Benny Morris

Benny Morris, born on December eighth, nineteen forty-eight, is a prominent Israeli historian, journalist, and university educator. He served as a professor in the Middle East Studies department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, located in Beersheba, Israel. Morris is notably recognized for his association with the 'New Historians,' a term he coined to describe a group of historians, including Avi Shlaim, Ilan Pappé, and Simha Flapan, who sought to re-examine the narratives surrounding Israel's history.

His scholarly work primarily focuses on the Arab–Israeli conflict, particularly the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, which has garnered both acclaim and criticism from various political perspectives. Despite identifying as a Zionist, Morris emphasizes that his research was driven by a quest for truth rather than ideological bias. He states, 'I embarked upon the research not out of ideological commitment or political interest. I simply wanted to know what happened.'

One of his seminal contributions to the field is the book 'The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, nineteen forty-seven to nineteen forty-eight,' published in nineteen eighty-nine. This work, based on newly declassified Israeli archives, revealed that the exodus of Palestinian refugees in nineteen forty-eight was significantly influenced by deliberate expulsions and violence from Israeli forces, challenging the prevailing narrative that attributed the exodus to Arab commanders' orders.

In recent years, scholars have noted a shift in Morris's ideological stance, particularly following the Second Intifada around the year two thousand. His perspective has been characterized as increasingly conservative, with a more critical view of Palestinians, leading him to regard the expulsions of nineteen forty-eight as justified actions.