As I've said before, I don't have a lot of respect for Morris. But in this response to the critics of his interview earlier this month with Ari Shavit, he actually sounds rational and he makes a lot of points worth considering.
It's called "Right of Reply / I do not support expulsion," and the key point he seemed to want to clarify was this:
A central accusation in the letters to Haaretz Magazine ("The judgment of history," January 16) concerned the issue of "ethnic cleansing." I will repeat my words, which apparently did not register (perhaps because of the misleading title on the cover): I do not support the expulsion of Arabs from the territories or from the State of Israel! Such an expulsion would be immoral, and is also unrealistic. What I said was, that if in the future, these communities were to launch massive violence against the State of Israel in combination with a broad assault on Israel by its neighbors, and endanger its survival, expulsions would certainly be in the cards. As for Israeli Arabs, my comments may be seen to represent a minatory road sign pointing in two possible directions: They could, as a whole, choose the path of loyalty to the Jewish state and integration within it as equal citizens, and thus enjoy quiet, prosperous lives; or they could choose the path of disloyalty to the state and of active and violent support for those who seek its demise. The latter path - with which many Israeli Arabs identified in October 2000 and with which many in its leadership seem to identify today, in one convoluted way or another - will help lead to either the destruction of the Jewish state or to their being uprooted.
Morris says that Shavit edited the interview was edited and presented in a way that distorted his views. That really wouldn't surprise me. The Israeli (far) left once considered Morris a guru of sorts, and he's let them down, badly, in too many ways. Paybacks of various sorts are to be expected.
I guess the most striking thing about this essay to me is the lack of Morris' usual theatrics and deliberately provocative statements. Whereas he often seems to be shouting, even in print, here he's quiet and deliberate. Whatever you think of Morris generally and whether or not you were shocked by the interview, be sure to check this out.
