I originally entered this to the ACX Book Review competition. Since it has not been selected as a finalist I'm now free to post it here. In truth it's a followup to my review of Morris's history of Israel's War of Independence.

In the wake of the October 7th attack on Israel and Israel's response, everyone seemed to agree that one side of the conflict was the epitome of evil, the reincarnation of the Nazis, with warfare in their blood and a pure unfiltered hatred of the enemy in their minds. The other side was a force for good, who just wanted peace and was doing the best they could in a difficult situation. The only problem is no one could agree which side was which.

This is unfair. While the loudest voices may paint the world in black and white, as soon as you ignore them, you begin [...]

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Outline:

(02:22) Bias

(04:29) Style

(05:49) Synopsis

(05:53) From the Birth of Zionism till the War of Independence (1881 - 1949)

(06:00) Setting the Scene

(07:29) Pre State Zionism

(09:07) Relations with Arabs

(11:10) Partitioning Palestine

(12:26) The War Of Independence

(18:11) From the Armistice to the Six Day War (1949-1967)

(18:18) Peace?

(20:05) Border Infiltrations and Reprisals

(22:04) Suez Crisis

(23:59) The Road to War

(25:56) The 6 Day War

(28:43) From the War of Attrition to Peace with Egypt (1967 - 1982)

(28:50) The War of Attrition

(29:58) The Yom Kippur War

(32:22) Peace, Somehow

(35:23) Israel and Lebanon (1978-2001)

(35:30) The Invasion of Lebanon

(38:03) The Slow Retreat

(39:50) The Occupation (1967-2001)

(39:56) Israeli Governance

(41:50) Settlements

(43:09) The Rebirth of Palestinian Nationalism

(45:07) The First Intifada

(46:52) Oslo

(50:08) The second Intifada

(51:47) Morris's conclusions

(52:08) What Came Next?

(54:14) My Thoughts

(54:55) Israel

(58:22) Palestine

(59:29) Going Forward

(01:02:12) Should I Read This Book?

(01:03:07) Conclusion

The original text contained 28 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

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First published:
June 24th, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Th4SeayGQyF6pYmZ6/book-review-righteous-victims-a-history-of-the-zionist-arab-1

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

“Book Review: Righteous Victims - A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict” by Yair Halberstadt

LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Book Review: Righteous Victims - A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict” by Yair Halberstadt