Avi Shlaim began his academic career as an Israeli graduate student who went to England for his doctoral work.
He is now a long-time Oxford professor who has done pioneering historical research on the origins of the modern state of Israel and the history of Zionism.
He is one of those rare people of moral character who is willing to be self-critical. He is more committed to a consistent ethic applied equally to all than he is to nationalism or ideology.
Here is a brief excerpt from a longer interview with Human Rights Watch.
