Louis Theroux Investigates Ultra-Zionist Settlers and Palestinian Land Disputes in the West Bank

You say it's your land, which what makes it your land? The words of God say very clearly this land was given to us. Most of the these people here, they want to annihilate us. You think they would they just want this area of the West Bank? They say it very openly. They want the whole thing. Why do you don't do I disputing these facts? These are facts. I was deep inside the West Bank, a largely Arab area that Israel has occupied since 1967, spending time in a tiny and controversial subculture of ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers. Do you view Palestinians and Jews as equal? Uh, no. No? No. They believe that these lands were promised to Israel by God and have made it their life's work to increase the Jewish presence here and

oppose any sovereignty for Palestinians. What I tell you is that the story of the Arabs for having rights in the holy land are stories and lies. Many are religious extremists, and yet they are protected by one of the world's most powerful armies. Is it a little bit tense? I don't feel tense. And they are ready to resist any onslaught to reestablish the greater Jewish nation. Life in the Yemenite village. That was a deep sound and like big ones.

I was in Jerusalem, a city divided between Jews in the West and Arabs in the East, all of them under Israeli authority. With me was Daniel Luria, part of an ultra-religious Jewish organization called Ateret Cohanim. Where is the most conflict? We're just about to go into it. This intersection had a tons of incidents, this one right here. We were in the heart of Silwan, one of the most deprived areas of East Jerusalem, populated by several thousand Palestinians and 60 Jewish settlers under heavy protection. These are security guys in here now? Um doing patrol or they're ferrying uh passengers? It could well be that they're coming to pick someone that's leaving or they're bringing someone back. It's uh hard to know.

Israel's control of East Jerusalem is considered illegal under international law. And yet, Daniel's mission is to help Jewish donors buy up more Palestinian properties and find Jewish families to live in them. As you can see, it's very easy for the Arabs who live in close quarters here just to be across the a few meters away to throw across the concrete block, throw across the Molotov cocktail. Doesn't matter whether there are kids here or not. The hatred is so extreme, it's just it's unbelievable and it's unbearable.

Do you feel that you're partially uh responsible for putting those kids in harm's way? We are responsible to make sure uh that the Arabs don't get away with what they're doing. This is a hot spot, isn't it? But actually, there are And if we bend, it's going to have ramifications for everyone. to plenty of places all over Israel. You know where you are? Not at all. Look where you are. You are here at the outskirts, at the center of the Jewish world. There's the Temple Mount. You can Jerusalem, it is still You can touch the Temple Mount. You can feel King David. He's here.

You talk as though this land, this area means nothing to the Arab people. Well, it doesn't. Clearly it does. No. We are here today. This is the Jewish homeland and there's never been a Palestinian people. If they want to express themselves nationally, they can express it somewhere else in one of the other states, maybe Jordan, which is primarily Palestinian origin in any case. Why should it be at the expense of the Jewish homeland? My roots are here, not theirs. A little later, the settler's battle-scarred armored car made its way under police escort back down the hillside and past a Palestinian child acting as a lookout.

One of those looking on was an Arab neighbor of the settlers. The Arab next to the Jewish return home. He doesn't like the fact that the Jews here, full stop. That's his problem. The international community is on his side, really, in the sense that it doesn't recognize the validity of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem and would view you as an interloper in his in his community. Okay, the world's got a problem. There's nothing I can say about that because you're right. We're the only country in the world that accepts United Jerusalem as United Jerusalem. I know that. So, I say, okay, so what for the world?

Doesn't bother me. In another part of Silwan, close to where it borders the old city, live a family called the Adlers. Hi, Yonatan. Louie. Yonatan and Devorah, originally from the USA, were moved in by a Jewish cultural group similar to Daniel's called Elad. With their six children, they are helping to repopulate the Jewish community. Are you comfortable talking about security measures that you take? I mean, don't tell anybody. We don't lock our doors. Um You don't lock these doors, but there's a there's a guard posted at a metal gate out front.

Right. You hadn't noticed him? Yeah, no. Uh we have guards. Um there's security cameras. And you have someone posted on the roof? Yeah. A soldier? No, a private security guard. And then do you have escorts when you leave? Uh we have [clears throat] uh we have yeah, escorts. So, this is all your yard? This is all our backyard. And across the hillside here, we are basically talking about an Arab neighborhood.

Do you feel encircled a little bit? Encircled by buildings, yes. But I guess that's part of living uh in a city. You don't feel encircled culturally or ethnically? Um I don't think we view things that way. You know, obviously there is a sense of animosity against Jews moving in here. Do you not worry about your children a little bit? Generally, we don't have a tremendous problem, and I think our belief in being here is so strong.

Really, this place is part of our heart, and I think that we raise our children feeling that way, also. Did you say that you'd been in a vehicle when it had been stoned? We have been, yes. been with your kids? Yes. That must be frightening. Um I think it's unsettling. I mean, for the kids? It's unsettling, yes. But it's something that we speak with them about. start crying? No, I think they're that it's something that they're aware of. And God forbid if one of the kids got hurt.

We hope that it never comes to that. But for us, this is home. And we're not running away because Iraq is thrown. The West Bank is home to about 2 and 1/2 million Palestinians and 300,000 Jewish settlers. Many of these settlers live in modern suburban communities. They're considered illegal under most interpretations of international law. Though the Israeli government disputes this and gives the settlements its backing. But there is also a hardcore fringe of settlers who defied even Israeli

law and built makeshift hilltop encampments. One of these is 17-year-old Yair Lieberman. Can we come in? Of course. It's a place you can come anytime. Who lives in here? Me and uh three other guys. Three other young guys? Yes. Tell me a little bit about where we are. It's called uh It's called Havat Gilad and it's built 8 years ago. How long has this structure been here? A year. We're closing now here. Nearly 1 year? Yes. So, where do you want to go now? Which is your bed?

This is my bed. The most mess This one? No, this one. The most mess, I told you. This is all the rabbis that These are all rabbis that you like? Yes. You're hooked up to electricity? Yes. From where? We have a generator here. Do you? Yes. The state don't give us uh electricity. Why not? Cuz they think we're illegal. Why is it so important to you that you should be here? Why not somewhere you know, near Tel Aviv or Cuz nobody's here. If we weren't here, there's a Arabic town over there, and over there, and over there. If we

are not here, there's our city. And we don't want another city. You don't want another Palestinian city. I don't want another Palestinian city, no. Why? Cuz it's my land. It's the land of Israel, not the land of Palestinian. A Palestinian would say, "Well, this is my home." This is your home because you took it from me. Do you view Palestinians and Jews as equal? Uh no. No? No. Jews are the How do you say? Um the chosen. We're not going to go from here.

What will happen to the Palestinians? The Palestinian, I don't know. God will do with them whatever he wants. I don't know. I stay here. I think this is God's will. I feel this is God's will. And there's it's not only me, and thousands thousands of other settlements. This is already by the police and uh and army, this is already uh Arab land. It's not ours. It's ours, but they can't touch it. If you go over there, you can get arrested. You see? Would you build somewhere over there?

Why not? You just said you'd get arrested. So? I get arrested. You can really only be here because the army's protecting you. No, I'm going to stay here even though the army not going to protect me. You'd give your life to stay here? I don't know. It's got the I don't know. How do you say? Get to the fence, we're going to cross it. Most of the West Bank is still under Israeli military occupation, and so opposition to the settlements and to the Jewish presence generally is dealt with by the army.

A colonel in the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force, had agreed to take me to one of their regular fixtures, policing a Palestinian protest against the security barrier that separates Israel from the West Bank. It takes place every week outside the small town of Bil'in. You can see the youngs. And uh 5 minutes the finish of the prayer they will go out of the mosque and go down this road until the yellow gate here. Yeah. When they coming to the fence to hurt and well going in. Okay? Yes. You see them? Oh, here comes one. What is it? Yeah.

He saw the tear gas, the Palestinian. He moved He passed the yellow gate. Yeah. And throws to here. And the soldiers Look, the soldiers are running in. The people Are they running away? Yeah, running away. And from now, just the young youngsters. Is it? Yeah. After an opening salvo from the IDF, we made our way across the security barrier. They're throwing stones.

I've been told that one of the reasons Bil'in emerged as a regular spot for protests was its proximity to Tel Aviv. It was a convenient location for left-wing Israelis and internationals who wanted to show their support for the Palestinian cause. The previous year one unlucky protester had taken a canister to the chest and died, and injuries on both sides were not uncommon. But on this occasion, there were no casualties. What if you just left them? We're going to have to do this in a couple of minutes. Going back there. And they will come here. And it's okay. Yeah, until the time that they're going to cut the fence. And then you do it again? So it's just back and forth?

Yeah, twice, three times. And every week like that. Like a ritual. Yeah. We know them, they know us. The same guys every Friday. I was back in Jerusalem for an appointment with Daniel. Hi Daniel. Back from Bil'in. Thank you. So early. Yes, good morning. This time our destination was the heart of the old city. Daniel's organization had recently helped a donor to acquire a number of apartments in the Muslim Quarter.

Adding to its portfolio of around 50 buildings. So, this is your most recent acquisition, is that correct? Well, once again, when I say yours, it's not the organization. There's an individual either in Israel or overseas that has acquired this particular building. It's a rather unique building, as you can see, from the point of view that it's not just a single apartment. Who owns it? Jewish concerns. Can you identify them? I don't have a right to discuss about you know, private investors that want to invest whether they want to be known or not to be known.

I'm not sure how relevant it is anyway. Do you see anything the least bit out of whack with, let's say, a foreign donor donating funds that displaces a man who's been in a property for several generations? Just that, in a nutshell. We don't challenge any other person around the world who wants to invest in Manhattan or London. So, why should the BBC or anyone in the world be concerned that a Jew is investing in the heart of the most important city for him as a Jew? It's a very simple thing. For a Jew, Jerusalem is central to everything. OKAY. IS THERE ANYTHING, AS FAR AS YOU KNOW, in the idea that it was that more units were grabbed than was legally No, no, if there wasn't if there was,

then the police would never allow it to happen on the first night, neither would the courts. We've been here for a month now. No, no, there's no nothing like that. The issue is just going to be with him. There's a lot of stuff here that belonged to the Arab that he obviously didn't want. Uh But they just left all their stuff here. Well, not all of it, but there's some stuff. You got to remember there were, you know, we're talking about two Arab families. For them to physically walk out of the house before the sale with all their stuff would have aroused

too much of an issue and a problem for them. Would they have sort of left in the middle of the night kind of thing? I can't really discuss exactly how they left and why they left the way they did. It's a law in the Arab world they're not allowed to sell to Jews and therefore if they do one has to be very careful to give some type of cover story or protection to look after the Arabs that sell. It's an absurd situation. So where are these Arabs now, the ones who were living here? They're living comfortably in some other Arab neighborhood either somewhere in Israel I imagine.

Sort of incog- incognito? at all. Not at all. Well, but if it's known that they sold Well, as not everyone knows that they sold and you know, certain claims were made that maybe the Jews came in at a certain time. Like I said, I can't really go into the whole issue. You're suggesting they may have created a cover story? Some things I can talk about, some things we can't talk about. 45 minutes south of Jerusalem is the city of Hebron. Like the rest of the West Bank it was taken by Israel in 1967. With an Arab population of 160,000 most of Hebron is now policed by the Palestinian Authority. But the heart of the city is home to a

tiny enclave of seven or 800 Jewish settlers and remains under military occupation. Here the Jews live in a secure bubble, a strange ghost town in which literally hundreds of Arab shops have either been closed down by the Israeli army or gone out of business. My contact here was the head of security for the Hebron Jewish community, Yoni Bleichbard. Good to see you. That's my car over there. And we can use the van over there as well. That's the ambulance? Yeah. For evacuating wounded people? Why would people be wounded? Shots, terrorist attacks. We've got plenty of those. Really?

Yes, unfortunately. So, this is all bulletproof? Yes. 360° bulletproof. Yoni took me on a tour of the secure area, or sterile zone. So, this is a checkpoint? Yes. And over there begins what? H1, Arab's territory. Palestinian Authority over there? Yes, it is. You can't go through there? No, it's not safe for us to go If we go inside, we could get murdered, we could get stoned, we could get killed. These Palestinians going back and forth, what's their story?

Shopping. They're going to the city to shop, buy things, and go back to their houses over here. And so, they have to go through a checkpoint to go shopping? How come they're allowed No, no, no, no. To go to enter the Arab zone, they don't need to be checked. But, coming back, they need to be checked cuz the army not was not way said covered ammunition and knives, cold uh that they tried to smuggle into the safety zone over here. Now, what's happened to the shops here? They were closed for security measures. The army closed them down. And there's no cars or buses here for Palestinians? On this road, no, it's a safe zone. Safe zone is It's It's a sterile.

Do you feel embarrassed to see the settlers have scrolled stars of David on the old Arab shops? if it's not theirs, absolutely. It's not right. It's been reported that Arabs have suffered a campaign of harassment from Jewish settlers in Hebron including graffiti and uh, stone throwing, abuse. There were incidents. Of course, there were incidents, unfortunately, but you cannot compare. If some Arabs chuck stones at uh, some Jewish settlers the settlers do what?

Well Israeli army. Uh, police and army, yes. and army. If some Jewish settlers chuck stones at some Arabs the Arabs call the police and the army, same thing. Yes, yes. Over here, yes. But can you see how and there'd be a perception that because they're Israeli that the Israelis would not enforce the law uh, that the military would not uphold the security in favor of the Arabs in the same way that they would in favor of the Israeli No, cuz that's not a that's not democracy. And do Arabs here have the vote? To the Israeli Can I say no? No, they do not. So that's that isn't democracy.

Yes, it is. Can you choose uh, to the Knesset? Well, I don't live here. I cannot vote for their municipality and their parliament, they can. They are part of the uh, Arab parliament. Hebron has a unique importance for believers in the Old Testament as the final resting place of Abraham and his family here in the Tomb of the Patriarchs. And so it felt fitting to be invited to attend a circumcision or bris. One of those present was the child's grandmother, Shirley Zissman, originally from Scotland, now resident of the West Bank settlement of Kedumim.

Does it have a special meaning to you having your grandson's bris in Hebron? I never in my life dreamed that I would have such an honor to come to Hebron and make the bris of our grandchildren at the circumcision ceremony here. This is his brother. He's a year and a half. That's the bigger brother of the baby that's going under the knife today. That's right. He doesn't have to worry. No. No, he's done it. He's done it already. The baby will get over it as well. Everybody gets over it.

Does it hurt, do you think? I never don't know. I didn't do it. Mazel tov. According to the Bible, Abraham was the first Jewish man. His circumcision, a sign of his covenant with God, and God's commitment to providing for the Jewish people. A tradition that continues to this day. Part of God's promise was that the land of Israel would belong to Abraham's descendants. And so the bris was also a kind of guarantee of inheritance. After the ceremony, I learned that the child had been named Avichai, or my nation lives.

Back up in the area around Havat Gilad, and the hillsides were in flames. I'd heard word that the Israeli army had dismantled a house and a goat shed at a Jewish settlement called Giv'at Ronan that was well known for its radical views. Given that the whole settlement was illegal under Israeli law, the action seemed somewhat tokenistic. But in return, some of the settler youth had apparently taken reprisals against local Palestinians by setting fires. It was a practice known as price tagging. An Israeli member of parliament had turned out to show his support for the settlement.

Louis BBC. Your name? Michael member of Knesset Michael Ben-Ari. What happened last night? Though they've been set by settlers, the fires had spread across land farmed by Jews. One of those attempting to put out the flames was a local Israeli winemaker and tour guide called Near Lavie. Whose trees are they? My friend, my neighbor. They're Israeli trees. All this area is going to be burned because a man and a lady and a child were living in this house. And this morning from out of the blue someone came and tore it down. Not someone, the Ministry of Defense

came to tear it down. And what's the connection with the fires? Well, the fires I think are a only a conclusion after what happened. Maybe got some people got a bit frustrated. And we are now taking out these fires. And where we live is at stake, right? Our trees, our investments, our environment, it's a pity. Shouldn't you be angry at the people who set the fires? No. Why? Because what happened, the people blockaded their entrances as a normal person would do, if they would come to wreck your

house down, and the fire started, you know. They burned some tires and then it got out of hand? Of course. Was it price tagging? Uh, for them, yes. You know, the young settlers, they have a lot of enthusiasm and they you know, their house. You see your house going down, your investment. You get rage, right? Is it possible there was a plan to burn Palestinian trees? No. You see actually that it's not. And if you ask me those questions, I will ask you for this minute to dismiss yourself from this interview.

I was on my way to the town of Nabi Saleh. Like many other Palestinian towns, it is involuntarily twinned with a much newer Israeli settlement, this one called Halamish. Nabi Saleh is also the venue for a regular weekly protest against the occupation, which I was hoping to experience first hand. As at Berlin, the protest started after prayers and took the form of a march through the town. The idea being to reach a spring near the settlement. [__] off. Get away from here. Go back. What are you doing? Go back. After the army had repulsed the marchers, the formal part of the protest seemed to end.

The Israeli soldiers took control of the town square and the protesting became more free-form. Can you look yourself in the mirror in the morning? No problem. Huh? Where you from? Denmark. Are you from Russia? That's the accent, HUH? NO, NO. I DON'T THINK SO. MAYBE SAME HERE. YOU TOO, CHECK IT OUT. This is strange. It feels like a game, almost. They want to make it like the game. They want to stop us to reach the wild land.

You said you've got to know the commander quite well. He is from 3 months here. We are see him every Friday. He pushed us here, he beat us, he arrested us. We have This is not our friend. He is our enemy because he But he is a clever man. Danny, you said his name's Danny? Yeah, yeah. Do you think you could be his friend? I told him that if you remove the occupation from your head and your mind and your mentality, you will be a human and we will be friends.

Down the hill, word came that a Palestinian youth WAS BEING ARRESTED. WHAT HAPPENED? HE WAS PASSING from the road going to his home. They arrested him to suspect that he is throwing the stones. One of those trying to obstruct the arrest was the sympathizer from Denmark and he was next to be taken. Hey. The afternoon passed with more stone throwing and taunting on the Palestinian side and the army's fruitless efforts to pin down the culprits, most of whom were children. I couldn't help feeling baffled as to the commander's objectives given the futility of attempting to bring the town to order.

Was that a good one? Out of shape, guys. Out of shape. Woah. He threw a stone at us. BBC Hi. How you doing? They think you Israeli. And that's right. Don't worry. Do you hate the Israelis? Yes. You hate Israelis? What I feel if Israeli come and kill my friend and destroy my life and steal my land, what's my feel? What's your feel if Israeli come and destroy you and kill you? I hate Israel and forever I hate Israel. Would you like to take all the land back all the way to Tel Aviv? In my heart, I And want all Palestine.

Yes. And Netanyahu go to hell. And Hamas? Hamas and Fatah and all people in Palestine search on peace. Hamas fire rockets, don't they? Fire rockets at uh the Israeli people and blow up buses and things like this. Hamas. How? Hamas Okay, in bus, but all What's happening in Gaza? You know what's happening in Gaza? Uh Israeli destroy Gaza. Kill our children. We are human. They kill us. And what's I If I can go to Israel and destroy Israel, I am a from now go to Israel and destroy Israel.

Late in the day, seeming to tire of playing cat and mouse with an entire village, the army finally withdrew with a farewell volley of tear gas. A few nights later, and settlers were rallying with soldiers and politicians on a hilltop overlooking Nablus, the site of Joseph's tomb, and now home to around 130,000 Palestinians. Some of the talk was of the need to march on the city and reclaim it for the Jews. There was a widespread view that the Israeli government was too weak and conciliatory.

Far from wanting to give up any of the occupied land, for these settlers, the aim was to take back everything controlled by the Palestinian Authority. I was with Near, the winemaker who I had first met when he was putting out flames on the hillside. This is the vineyards, what you see here. These are the vineyards. He'd offered to show me his vineyard and the army of volunteers he had working there. A coach load of devout Christians, almost all of them from America.

Deep in the occupied territories and within sight of a Palestinian town, tourists were working land that the international community viewed as illegal. Shalom Martin. Shalom Near. Your name's uh Martin. I'm Louie. Louie, I'm from Denver, Colorado. Uh this is my uh third time here. How long are you out here for? I came for a month. You came for a whole month? Is it a vacation or is it a what is it? You're not getting paid to work here.

No, it's a labor of love uh for the nation of Israel and for uh the people here to see that they prosper in the West Bank and help them fulfill the prophetic calling that's on this land. Why do you feel it's important for you to be here? It's about acting out the love that we have. The Bible talks about not just loving in word, but also in deed and in actions. And so when you pick a vine and a cluster of grapes and you get to hold them in your hands, it's like you're part of prophecy, you're part of scripture, you're part of the promises that God HAS MADE.

GOOD JOB. WOO! AWESOME. OKAY. BACK AT THE WINERY, AND ONE of Nir's young recruits was hoping to take his commitment to Israel even further by volunteering for its military. This guy here, he wants to join the IDF. Can you imagine such a thing? allowed? No. He's He's just touring, but he has a spirit with Israel. You want to join the IDF? Yeah, for sure. Why? Uh they're the chosen people, you know. Who? Uh the Jews. Yeah. The Jewish people are the chosen people.

You've always believed that? Is that based on the Bible? Uh not always. It's It's kind of something coming into Just with the revelation you get being here. It's good stuff. This is the Mount Blessing Winery, and here we have now the 2010 vintage. That's the whole grape is in there, the skin and everything? Skin, seed, everything. And here you see the grapes are now in fermentation. Can I do that what you just did? No, no, you can't.

Why? Cuz it's kosher. It's kosher wine. And kosher wine only That's quite rude, isn't it? Yes. Why? Because I'm unclean? No, it's not because of that. It's ceremonially Yes, I'm not allowed to drink your wine. But then what about those guys, those Christians? They're not kosher, are they? They're allowed to bring You saw like today, they bring in the grapes from the vineyard until the factory room of the winery. They're not allowed inside.

Do they mind? No. They want to serve us. Do you find it a bit strange that they want to that the Americans to serve want to come and serve you? Uh it was for me strange at the beginning, but I can understand it. Through this, they are redeeming themselves. For them, it's deeply spiritual, isn't it? Yes, I think so. Do you think they also understand that it's political? Uh less. They don't come on the political side.

The experience of meeting Nael's Christian volunteers had brought home to me the strange status of the West Bank. Claimed by three major religions, it was sacred territory. In its own way, a piece of the Bible that several million people happen to live on. With a few days left in country, I was heading back south to see Daniel, this time at his home. Unlike the Jewish pioneers of East Jerusalem, Daniel lived away from the front lines of the conflict, though still in the West Bank, in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim. Welcome to Ma'ale Adumim. Thank you. To the This is your humble abode? Well, modest, humble, whatever you like.

Have you lived here for a while? I have lived here in Ma'ale Adumim for since we came to live in Israel. Is this supposed to be growth there? It's the extension of Ma'ale Adumim. Where? It just looks like a barren hillside. That's what this looked like until 10 years ago. water here. Where does the water come from? The underground aquifers, from the Kinneret, the whole like the whole country. It's magnificent. The deserts are blooms.

This is a miracle. And how you look at it, this is a miracle. 10 years ago, this looked like that. This is Khamis. Khamis has helped me build a pergola, which is going to be the tabernacle of the sukkah here. This is for the feast of the tabernacle Indeed, it is. which is coming up in a little while. These two guys look like they're of Arab heritage, and um They're Israeli citizens. here in an illegal settlement. That's quite surprising. Well, not really, because all most builders in all these places are Arabs. In a sense, they're building themselves out of existence.

I'm not sure they see it that way. He lives comfortably in his house in a neighborhood where there's Arabs, but he also knows that life is good under the Jews. Do you ever have political conversations? Never. Why? Never comes up. A little later, we were heading back into Silwan. Daniel had offered to show me one last house in the Yemenite village, as he called it. Since my previous visit, there'd been reports of heightened tensions. Daniel and I traveled in as part of a protected settler convoy.

Its unpopularity was soon made clear. Whoa. They hit us. That was a rock. 2 minutes away from the old city. Whoa. They sounded like big ones. That was a big boulder. So, this is the old Yemenite village. This is the honey house, as you can see from here. Have you been through here? Yes. You can see the Arabs purposely They dump rubbish here the whole time. This is a private residence. And not only has it been attacked by Molotov cocktails non-stop over the last few months, but rubbish is purposely dumped right at the entrance to the house. It's not normal what's going on here.

Not normal. Hi. Are you Boaz? Yes. Louis. No, man. Nice to meet you. He speaks only Hebrew. He can't doesn't speak uh No English? No, it's not. You got two scary-looking guys standing behind you in black jackets and dark glasses. I don't know how scary they are. They're not scary. No, they're taking the glasses. The government This is not private security. The government pays, just like the government looks after the residents around here with policemen. The government also looks after the Jews that are under fire, unfortunately, by

the Arabs around here. I mean, I haven't been inside your home, but this doesn't seem that great. That's why we're here. We're trying to make a change. Would he get a very favorable rent given that he's sort of a pioneer in a hardship area? There's a standard rent for people that live in the in this area. How much? We don't discuss anything to do with money, investments, donations, rents, etc. That's not a reason that drives anyone to live in these places. What drives him is ideology.

It's not at you. It's not the BBC. It's the having that Jews around here. So, they keep playing their games. Unfortunately, games, it starts off with a small stone, then it's a concrete block, then it's a Molotov cocktail, and then it's shooting. Shortly after the stone throwing, the border police appeared on the scene. So, if there's an incident, even though that was pretty minor, the security will call the army in or the Maga army. It's the border patrol police. And they'll come in and just And they make sure everything's quiet. There's no rioting. It's uh it's not straightforward living. I'm not going to pretend for a second this is normal living.

Um it's not normal living. But we either pack our bags and go back to the uh to the ovens of uh of Auschwitz, and I'll go back to the shores of Australia, um or this is uh our land, and it means fighting for it. There's very doubt. We're basically still part of the war of independence. Nothing much has changed. Tactics have changed, but still a war of survival for the Jewish people in this area. I want to What you see around you now uh never existed here in the past. This place was open. The shops were open. Everyone walk in.

Everyone could shop here. Back in Hebron, and a party of Jewish American visitors was in town for the holidays. When once the peace process began By special arrangement with the IDF, they'd been allowed to take a walking tour of an Arab area, a part of town ordinarily closed off to Israelis for their own safety. In charge of security was Yoni. Two things, two important things. One is to stick together as one group. Second thing, if something occurs everybody eyes on me, and please listen to me, okay? was a part of the Jewish community of Hebron. The houses that you see around were all belonging to Jews, were built by Jews.

Look at this house. This was a kosher bakery. Until the '20s, a community of Jews lived here. But they were violently driven out during a pogrom. It was the dream of the Jewish settlers to be allowed to repopulate the area. How's it going? Great. Even though we don't have time at all. Is it a little bit tense? I don't feel tense. But the soldiers do, cuz the bigger They've got a bigger responsibility to keep this whole group safe.

It's a little bit surreal, isn't it? Surreal, please. Strange. No, we're used to it. We do it every week. Oh my goodness. I'm used to be with Arabs. You know that. It's some of the soldiers more than the Arabs is the strange part. Are you enjoying it? I am enjoying it. Are you feeling any tense? An intense or tense? Tense. Not really. A little bit. I'm pretty chill. You can feel the tension. It's pretty intense.

Don't say that. I wonder why. There was an eerie quality to the tour, somewhere between embattled and entitled. Organized by a fringe of the religious right and yet fully protected by the army. I wondered whether even more of Hebron would one day become a so-called sterile zone. And then news broke. A Palestinian man had been shot dead by a settler guard in Silwan in circumstances that remained unclear. Rioting was widespread in East Jerusalem. I headed back into the area. I was hoping to get close to the action. So I had met up with a local Palestinian activist, Jawad Siam.

It's It's live bullets. You can hear it now. So From who? Uh from either from the settlers or from the soldiers, but it's it's more from the settlers or the gun guards. Because the soldiers use M-16, and it's not M-16, it's uh normal bullets. Yeah, like bullets. During what sounded like a lull in the shooting, Jawad guided me and a small group of Israeli human rights volunteers into the heart of the conflict. Just say From here, you are going to be see? Yes. Say from here that they are shooting. Who are? Soldiers are there. This is uh what's so-called honey house. That's the honey house?

We arrived back at the house I'd visited with Daniel, where Boaz lived with his family. It was now in the middle of a strange no-man's-land, protected by border guards awaiting the next round of action. We're from the BBC. Can we talk to one of you? Not now? Do you think it's logical for a Jewish family to come to live in such neighborhood, completely neglected, and they tell you I want to live together with gun guards? Well, they do it for religious reasons, don't they? Ideological reasons. Ideological reasons is transfer reasons. And imagine the children are living here.

Transfer reasons? Transfer to transfer Palestinians from here to make a Jewish majority. Do you not feel a bit sorry for them in a way, too, that they're living here and experiencing this hostility? Do I should I live for them sorry? Sorry to live in this hospital. Who told them to come to here first of all? Secondly, it's it's they come to steal houses. They are not coming to live here. They come to kick us out. They say that they buy them. Uh fake documents. It's Fake documents? Fake documents. And if the Jewish guy wants to live, want to have a fun, want to have life, why he why should they come to this neighborhood? If they want to, is it their right?

It's their right. That's all. Okay, I tell you one thing. So, they showed me give me the right to live also wherever I want. It's your right for Jewish people only. Do you feel you have a second-class citizenship? I'm not second, I'm not third, I'm not fourth. I'm less than that they consider me. The shooting soon started again with the familiar volleys of tear gas. Among Palestinians, a report was circulating of a toddler dying from exposure to the gas in the nearby suburb of Issawiya.

[cough] BY NOW, IT WAS THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING, and local Palestinian fathers were coming out of their houses to remonstrate with police. I wondered if Boaz was still in his house, but I was also mindful of the role of the settlers and groups like Daniel's moving them into areas that had been won in war and among people that didn't have the same rights. I was close to the end of my time in the West Bank. But before I left, I decided to say goodbye to a couple of people. One was Yair, the young hilltop settler who lived in a tent in Havat Gilad.

Is it a contradiction to say, "I'll break the state's law if necessary, but then expect the state security, the army, to protect you when you're doing so?" Listen, I'm very happy when the army is here. But we lived here without the army. Doesn't matter. We're going to stay here anyhow. And if they tell you to leave, if the government tells you to leave? If they want, they can take me by power, and I'm going to come back. illegally. This is our land. You can come and kill us and what do whatever you want. We're going to stay here. We're going to die for this country. And kill for this country? If necessary, yes.

I don't know if mentally I can do it, but by the law of God, you're supposed to do it. You told me you're an atheist. You like it? A lot. It's very comforting. It's very comfortable. It's very comforting to know that there's no one up there looking after me. [snorts] It's very comfortable, sure. I think it's You forgive me already, right? It's a stupid way of life. What you are here for? You think you came from a monkey? This is not a Everybody like to think that there's a big thing behind us, not we are here

just for to work, get money, feed our children, and die. And that's it. You're supposed to be a good man. You're work for God, not just for yourself. A little later, I said goodbye to Yair. He was celebrating the Feast of the Tabernacle with a few of the other residents of Havat Gilad under a newly built sukkah. All of them were supporters of a greater Israel against the Palestinians, even against the state of Israel itself. Back in Jerusalem, and the old city was flooded with holiday makers visiting for Sukkot. But, the city was also recovering from the rioting.

Some of the settler houses had been targets, and before I left him, Daniel offered to show me the damage. They up-surged. They smashed everything here in this door. These doors are very powerful doors that hold six to eight people, but as you can see, they've managed to dent it, smash the handle, smash the intercom and the camera, etc. Even if people don't like the fact that there are Jews living in this area, you don't try and kill Jews. You see enmity between Arabs and Jews as in some ways biblically decreed. Yeah. So, in a sense, is it possible that you are creating uh that enmity in order to fulfill uh the messianic program that you believe in? As you just pointed out, it exists no

matter what. It's something intrinsic. We're not creating anything because it exists there. And you are exacerbating it. No, we're not exacerbating it at all. Well, in the literal sense, you are. The presence of the Jewish people the presence of the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland upsets millions of people around the world. The sons of Esau do not like the fact that the sons of Jacob have come back home. Is it possible Daniel that you are a religious extremist?

Not the slightest. How can I possibly If I'm extremist, then millions of citizens and residents of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the whole of the state of Israel are also therefore extremist. Hello. As part of the holiday season, Daniel's organization had invited Jewish tour groups to experience the revival of Jewish life at some of their properties. Daniel, what's happening here right now? THEY'RE JUST GETTING READY. GETTING READY FOR WHAT? THE GROUPS THAT COME HERE. REMEMBER The tours. There are number of um number There are number of different places Okay. There are number of places

throughout the whole of the old city where the different films are being shown, where groups are going on different uh different routes basically. Okay. He's going to be a little bit of a problem today. With the groups coming in here. He's going to scream. He's going to rant and he's going to rave. Fellow. If they behave, I'll call the police. Is it possible that he's right about the chairs and the tables? So, one of the tables is being used. Big deal. He sold it anyways. No, it's not relevant.

The overall picture this is nothing. The point is that you're in a sukkah in a building the Jews have gone back to and there's going to be thousands of Jews walking through here over the next three days. There's the flag. There's the Tabernacle. There's the house. There's Jewish life in United Jerusalem. And there's nothing that you or the world can do about it. Nothing.