- 8 months ago
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00:00:00Do you want to show where we are right now?
00:00:04Because I think we're quite deep inside what are called the Palestinian territories.
00:00:08What you call the Palestinian territories, I call it the heart of Judea.
00:00:12If you say the Palestinian territories, you're essentially already saying
00:00:16that this right here, right here, is going to be a jihadist Palestinian state
00:00:23right in the heart of Israel.
00:00:25Not only in the heart of Israel, we're talking about like...
00:00:28But why jihadist?
00:00:28Why do you say jihadist?
00:00:30Why couldn't it just be a Palestinian state?
00:00:32Okay, to understand the Arab way of thinking, they understand there's a war.
00:00:37They win the war if they get territory.
00:00:40They lose the war if they lose territory.
00:00:43You could flip that and say, well, that's what, in a sense, you're doing.
00:00:46That's what I aspire to do.
00:00:49That's what I aspire to do.
00:00:50Beyond the eastern edge of Israel is the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.
00:01:01It was occupied in war by Israel in 1967.
00:01:09Since then, hundreds of thousands of Jewish settlers have moved here illegally under international law.
00:01:16Among them, a group of religious nationalists who see it as their divine right to build a greater Israel
00:01:23and drive out the Palestinians, who've been here for generations.
00:01:33I made a film about them in 2011.
00:01:35But now, since the attack of October 7th, I'd heard that they were accelerating the settlement process.
00:01:43Why are you filming me?
00:01:45While being protected by the Israeli military.
00:01:50I'd come to try to understand their mindset and to see the consequences of their ultra-nationalist vision up close.
00:01:58They don't see us as equal human beings who deserve the same rights they do.
00:02:06I was close to Israel's southern border.
00:02:25At a viewpoint, tourists were surveying the ruins of Gaza.
00:02:30The Palestinian death toll at this point was more than 43,000 and rising.
00:02:36In a war that had commenced a year earlier, after Hamas gunmen attacked Israeli communities,
00:02:43killing more than 1,000 and taking hundreds more hostage.
00:02:59Now, with bombs falling nearby, settlers from across the West Bank were holding a jamboree
00:03:05to promote the idea of putting new Jewish outposts in Gaza.
00:03:11With workshops offering practical advice, while a vanguard made their case in front of the world's media.
00:03:18How are you doing, Louis?
00:03:20Nice to meet you.
00:03:20What's your name?
00:03:21Orvit.
00:03:22And why are you here today?
00:03:23To show support.
00:03:25And that I believe that Gaza is ours and that we need to be living there.
00:03:27To those Palestinians who'd say, well, we'd like to live in a Palestinian state, what do you say?
00:03:34The Bible says this place was given to the Jews.
00:03:37This place is ours.
00:03:38Ours meaning?
00:03:39It's a Jewish state.
00:03:44What's your name?
00:03:45Aaron.
00:03:45Aaron, nice to meet you.
00:03:46Louis, where are you from?
00:03:48I'm from Hebron.
00:03:49And before that, until I was nine years old, lived in New York.
00:03:52And then my parents made a riya to Israel.
00:03:56We're here to call our government to go and settle Gaza.
00:03:59We're here because we have a right to be here.
00:04:01Our right to be in this land is the Torah, is the godly promise.
00:04:05Where we don't settle, terror grows.
00:04:11Among the attendees were many senior political figures,
00:04:15including Israel's Minister of National Security.
00:04:17In his youth, Itamar Ben-Gvir had been convicted of incitement of racism.
00:04:45He is himself a settler.
00:04:47But in a sign of the changing times,
00:04:50he now sits in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
00:04:56Presiding over the event was the godmother of the settler movement,
00:05:00Daniela Weiss.
00:05:02Daniela, this is your event, isn't it?
00:05:05Tell me about what this is.
00:05:06No, no, no, not now.
00:05:07Not now.
00:05:08Not now.
00:05:09Ten words.
00:05:09No, no, no, no.
00:05:10Not now.
00:05:11Not now.
00:05:12Not now.
00:05:14We, that settlement movement,
00:05:17organized this event in order to enhance the practical idea of establishing Jewish settlements
00:05:30in the entire Gaza Strip.
00:05:35We very much encourage and enable the population in Gaza to go to other countries.
00:05:43You will witness how Jews go to Gaza and Arabs disappear from Gaza.
00:05:51They lost the right to stay in this holy place.
00:05:56Please go.
00:05:57Thank you very much.
00:05:59Have some good luck.
00:06:07From up on a nearby hill, there came the sound of protesting.
00:06:10An Israeli group demonstrating for a ceasefire and the return of hostages taken by Hamas.
00:06:21What are you doing here?
00:06:23I think the idea of resettling Gaza is absolutely ridiculous.
00:06:28The question is, what kind of country do we want to be?
00:06:31Do we want to be a colonizing country?
00:06:33Or do we want to be a country that at least offers peace and wants to live in peace with
00:06:39the Palestinians?
00:06:40That has to be what we strive for.
00:06:48I'd been hoping for a moment with Daniela,
00:06:50but then came a warning of a possible rocket attack,
00:06:53and the event was quickly evacuated.
00:06:56Let's grab the cameras and let's go.
00:07:10For Jewish settlers, Gaza is the latest frontier in a process that's been unfolding for decades
00:07:19across the West Bank.
00:07:20A region of not much more than 5,000 square kilometers, the West Bank is home to around 3 million Palestinians.
00:07:29Most of them living in large cities, with limited autonomy under the Palestinian authority.
00:07:36The Israeli military occupied the area in the Six-Day War in 1967.
00:07:44Since then hundreds of thousands of Israelis have moved in to form settlements, hoping to expand Jewish presence in the region,
00:07:54or simply looking for cheap housing.
00:07:56Often they start out as a few tents or caravans pitched by ultra-ideological settlers on hilltops next to Palestinian towns.
00:08:07These are known as outposts.
00:08:10They are illegal under Israeli law until they are authorised as settlements, but both settlements and outposts are illegal under international law.
00:08:21Most settlements tend to be suspicious of media, but I'd managed to get an appointment at one, called Eviatar.
00:08:42It had started out as an outpost on the edge of the Palestinian town of Beitar.
00:08:48It was only recognised as a settlement by the Israeli state a few months earlier.
00:08:54Hi there, good morning.
00:08:55Good morning, how are you?
00:08:56I'm fine, how are you doing?
00:08:57You must be Malkiel.
00:08:58Yes, I am.
00:08:59I'm Louis, how do you do?
00:09:00I'm fine, thank you.
00:09:01Thank you for having us.
00:09:01Thank you for coming.
00:09:03One of its founders is horse wrangler Malkiel Barhai.
00:09:09All right, so let me show you a bit about Beitar.
00:09:11I'm just going to have to ask you not to take any films of the army base, that's where they're sitting.
00:09:19So there's an army base there?
00:09:21This is an army base, that's where the dormitories are.
00:09:24And this is a house of people living here.
00:09:26The army base is for your security?
00:09:28For all the region's security.
00:09:29The story about Beitar, this was a hilltop.
00:09:35It started from day one, living in tents.
00:09:38And by the end of the month, we were 50 families living here in these houses.
00:09:43All of these houses were built back then.
00:09:45Coming from where?
00:09:46All over the country.
00:09:48Shall we go inside?
00:09:49All right.
00:09:51It is a little untidy.
00:09:53But this is where you're living at the moment?
00:09:55Yes.
00:09:56This is our humble home.
00:09:59This is our living room, our kitchen.
00:10:06How many children do you have?
00:10:08Eight.
00:10:08Four boys and four girls.
00:10:10Wow.
00:10:10Behind here we have another kids' room.
00:10:13This is a girls' bedroom.
00:10:15Two older girls, 13 and 11, they sleep here.
00:10:19And over there, this is the laundry, bathroom and the shower.
00:10:25So where do you stay, mum and dad?
00:10:27This is me and my wife.
00:10:29You and your wife are in there.
00:10:31If it rains...
00:10:32Yeah, if it does rain, so we'll go into the small caravan.
00:10:36Hopefully we'll finish building the house before winter is here.
00:10:39Do you enjoy being out on the frontier, where it's a bit more rough and ready, where there's more uncertainty?
00:10:47Our mission is to settle Israel, new settlements, all over the country.
00:10:54So most of the world sees this as the West Bank, as occupied territory, it's under a military occupation, correct?
00:11:03Like it's not part of the state of Israel, as most nations recognize it.
00:11:07The ancient name of this area is called Judea.
00:11:11The meaning of Judea is it's belong to the Jews.
00:11:16So you can't take all the history, put it in the garbage and say, okay, it's not belong to the Jews.
00:11:24The history said it's belong to Israel.
00:11:27With a selective reading of history that ignores the Palestinians who've lived in the land for generations,
00:11:41the aim for settlements like Eviatar is to become full-fledged towns, guarded round the clock by soldiers, walled off from the millions around them.
00:11:55The godmother of the settler project, going back more than 50 years, is the woman I'd seen at the Gaza border event, Daniela Weiss.
00:12:03I want to see big cities here, like a city of two million people.
00:12:09So it's not a settlement. Settlement is caravans, it's trailers, it's a home here and a home there.
00:12:15This is not what my dream is about.
00:12:19The trailers in that video of Daniela have now grown into the settlement of Kedumim, where she still lives.
00:12:32Hi.
00:12:36Supported by some in the Israeli government,
00:12:38Daniela is viewed by others in power as a dangerous extremist.
00:12:43She'd agreed to talk to me at home.
00:12:48Nice to see you.
00:12:50So we've got pictures of you as a young woman.
00:12:53Is the one of you getting married, is that the oldest one?
00:12:56This is when we got together.
00:12:59I was then 15 or something.
00:13:03Your parents were from?
00:13:05My mother was born in Warsaw.
00:13:09My parents came here and invested fortunes, believing that someday there will be a Jewish state.
00:13:18With their vision and their faith, I continue to expand Israel and to be as close as possible to the promised land.
00:13:30This is what most of the world knows as the West Bank, which you call Judea and Samaria.
00:13:39This is what you call Occupied West Bank.
00:13:43And what the Palestinians would like to see as a future state of their own.
00:13:48Oh, they are not satisfied with this, but a complicated issue.
00:13:52These little pink wedges, what do they represent?
00:13:57The Jewish communities that were established since 1967.
00:14:05I'm curious to know roughly how many settlements and outposts you've been, let's say, in some way involved in the establishment.
00:14:14Almost everyone.
00:14:15For real?
00:14:16It's 50 years.
00:14:17You know what it means 50 years that I do what I do today?
00:14:20Because it's a territory that was won in the 1967 war, that under the Geneva Convention, transferring a civilian population into a conquered terrain, that that's considered a war crime.
00:14:33What I do here is a war crime.
00:14:35According to the UN.
00:14:37And you're cooperating with the person who committed a war crime?
00:14:42Well, I'm interviewing you.
00:14:47It's a light felony.
00:14:50I've read a couple of things suggesting that you were viewed as an extremist and possibly sympathising with Jewish or Israeli terror.
00:14:58The confrontation is not over terror.
00:15:03The confrontation is just on whether yes or no, we stay here.
00:15:10There's a quote, so alarming is the situation.
00:15:13It's talking about the situation of settlers and what they describe as settler extremism and violence.
00:15:19Last week, Ronan Barr, the head of Israel's security service, wrote to Netanyahu, the prime minister, and the defense minister,
00:15:25warning that what he called Jewish terror by violent settlers was doing indescribable damage to Israel.
00:15:32The reason Ronan Barr says that I'm extremist has nothing to do with terror.
00:15:39Whatever I represent threatens his peaceful, secular life.
00:15:46I have nothing to do with terror.
00:15:48He knows I have nothing to do with terror.
00:15:51And he insists on saying it.
00:15:52It's a lie.
00:15:56And he knows that it's a lie.
00:15:58Does that really explain it?
00:15:59He doesn't like me.
00:16:00Mm-hmm.
00:16:01Because I have a lot of influence, much more than he is.
00:16:04Influence over who?
00:16:06The young generation that is growing in Israel.
00:16:09And government too.
00:16:10And government what?
00:16:11Do you have influence over government?
00:16:13No question.
00:16:14Who did all this?
00:16:17Can you call Netanyahu?
00:16:21What do you mean?
00:16:22Like this?
00:16:23No.
00:16:24I call his aides.
00:16:26So the idea is to force the government by putting people, it starts with small settlements,
00:16:32then they get bigger, then they get recognized by the state of Israel,
00:16:36and basically creating a new demographic reality.
00:16:40We do not force a government.
00:16:41We do for governments what they cannot do for themselves.
00:16:49Even if you take Netanyahu now, he's very happy with what we do here and also about our plans to build Jewish communities in Gaza.
00:16:59He's happy about it, but he cannot say it.
00:17:02He says the opposite.
00:17:04It's not realistic.
00:17:07Good!
00:17:09We will make it realistic!
00:17:10It's not forcing the government.
00:17:13It's helping the government.
00:17:16It's step number one in politics.
00:17:20You don't force the government.
00:17:21You give the government the courage, the ability, the public support, the political support.
00:17:27I think you understand what I said, even if you disagree.
00:17:34There was something unsettling about hearing Daniela's ethno-nationalist vision being laid out so plainly,
00:17:47especially when I considered the support she claimed to have from some in power.
00:17:51With their backing, the settlement project has accelerated, with many of those going to live in West Bank settlements coming from other countries.
00:18:05Anyone from anywhere in the world with Jewish heritage, since they qualify for Israeli citizenship, can live in a settlement.
00:18:12Have you ever been to Judea?
00:18:16Well, consider this an invitation, because I could try to describe it to you in words, but it would just be impossible.
00:18:22Ari Abramovitz was born and raised in Texas.
00:18:28He now helps run Arugot Farm, a small retreat hosting birthdays, weddings and corporate events, often catering to tourists.
00:18:41The farm was established as an outpost in 2014, illegally, according to international law, on land deep inside the occupied West Bank.
00:18:52Hi, we're going to Arugot Farm.
00:19:03Are you Ari?
00:19:04I am!
00:19:05There you are!
00:19:06How are you doing? Good to meet you. Welcome, welcome.
00:19:08Nice to meet you.
00:19:09Louis.
00:19:10Louis.
00:19:11Louis.
00:19:11Yes.
00:19:12Louis, Louis.
00:19:13Louis.
00:19:13Yes.
00:19:14Or Louis, I don't mind too much.
00:19:15Welcome to Judea.
00:19:16How are you doing? You've come armed.
00:19:18But we're so friendly.
00:19:20I know how it looks.
00:19:21I know.
00:19:21I know, it's not true.
00:19:25So this is our synagogue, and I remember when I first came here, I wanted to build my house here.
00:19:37And then I learned that according to Jewish law, you build the synagogue in the highest place, which makes sense.
00:19:44Well, my home is going to be lording over the synagogue. That wouldn't be right.
00:19:48These are the Torah scrolls.
00:19:49Is it weird to have your guns on in here?
00:19:56No. My gun is here to protect the nation of Israel from those that seek to harm us.
00:20:06And during a service, would you typically wear them?
00:20:10Yes.
00:20:11Is it that dangerous?
00:20:12It is until it's not.
00:20:16Thank God, never had any issues of infiltrations here.
00:20:21And I think it's because they know that we're ready for it.
00:20:26How old were you when you came to Israel?
00:20:28I think I was 16.
00:20:29When you moved here.
00:20:31And I came here after high school to study Torah.
00:20:33It was supposed to be a few months.
00:20:35It's called the gap year program.
00:20:36When you breathe the air, when you taste that, when you feel mission and passion and life, you can't go back.
00:20:52This is where I choose to come and pray with the creator of heaven and earth.
00:20:57I think this is the most beautiful place in the world, right here.
00:21:01Where's the nearest Palestinian town?
00:21:03I'm so uncomfortable using the word Palestinian because I don't think that it exists.
00:21:09You don't think they really exist?
00:21:11I don't think that they exist as a real nation with a real claim to this land.
00:21:17What are they then?
00:21:18They are, they're Arabs.
00:21:20With a connection to this land?
00:21:22Yes, they have a connection to it.
00:21:23It's nowhere near the depth.
00:21:27And I mean, we were in this land planting vineyards before Mohammed was in the third grade.
00:21:32Is that a settlement there?
00:21:34That is a Jewish settlement called Pnei Kedem.
00:21:38Pnei Kedem.
00:21:39Which means facing the east, face to the east.
00:21:42Would that be considered legal under Israeli law?
00:21:45I don't know.
00:21:46You don't really care.
00:21:47I don't, I don't care at all.
00:21:49At all.
00:21:50I don't care at all.
00:21:51I mean...
00:21:52Why don't you care?
00:21:52This land here in the heart of Judea, there's some things that transcend the whims of legislation.
00:22:02And that this is one of those things.
00:22:04For millions of Palestinians up and down the West Bank, the presence of settlers makes life precarious.
00:22:18They live under Israeli military law, restricted from most Israeli roads, subject to frequent run-ins with the authorities and detention without trial, in a legal system that is opaque and arbitrary.
00:22:34Israel says the measures are necessary for security.
00:22:43I was in the South Hebron Hills during the olive harvest, a time when tensions run high, with Palestinians prevented from getting to trees they say they've harvested for years.
00:22:53How are you doing?
00:22:57I was curious to see the interactions for myself.
00:23:02I'd heard from an Israeli activist group.
00:23:05They were trying to help a farmer named Ishaq Jabirin.
00:23:11Louis, Salam, what's happening here today?
00:23:15Louis, Salam, what's happening here?
00:23:39The army arrived, a nearby settlement had allegedly called them to report the olive
00:23:54picking.
00:24:09One of those on the scene was a long-time Israeli activist, mathematician, Coby Sneets.
00:24:30Coby, do you know what they're doing right now?
00:24:32The army has said, you've got to leave in five minutes.
00:24:35Now the landowner has to make a choice if to try to insist on staying here and taking
00:24:43a risk.
00:24:46They're liable to do anything.
00:24:48They could arrest the Palestinians, they can arrest us, who knows what they might do.
00:24:53Have you been arrested before?
00:24:54Do you think he would have been arrested?
00:24:57I think 40% of all Palestinian men have been arrested, so probably.
00:25:02Where are you from?
00:25:05British television.
00:25:07Passport.
00:25:08Can I ask why you're taking my passport?
00:25:14I need to check.
00:25:15Check what?
00:25:16Check what?
00:25:17Nothing.
00:25:18They don't check nothing.
00:25:19They just want to scare us.
00:25:21If he kept picking, he would have been arrested?
00:25:35No, it's not to arrest.
00:25:37To do what?
00:25:38It's just to evacuate the area.
00:25:39Meaning what though?
00:25:40If he says, I'm not leaving?
00:25:41I'm grateful we didn't get to that part.
00:25:44That's what I'm saying.
00:25:45Because what would happen?
00:25:46I actually don't.
00:25:50As a soldier, you would have to, what, detain him?
00:25:53That's...
00:25:54No.
00:25:55I'd rather not speak again.
00:25:58Alongside their interactions with the army, Palestinians throughout the West Bank also suffer
00:26:16attacks by settlers.
00:26:21These videos come from the South Hebron hills where I'd seen the olive picking.
00:26:27In the town of Tawani, a settler was caught on camera, shooting and severely injuring
00:26:32a Palestinian man.
00:26:38The shooter had his gun license revoked, but he was never arrested.
00:26:42I'd heard of other similar incidents.
00:26:51In the same town of Tawani, I'd made contact with a 20-year-old Palestinian student and local
00:26:56activist named Mohamed Houraini.
00:27:01He'd offered to take me to the top of the hill to meet his neighbour who lives at a spot
00:27:05closest to a settlement.
00:27:08Louis, nice to meet you.
00:27:16Thank you for having us.
00:27:19Mossab Roubaix's house still bears the scars of what he says were settler attacks.
00:27:23You can see, like, from the window, the bullets.
00:27:26The bullets.
00:27:27So there's bullets that have come through here?
00:27:29Yeah.
00:27:30From this window and that window.
00:27:40This is the settlement.
00:27:43This and this one.
00:27:44Where that bright light is?
00:27:45Yeah.
00:27:46So what is that?
00:27:47Is that an outpost or what is that?
00:27:49Is there anyone in there?
00:27:51Hang on.
00:27:52Something's happening.
00:27:53What is it?
00:27:55I'm the treasure.
00:27:56It's the soldier.
00:27:57Are they coming in?
00:28:09They are screaming to us.
00:28:13I don't know.
00:28:14There is a little bit of engine.
00:28:18There's a laser on the rifles.
00:28:25It's happening most every day.
00:28:28What do we do, just stay in here?
00:28:30Yeah, we're on the side.
00:28:35Matan, what do you think?
00:28:37Not safe at the moment. There's obviously multiple guns pointing at us.
00:28:41Yeah, let's wait.
00:28:44What can we do? Can we call the police?
00:28:46Which police?
00:28:48I mean, there was one regime.
00:28:56This doesn't worry you.
00:28:58No, because, I mean, we're raised in this situation, so it became a normal reality for us.
00:29:03When you are a kid, you just see this army invading your home in the day, in the night.
00:29:08You grow up on this injustice reality that it became normal for you as a human,
00:29:13but it's not normal for anybody, and no one should accept it.
00:29:18After more than an hour, the soldiers appeared to lose interest, and the crew and I slipped away.
00:29:31The violence committed by some settlers is often justified by them as a response to violence they experience from Palestinians, which is much less frequent.
00:29:48Nevertheless, it's hard to disentangle it from an ideology of the superiority of one group and their rights over another, promoted by leaders like Daniela Weiss.
00:30:01Hiya, how are you?
00:30:03I'm coming.
00:30:04Hoping for more insight into her and her work, I was back.
00:30:09I have a meeting.
00:30:11So, do have a seat.
00:30:14We're talking about the morning.
00:30:16No?
00:30:17It's the 3rd, right here.
00:30:19This is a very difficult time, I just have to ask and see.
00:30:23So, we'll just wait.
00:30:25Great.
00:30:31Okay, from now on, follow me if you want to know.
00:30:34Are we leaving?
00:30:35Yes.
00:30:36So, we're going to meet you there?
00:30:39All right.
00:30:41I was joining Daniela and some friends of hers in a convoy heading towards Gaza.
00:30:48Mission unclear.
00:30:50Two hours later, we were one kilometre from the Gaza border in the Israeli town of Sderot, arriving at a yeshiva, a religious school, where Daniela took part in an assembly alongside two prominent rabbis.
00:31:13What's happening next, Daniela?
00:31:18Shall we follow you?
00:31:21We'll follow her.
00:31:33Our next stop was a memorial for the victims of October 7th.
00:31:37Sderot had seen heavy fighting during the Hamas attacks and suffered many losses.
00:31:42For some passers-by, Daniela held a degree of celebrity status.
00:31:49Then the settler convoy arrived at what seemed to be its destination.
00:31:59A viewpoint overlooking the war zone.
00:32:09Daniela had told me she'd signed up 800 families who were ready to move into Gaza.
00:32:14One of her team explained how it would work.
00:32:17Now, let's look here.
00:32:18Can you see here?
00:32:19Can you see here?
00:32:20Can you see here?
00:32:21Yes.
00:32:22Can you see here?
00:32:23Can you see here?
00:32:24Yes.
00:32:25Can you see here?
00:32:26The idea seemed to be to get spiritual buy-in from the two rabbis.
00:32:33We don't know exactly how we can go to one of our homes.
00:32:36At the moment, the area that looks real is the area here,
00:32:40the city of Maimon.
00:32:42The idea seemed to be to get spiritual buy-in
00:32:45from the two rabbis.
00:32:47One of them was next to speak, Rabbi Dov Lior.
00:32:52My friends, according to the Jewish community,
00:32:54according to what I understand in our lives,
00:32:57if these prayers are not safe,
00:33:00there is no safe and there will not be safe.
00:33:01It's not that I don't want it, but I also want it.
00:33:05The land is safe only for the Amistad,
00:33:07and every Aza and every Lebanon,
00:33:09all of them, all of them,
00:33:11to remove, to remove the land from the rocks.
00:33:16Who will remove it, who will not remove it,
00:33:19will know about it in the future,
00:33:21who will remove it there.
00:33:22Even if it will be a lot of money,
00:33:23it will be a little less money
00:33:25as well to get rid of the dead,
00:33:27the pulpit and all of what we need to do.
00:33:29I don't want to talk to them.
00:33:31I don't want to talk to them.
00:33:33I don't want to talk to them.
00:33:35I don't want to talk to them.
00:33:36They have given me the immunity.
00:33:39The Arab Siyodah Goga said...
00:33:41No, no, don't stop.
00:33:42Don't stop.
00:33:43Don't stop.
00:33:44Don't stop.
00:33:45Don't stop.
00:33:46Don't stop.
00:33:48Don't stop.
00:34:14As the day ended, we were following Daniela's car,
00:34:16driving on what seemed to be army-controlled land,
00:34:20approaching ever closer to the Gaza border.
00:34:25You can see the destroyed houses.
00:34:28It had previously been reported that Daniela had been
00:34:31illegally escorted into Gaza by soldiers who supported her
00:34:34to recce locations for settlement.
00:34:42Suddenly, her vehicle broke away.
00:34:46On this occasion, she was intercepted.
00:35:01So, basically, she had a military escort and then she just peeled away
00:35:05and made a sprint for the border.
00:35:07Of Gaza?
00:35:08Yeah.
00:35:10She's just tried to run away from the army, hasn't she?
00:35:13Yeah.
00:35:16Did you try and make a dash for the Gaza border?
00:35:25What was happening down there?
00:35:26Ah!
00:35:28I enjoyed it so much.
00:35:31Our two Jeeps drew too much attention.
00:35:35But what's the idea?
00:35:36Why do you want to go down to the Gaza?
00:35:38Actually, you want to go into Gaza?
00:35:39I wanted to...
00:35:40No.
00:35:41Why don't...
00:35:43What I wanted to do...
00:35:45I wanted to show the rabbis that Gaza is not something beyond reach.
00:35:55Would you say October 7th made people more receptive to your message and to your point of view?
00:36:03No doubt.
00:36:04The October 7th naturally made people more receptive to the idea of the great Israel.
00:36:13But the next step, Jewish settlements in Gaza is a very difficult step that demands a lot of work.
00:36:23You have to influence the leftists, the government, the nations of the world, using the magic system, Zionism.
00:36:34You redeem the land, you establish communities, you bring Jewish families, you live Jewish life.
00:36:46And this will bring light instead of darkness.
00:36:52And this is how the state of Israel was established.
00:36:55And this is what we want to do in Gaza.
00:36:59This process of making the whole of the West Bank and Gaza Jewish, do you feel like it's moving more quickly?
00:37:08As far as Judea and Samaria is concerned, so we want to move from 1 million to 2 million.
00:37:14So this is the next step.
00:37:18This is my vision.
00:37:19It's not so complicated.
00:37:34Daniela's vision has been made possible by the Israeli occupation.
00:37:37But it in turn has led to the creation of a vast military infrastructure which impacts every aspect of Palestinian life.
00:37:48Nowhere is it more evident than in Hebron.
00:37:54Hebron is an ancient biblical city, home to some 200,000 Palestinians, a place holy to three major religions.
00:38:03Hi, how are you?
00:38:08Thank you. Where are you guys from?
00:38:10We're from the British TV crew.
00:38:16In 1968, the year after it was occupied by Israel, a community of Jewish settlers moved in illegally.
00:38:22They now number around 700, existing in a cordon of military protection.
00:38:31I visited in 2010 when I'd spent time with a settler leader.
00:38:37Now 14 years on, I was curious about life within the Palestinian community.
00:38:41I'm Louis.
00:38:42Hi, Louis.
00:38:43Nice to meet you.
00:38:44Welcome.
00:38:45Thank you for having us.
00:38:47Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist, was born here in the settler-occupied area.
00:38:54You've got fences all around?
00:38:55All around.
00:38:57Fences from here.
00:38:58Yeah.
00:38:59Who lives on the other side?
00:39:00Israeli settlers.
00:39:02We've got an army there.
00:39:03What are they doing?
00:39:04Have they come for a reason?
00:39:06No, they come for intimidation.
00:39:09How are you?
00:39:13They're not speaking, but I think what they would say is,
00:39:16well, we're here to provide security for the settlers who live here
00:39:22and want to live in peace and experience animosity from the Palestinians.
00:39:29So they want to live in peace in the expense of my basic human rights.
00:39:33I didn't choose to live in Hebron.
00:39:36I was born in Hebron.
00:39:37It's my land.
00:39:38It's my homeland.
00:39:39The settlers chose to come here.
00:39:41And if it's not safe for them,
00:39:42why they continue building more and more settlements in my own city?
00:39:46By international law, the settlements are illegal.
00:39:49They don't see us as equal human beings who deserve the same rights they do.
00:39:57Lead the way.
00:39:59For nearly 20 years, Issa has been an advocate for non-violent resistance against the occupation.
00:40:05He is one of around 30,000 Palestinians living inside the high security area of Hebron,
00:40:12the so-called sterile zone.
00:40:14For them, just doing their shopping, going to work or going to school means passing through military checkpoints.
00:40:20Let's see how it works.
00:40:23Hi.
00:40:24Hi.
00:40:25How are you guys doing?
00:40:26Good, how are you?
00:40:27Fine.
00:40:28Everything okay?
00:40:29I need your passport, please.
00:40:30All of you, okay?
00:40:32Uh, sure.
00:40:33What for?
00:40:34Why?
00:40:35Check.
00:40:36Why?
00:40:37How are you doing, mate?
00:40:38How are you doing?
00:40:39Hi.
00:40:40Why are you covering your faces?
00:40:41Because of the cold.
00:40:42No, no.
00:40:43It's not cold.
00:40:44Come on, guys.
00:40:45Don't hide.
00:40:46Only gangs hide their faces.
00:40:47Okay.
00:40:48You are a military.
00:40:49You should have your faces, you know, obvious to everybody.
00:40:51Do you know, you know Issa?
00:40:52He lives here.
00:40:53Yes.
00:40:54He lives here.
00:40:55He says it's making life very difficult to have this military presence here.
00:40:58What are you all doing here?
00:40:59What am I doing here?
00:41:00I'm making a documentary.
00:41:01Documentary?
00:41:02Of what?
00:41:03About settlers in the West Bank.
00:41:06Settlers in the West Bank?
00:41:07Yes.
00:41:08Okay.
00:41:09And what?
00:41:10What do you tell to the television about the settlements?
00:41:12It's not about what I'm telling them.
00:41:14It's about what I'm hearing from the people who I speak to.
00:41:16Where do you live?
00:41:17I don't want to tell you.
00:41:18Okay.
00:41:19I told you where I was staying.
00:41:20Say that again.
00:41:21Say that again.
00:41:22Say that again.
00:41:23Say that again.
00:41:24Say that again.
00:41:25What does that mean?
00:41:26It's a...
00:41:27Enjoy from the trip in Hebron here.
00:41:30Wish you all the best, guys.
00:41:31How is life here?
00:41:32Is it...
00:41:33It's like...
00:41:34You're very well armed.
00:41:35Uh...
00:41:36Do you...
00:41:37Is there a situation here that needs careful control?
00:41:40Of course.
00:41:41What is it?
00:41:42Tell me about it.
00:41:49What was he saying about Arabi?
00:41:51No.
00:41:52He wanted to see if you are an Arab.
00:41:53He asked you if you speak Arabic.
00:41:57Hello, how are you doing?
00:41:58What's up?
00:41:59Hey, how are you doing?
00:42:00Excellent question.
00:42:01American?
00:42:02What do I look?
00:42:03Chinese?
00:42:04Yeah, from Brooklyn?
00:42:05You bet.
00:42:06Let me just pull over to the side.
00:42:07Okay.
00:42:11Do you know him?
00:42:12No, he doesn't live here.
00:42:15You okay?
00:42:17Do you need help?
00:42:18You okay?
00:42:19No.
00:42:20Are you stuck?
00:42:21Are you in a...
00:42:22A rut?
00:42:23Why are you filming me?
00:42:26Oh, yeah.
00:42:27It's all good.
00:42:28Don't worry.
00:42:29We can't even see your face.
00:42:30Look, you're obscured.
00:42:31No one can even see who you are.
00:42:33Don't worry.
00:42:34I don't know what to do with you.
00:42:35I have work to do.
00:42:36Get on with your work.
00:42:37You're fine.
00:42:38You stay here in the check post and filming everything.
00:42:41You can't do this.
00:42:42Here.
00:42:43Okay?
00:42:44Come with me.
00:42:45Wait, no, you can't do that.
00:42:46Come with me.
00:42:47No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:42:48Don't touch me.
00:42:49You just touch me.
00:42:50Don't touch me.
00:42:51Come with me.
00:42:52Yeah.
00:42:53I'm listening.
00:42:54Come.
00:42:55Come to me.
00:42:56No.
00:42:57I'm from the military, okay?
00:42:58IDF, Israel Defense Forces.
00:43:00I'm above the police here in the West Bank.
00:43:02Okay.
00:43:03I'm the highest responsibility of law.
00:43:06Okay.
00:43:07We'll tell you like this, okay?
00:43:08Mm-hmm.
00:43:09And as this man, IDF, I need to tell you not staying here.
00:43:14Okay, we'll move along.
00:43:15That's fine.
00:43:16Okay, leave.
00:43:17Leave this place.
00:43:18Leave this area, okay?
00:43:19Yeah, we'll move along.
00:43:20Right now, yalla.
00:43:21No way, let's go.
00:43:22Okay.
00:43:23Yalla, let's go.
00:43:28So who lives here?
00:43:29Palestinian families.
00:43:30And where are they?
00:43:32They are hiding behind their doors.
00:43:34What would stop these shops from being open?
00:43:37It's closed by military orders and marked as closed shops.
00:43:45It's marked.
00:43:46From this shop would be five families at least live
00:43:49and earn their living.
00:43:51Look, this is something new.
00:43:53This is not to hire Arab workers in Israel.
00:43:57Two faces.
00:43:58A face of an Arab and a face of a tourist.
00:44:02And this is how they stereotype us.
00:44:08Middle finger.
00:44:10He gave you the middle finger?
00:44:11Yes.
00:44:12To you two.
00:44:13You think it was to me?
00:44:14To you.
00:44:15I think it was to you.
00:44:16To you.
00:44:17To both of us.
00:44:18Because you deserve the middle finger if you report about Palestinians.
00:44:21Yes.
00:44:22To you.
00:44:23To you.
00:44:24To you.
00:44:25To you.
00:44:26To you.
00:44:27To you.
00:44:28To you.
00:44:29To you.
00:44:30To you.
00:44:36Wait, wait.
00:44:37ID, please.
00:44:40For what reason?
00:44:41It's the police seat.
00:44:46Yes.
00:44:47What's happening?
00:44:49That one?
00:44:50Yes.
00:44:51That one?
00:44:52But I know I'm allowed to be here until here.
00:44:55Okay?
00:44:56You are not allowed?
00:44:57Why can't he be with us?
00:45:00with us. How come Palestinians can't come down here? It seems ironic that that's the visitor's
00:45:22center, right, for tourists and whatnot, and he can't actually visit in his own city.
00:45:30You knew that was going to happen? No, it's new that they asked me to come back to here.
00:45:41They told me that I'm allowed only to here, so they expanded the closed area for me.
00:45:47What's it all about? Taking more and more land. It's about fragmented life, restricted life
00:45:54for Palestinians, no quality life. You live with the basics, even with less than basics,
00:46:00of a family need to make you leave. And they are doing well. The majority of the houses
00:46:07are empty. Families are leaving.
00:46:11You could flip it and say, well, if they really wanted to occupy the whole of Hebron, or at
00:46:18least this area, they could literally deport Palestinians.
00:46:22They do it slowly. But now they are speeding up. They want approval from their allies and
00:46:30their partners in the world. Is it worth going through to see the other side?
00:46:36The other side? Yes, I can show you. To see what it looks like.
00:46:43This gives you a little flavor of what it was like in there before.
00:46:50Yes. The market was much more busy inside. It was our Oxford Street inside. So busy. My
00:46:59father used to hold my arm not to lose me. Not anymore. It's closed completely, restricted.
00:47:04In order to get back in, we can't go through there now because they've closed it. It's closed.
00:47:08So how do we get back in? You try from another checkpoint.
00:47:13Through here? Yes.
00:47:20Louis. Coming through?
00:47:26Yes. Okay, just on. Just on.
00:47:30Green, green.
00:47:35So now we are on the other side of the area where you couldn't walk before, right?
00:47:42Yes.
00:47:43Where they stopped you from walking in front of the visitor centre. But you need to get
00:47:49home. Yes.
00:47:50So what will you do?
00:47:51I will go around again. I will go outside this checkpoint, go around to enter from another
00:47:57checkpoint and wait till the checkpoint opens to get into my house with my son.
00:48:03You definitely can't come this way?
00:48:05I can't come this way.
00:48:06Okay.
00:48:07I can.
00:48:08They won't let you through?
00:48:09No, they will not. I'm not allowed. I was happy to meet you.
00:48:13Thank you so much. Take care. Bye-bye.
00:48:16On the drive back from Hebron, I reflected on the separate lives lived by Israelis and Palestinians,
00:48:36and the unequal system of rights and justice.
00:48:42We ran into a traffic jam caused by a bomb scare.
00:48:47The road, the main artery in the West Bank, is one of the few shared by Israelis and Palestinians.
00:48:57For once, all were subject to delay.
00:49:04It was a sobering experience visiting Hebron again.
00:49:09Isa had told me he believed life was being made intolerable for Palestinians deliberately,
00:49:14to make them leave, and that the process was speeding up since October 7th.
00:49:20And it was true that some settlers I'd met supported the deportation of Palestinians who won't submit to Jewish authority.
00:49:29One of them was Ari, a Texan born and raised in Houston, now resident deep inside the occupied West Bank.
00:49:37Good to see you. Good to see you. How are you?
00:49:43All right. A little under the weather.
00:49:45I'm sorry to hear that. Thank you for having us back.
00:49:49Hoping to understand a little better, I'd return to see him again.
00:49:53OK, OK, we're ready for the coffee. I really hope I do this right.
00:49:57I never know if you wear those guns just for effect.
00:50:00I don't know what effect I'm looking for. Do I want to look more militant?
00:50:04Yeah, no, I'm not wearing it just for effect.
00:50:06Do you want to sit down?
00:50:11We've talked a lot about how you see the importance of Jewish presence in what's termed the biblical land of Israel.
00:50:20Are you saying that you see Israel as playing a role for modelling a new kind of nationalism? Is that right?
00:50:29I think that all of what's happening in the world right now is leading us as a nation to open our eyes to who we are.
00:50:36We are the tip of the spear fighting the battles of America and defending the entire Western world, and not just the Western world, anyone who wants any semblance of liberty and freedom in their lives.
00:50:48Nevertheless, there are millions of people up and down the area, Arabs, Muslims, who aren't living free, right?
00:50:57They're enclosed without the same rights, without national self-determination, and in many respects, feeling besieged.
00:51:05And I just wonder, do you see that?
00:51:08I don't have tremendous compassion for a society that has an unquenchable, genocidal, theological bloodlust. It's like a death cult.
00:51:21It seems to me there's a danger with that characterisation of Palestinians. You define them as eliminationist and hateful and genocidal.
00:51:30Yeah, I use the words death cult also.
00:51:32That's a death cult. That then permits you to almost create a mirror image of that.
00:51:38That you say, well, if they want to do that to us, then we need to do that to them.
00:51:43I think that when you're living amongst people who have perpetually proven, not only by word, but by deed, that they want your blood spilled in the streets,
00:51:53that they want to murder your children, that they want to slay all of you, kill all of you in the most horrific, genocidal way,
00:52:00that all of the polls showed after October 7th that these people who you continuously call the Palestinian people,
00:52:05that I reject the very premise that they are actually a real nation for a lot of reasons.
00:52:12But the millions of people who have nothing to do with October 7th, right, who actually just would like to live free, full lives.
00:52:22If that's really what they wanted, they would have had it a long time ago.
00:52:26They want to wipe Israel off the map. They want every last Jew dead.
00:52:30So what's the answer?
00:52:32The answer is for us to declare sovereignty over all of Judea and Samaria and all of the land of Israel and Gaza,
00:52:41and to settle Gaza and all of Judea and Samaria with Jews in the land of Israel.
00:52:47Did the question annoy you?
00:52:51Annoying me, I just, I hear it so often, and it feels like it's being addressed again and again and again,
00:52:59even if the entire world is pointing, accusing fingers and gnashing their teeth in rage and anger,
00:53:05we know the righteousness and the truth of our cause even if we stand alone.
00:53:09That's what it means to be a Hebrew. That's what it means to be a Jew.
00:53:12If we know the truth of our cause, that's all we need.
00:53:14For Ari, it was clear that nothing is greater than the word of God, and that word had led him to believe that it was the divine right of the Jewish people to settle and rule this land.
00:53:31Good to see you. See you later.
00:53:33God shall bless and protect you. Amen.
00:53:39The Bible was, as he saw it, a land deed to the West Bank.
00:53:43With an afternoon free, I stopped for coffee in the Palestinian city of Nablus.
00:53:59Surrounded by the ancient architecture of the old city and the undeniable fact of the hundreds of thousands of people living there and their aspirations for statehood.
00:54:13At the edge of the city, we were held up at one of the many checkpoints that control the people entering and leaving.
00:54:23Can you put the gun down?
00:54:24I got the motor.
00:54:26Where you from?
00:54:27From London.
00:54:28From London.
00:54:29You've been in the market?
00:54:30Yes.
00:54:31You also?
00:54:33Yes.
00:54:34She work with you?
00:54:35She's American.
00:54:36Yes.
00:54:37Can you show me ID?
00:54:38Me?
00:54:39Everyone.
00:54:40Yeah, sure.
00:54:41It's very slow going.
00:54:43We've been there in that queue for an hour or more.
00:54:46Yes.
00:54:47What the...
00:54:49How much time are you going to stay in Israel?
00:54:52Hang on, but I don't think we're in Israel.
00:54:54Huh?
00:54:55Are we in Israel?
00:54:56You're in Israel now?
00:54:57Are we?
00:54:58Yes.
00:54:59In the West Bank?
00:55:00No?
00:55:01No?
00:55:02No?
00:55:04Fine.
00:55:05No?
00:55:06In the north of the West Bank, I was heading back to the settlement of Eviatar, where I'd
00:55:11been hosted by Malkiel, the Horse Wrangler.
00:55:16Since my visit I'd learned a little more about the settlement's relations with its neighboring
00:55:20stay palestinian town of Baytar.
00:55:22How Beta had been subject to settler attacks and how it, in turn, had organised regular
00:55:30protests of the settlement.
00:55:34Demonstrators had been killed and others wounded during the clashes.
00:55:39One of the deaths of a Turkish-American volunteer, AyÅŸenur Eski Ege, made headlines.
00:55:52Now the settlement was holding a festival to celebrate its recent recognition by the
00:55:57Israeli state.
00:56:02Entertainments had been laid on and families from settlements from around the West Bank had
00:56:06converged for a day of music and activities.
00:56:14One of those speaking was Daniela.
00:56:16The first thing I have been asked for is that I have been to action for a long time.
00:56:35I have been to action for more and more of the aviatarii and more of the citizens.
00:56:43Chag Sameach!
00:56:52How are you?
00:56:55Yeah, it's a bit quieter.
00:56:57As the festivities wound down, I had a moment to speak to Daniela
00:57:01on a hilltop overlooking the Palestinian town of Beta.
00:57:06So you've been talking about settling, you've talked about displacing,
00:57:09wanting the Palestinians to go. You said to Africa, to Canada, to England,
00:57:13you don't care where. Turkey.
00:57:15What would be wrong with either a two-state solution or a one-state solution
00:57:18where everyone had the same rights?
00:57:22We want to have a Jewish state based on Jewish rules, on Jewish values.
00:57:29It's not relationship of neighbours. Why not?
00:57:32Because we are two different nations. Different.
00:57:36I just wonder whether you feel or you're aware that, you know,
00:57:41they're really suffering and there's been settlers rampaging
00:57:45through the area of the West Bank. So there's all this...
00:57:48Agitation.
00:57:50Death. Tragedy, right?
00:57:53Tragedy.
00:57:54When a people is invaded, right, and then put under a military occupation,
00:58:00deprived of their rights, that anger seems to be an understandable response.
00:58:05An appropriate response.
00:58:07There is no such thing as settling violence.
00:58:11Did I speak... I don't know if I felt... I don't mind saying it again.
00:58:14I mean, and I don't mind... I will be glad to explain it.
00:58:18You don't believe it's real? There are videos. You can see them.
00:58:21I mean...
00:58:21You see what? Okay.
00:58:23Let's say... Now, we have a camera right here.
00:58:26Yes.
00:58:27And I do this.
00:58:29Yeah.
00:58:30Do something. You don't mind what I did to you.
00:58:33You don't... You don't necessarily have to do...
00:58:35Well, I won't do that to you.
00:58:36You won't... You won't.
00:58:37No.
00:58:39And then the camera takes just part.
00:58:43You don't have the full picture.
00:58:46Then I say you're violent.
00:58:48You're violent against a woman.
00:58:50This is exactly what is going on all the time with what you call...
00:58:55Settler violence.
00:58:58Settler... Settler violence.
00:59:00Settlers do not wake up in the morning or do not go...
00:59:06Wait for sundown to attack. No, no, no, no.
00:59:10Why should we wake up in the morning and think about violence?
00:59:15Why our life is good?
00:59:17Because you want the Palestinians to leave.
00:59:20No, no, no, no.
00:59:22You've said so.
00:59:23I said that what is on my mind all the time...
00:59:27is how to bring more people to settle the land.
00:59:33This is a new development by Jews.
00:59:37This is Har Bracha.
00:59:39This is Itzha.
00:59:40This we can... Here we can develop.
00:59:42Here we cannot develop.
00:59:44I never think in terms of... I know this is beta.
00:59:49I don't think in... I don't think about beta.
00:59:52Why not?
00:59:53Because I think about... I'm a Jew.
00:59:55The people.
00:59:56I'm a settler.
00:59:56The people.
00:59:57I'm a human being.
00:59:59Yes, you are. So are they.
01:00:00So I do not think about this.
01:00:04You're thinking about tribalism.
01:00:05Thinking of your own people to the exclusion.
01:00:07It would be understandable to think of your own people
01:00:09or your own children first, but to think about other people,
01:00:12other children not at all, that seems sociopathic.
01:00:18I can...
01:00:19Doesn't it?
01:00:20No, not at all.
01:00:21This is normal.
01:00:23To my children, I give everything.
01:00:26Because I...
01:00:27The normal thing for me is to pray for my own people.
01:00:34That's it.
01:00:35So now I continue.
01:00:39I hope you push me back.
01:00:42And so I said goodbye to Daniela,
01:00:51and her extreme ideology delivered with a smile.
01:00:55I hope you are.
01:00:56I hope you are.
01:01:0114 years on from my first visit,
01:01:03with the horror of October 7th in the interim
01:01:06and the ongoing devastation of Gaza,
01:01:08the settler dream shows no sign of abating.
01:01:12Along with the dislocation, displacement and death that follows inevitably in its train.
01:01:21Advanced by ideologues, backed up by those in power and accountable only to God.
01:01:31The
01:01:44Miracle of Crocodile
01:01:47Five years
01:01:49I hope you've had that.
01:01:49And I hope you enjoyed this visit.
01:01:49The influence was the most important thing.
01:01:51I hope you found out there.
01:01:52I hope you enjoyed it.
01:01:53In the film, I hope you enjoyed this happen.
01:01:54And I hope you enjoyed it.
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