying Nazi Germany the same way. America exterminated most of its
Native People. Other rogue states tried and failed.
Morris' worldview is racist. It's fanciful, fabricated, and disturbing.
"I am completely unaware that Zionism ever aimed to 'rule the Middle East,'
" he claims. Perhaps if he studied history before writing his version,
he'd know better. More likely he doesn't care.
Israel's history is too disturbing to reveal. Morris and other revisionists
suppress it. His "style is as revelatory as the substance of his totalitarian
beliefs," said Petras.
He claims Iran threatens Israel. It's a Big Lie. Nothing whatever suggests
it. His solution is "nuclear genocide." Israel has no choice, he claims.
He calls Israeli Arabs and Palestinians "wild animals." They're "barbarians."
They should be locked up in "a cage." Treat them like "serial killers."
It's shocking that this stuff gets published.
Jeremy Salt is Bilkent University Political Science/Middle East History
Professor. In April 2011, he headlined "The Slanderer as Historian," saying:
Morris "completely lost his moral compass." In 1948, Palestinians had
to be "cleansed." Otherwise they'd be no Israel, said Morris. Ben-Gurion
was a "transferist." He should have finished the job.
He distinguishes between ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ben-Gurion and
likeminded hardliners did both. So did other Israeli leaders who followed
him.
Morris attacked Ilan Pappe for exposing Israeli crimes. He turned truth
on its head. He said Pappe "blacken(ed) the image of Israel and its leaders
in 1948."
He's "one of the world's sloppiest historians and certainly one of the
most dishonest."
Pappe did what dishonest historians and moral cowards like Morris avoid.
His-style slander should surprise. He's a serial liar. He has a "vicious
tongue." He's "psychologically incapable of drawing the only conclusions
possible from his own research."
It's shoddy and disreputable. Like Bernard Lewis and other pro-Israeli/imperial
hardliners, he prioritizes lies, not truth. He defends the indefensible.
He's intellectually dishonest. He omits what's too disturbing to reveal.
He justifies atrocities instead of condemning them. He claims Zionists
had a divine right to create a Jewish state in Palestine.
He calls Islam problematic. It doesn't value human life like the West,
he claims. It abhors "freedom, democracy, openness and creativity."
If Islamic states get nuclear, chemical, and/or biological weapons they'll
"use them." If able, they'll "commit genocide."
He shames his academic credentials. His credibility is sorely lacking.
Rancor and vindictiveness substitute for good sense. He's unapologetic
about Israel's worst crimes.
He blames Arabs, not Jews. He elevates revisionist history to a higher
level. It doesn't rise to the level of bad fiction. He distinguishes between
good and bad genocide. He calls it a legitimate political tool.
He teaches Middle East studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
He's one of a number of New Historians. He never met an Arab he didn't
despise. He believes Jews are God's chosen people.
He writes propaganda, not history. He teaches this stuff to students.
They're best advised to avoid him.
Arne Arnon is Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva Economics Professor.
Joseph Zeira teaches economics at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Last October, their Haaretz op-ed headlined "Answering Benny Morris: Historians
should have a commitment to the truth," saying:
Morris "taught us that the official Israeli version (of history) is not
always right." Later documents revealed an entirely different picture.
Morris once said historians often "forgot a basic rule of historiography:
that official documents are suspect and that an effort should always be
made to get to the original."
"This is especially true in the case of an ideological national movement
which is immersed in an existential conflict with its neighbors, and for
which survival and victory, and not universal values of morality and justice
(and certainly not historical accuracy), are the top priority."
His writing "completely discard(s) the rule which he himself laid down."
With no legitimate corroborating evidence whatever, he "unhesitantingly
adopted the official Israeli stance that 'there is no partner for peace.'
"
"(O)ver the years, we have complied information which casts a dark shadow
over (his) claims." Many sources supply it. Morris ignores indisputable
facts. He's on the wrong side of history. He's "a committed propagandist."
Last September, Haaretz headlined "Benny Morris on why he's written his
last word on the Israel-Arab conflict," saying:
"After 30 years, he's giving up." Nine books "left (him) with a feeling
of despair. I've done all I can," he said.
"I've written enough about a conflict that has no solution, mainly due
to the Palestinians' consistent rejection of a solution of two states
for two peoples."
Many years ago it was possible. It longer is. Israel controls over half
the West Bank and much of East Jerusalem. More is added daily. The only
solution is one state for all its people. There's no other way.
Morris tried going out with a bang. He wrote a revisionist essay. "My
aim is to open readers’ eyes to the truth," he claimed.
"The objective is to expose the goals of the Palestinian national movement
to extinguish the Jewish national project and to inherit all of Palestine
for the Arabs and Islam."
"The Palestinian national movement has remained unchanged, throughout
the different periods of the struggle, whether under the leadership of
Hajj Amin al-Husayni or his successor, Yasser Arafat," he said.
"It did not even change during the years of the Oslo process. In the end,
both sides of the Palestinian movement - the fundamentalists led by Hamas
and the secular bloc led by Fatah - are interested in Muslim rule over
all of Palestine, with no Jewish state and no partition."
He makes this stuff up. He's done it throughout his academic career. His
worldview is upside down. He blames Palestinians for Israeli crimes. He's
too set in his ways to change.
He sanitizes Zionist extremism. He reinvents history his way. He's dismissive
of Palestinian rights. He's unapologetic about what he thinks right.
On January 8, he headlined his Haaretz op-ed "The day after Iran's tomorrow."
Perhaps he decided to keep writing after all. He took dead aim at Iran.
He speculated on whether Israel would attack its nuclear facilities. He
thinks it's possible, saying:
"There is still a reasonable possibility that Israel and/or the United
States will carry out their threat and attack the nuclear facilities this
coming spring or summer, if the sanctions can't halt the Iranian nuclear
program."
He knows Iran threatens no one. He knows its nuclear program is peaceful.
He pretends otherwise. As discussed above, he suggests Tehran may strike
preemptively.
"Those who reject such a possibility claim that the Iranians will refrain
from doing so because it will only provide Israel or the United States
with a justification for reacting and striking at their nuclear installations,
and then who can come to them with complaints?"
"But from the Iranian point of view, the considerations in favor of a
pre-emptive strike may overcome their desire to be seen as a victim."
He admits that attacking "would contradict Iran's tradition of not initiating
wars against its neighbors (not including small operations, which are
carried out by messengers, like Hezbollah), but Iran's rulers may think
that the threat is too great, and that an initiated attack is preferable
to maintaining the tradition."
He claims Hezbollah rockets and Gaza "Jihadi organizations" may act supportively.
He thinks something may happen in "days or weeks."
Whatever differences exist among Islamic factions, "hostility toward Israel"
unites them. They "need to wipe the Jewish state of heretics off the map."
He claims an Israeli or US counterattack "will prompt Muslims to demand
that their governments intervene."
"Save our (regional) brothers," they'll say.
Iranian leaders may act first, he claims. They "could be tempted to launch
a preemptive strike to protect their nuclear project from attack."
Doing so is the surest way to destroy it.
He urged Israel to be forewarned and forearmed. A state of "readiness"
should exist. It "should be poised on alert to block a sudden Iranian
move. It is not improbable."
Morris has been ranting for decades. He lost all credibility long ago.
He makes stuff up. He reinvents history. He prioritizes Big Lies. Age
hasn't mellowed him.
He's irresponsibly pro-Israeli. He's contemptuous of Arab rights. He calls
Iran an existential threat.
Tunnel vision reflects his thinking. He's an embarrassment to legitimate
historiography. He's too set in his ways to change.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour
on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
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