Louis Theroux - The Settlers Documentary

Once again my favourite, non-judgemental, educated, journalist, Louis and his team took a huge risk filming this documentary (again -first in 2011 called Ultra Zionists). The team could all have been slaughtered. The fear is palpable and I’m here for it. People are being asked to screen record or download this before the BBC is pressured into removing it by Israel. They won’t be happy with this as it’s eye opening and will be viewed by a lot of people in the UK. 

As the name suggests, The Settlers, is a documentary about how Louis spends time with the growing community of Israeli extremist religious-nationalist settlers. Their settlements are illegal under international law, and they have been protected by the army, the police and the Israeli government.

Recently, there has been an acceleration in the establishment of settlements, with settlers pursuing a campaign of violence against local Palestinian communities. What was once a fringe movement has now won support at the highest levels of government, with their supporters holding key positions in the cabinet and able to influence not only the role the military plays but also the future of this conflict.

Louis embeds himself in the West Bank and we are introduced to many figures including, a prominent settler called Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz , Palestinians whose lives have been impacted by settlers moving into their communities, the army and the police. As the world focuses on Gaza, where at least 50,000 and more Palestinians are estimated to have been killed by Israeli forces since 7th October 2023, Louis discovers that the settlers are already making plans to move into that territory, too.

Daniella Weiss who came from Poland and was born before Israel ever existed, making her Palestinian rather than Israeli, wants more people to settle the land, that putting her own people first is one thing, but to not consider Palestinians in any way shape or form is sociopathic and when that very word was put to her by Louis, she laughed it off and called it normal. In 25 years of Louis doing these sorts of programs, this is the first time Louis ever spoke to anybody like that. Also I’m uncertain as to why Daniella has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by some Israeli professors. There's mental then there's Ziomental. I’ll try not to spoil what she said but towards the end she says, “I hope you push me back” which pretty much sums up the whole documenatary.

Background:

The Syrians, Lebanese, Palestinians, Jordanians, Canaanites and Phoenicians were on the land thousands before and they spoke different dialects of Arabic, Syriac, Aramaic. And here is the kicker, Louis who interviews, Ari Abramowitznot is not even Semitic, he's a Khazar from Europe. That's like a Chinese, Vietnamese, or an Indian Jew claiming rights to Palestine, because they happen to be Jewish. Moreover, Hebrew became a "Jewish" language because of the Torah being in Hebrew. Hebrew was spoken by the Caananites and others (as well as Aramaic, Syriac...etc) before the Jews even were a thing. That was for the time, though. Just like how English evolved over the years in England, the semitic language of the region of the region evolved and split over the years. Arabic came from Proto-Arabic, which sounded a lot like a combination of ancient Syriac, ancient Aramaic nd ancient Hebrew. This means that even artificats found with Hebrew writings are not "Jewish artificats." Muslims took serious efforts to save Jews on several occasions, especially from Inquisition and Holocaust. But now Muslims get vilified as fascists and terrorists. Meanwhile, the West have been hellbent on destroying the Jews for thousands years from Roman Empire to Third Reich. But now there are right wing Zionists who think that the West are their true protectors, even though in reality the West are using Zionists as mere puppets for destabilising and destroying the Middle East. I guess the West is just good at tricking people into believing in them and thinking that the enemy of the West are always bad.

Palestinians have lived on that land since prehistoric times. They used to practice Levantine Polytheism, then they became Jews, then most became Christians, then most became Muslim. Converting doesn't mean you have to give up your home. When Louis interviews Ari Abramowitz he states, “We were in this vineyard before Mohammad” this is said by an individual who cannot stand being in the sun for 10 minutes without protection. Hence why the the Israeli’s skin colour is not adapted to live in that climate, they're allergic to olives and the pollen, because they aren't from there.

Louis is also helped by Isso Amro, a brave Palestinian activist who unfortunately a day ago had his house raided. The sad part is the Israelis are backed by the International Orienteering Federation and most likely have trained snipers. That's why their stance is so confident. In one of the videos, Isso challenges one and asks why he has a mask on to which he refuses to answer and instead answers sarcastically that he does not wish to reveal his beauty. It’s very clear anyone who does not reveal themselves are truly up to no good whether that be disguising themselves online or in person. Also he does not come across as hard or intimidating guy,  infact he appears as a soft looking coward. Those are the ones that stab you in the back. So I do worry for Isso as he has put himself in danger now that they can identify him. It’s more sad that he knew this was going to happen in the documentary further telling us viewers how difficult living there has been over the years. 

I won’t spoil it for someone who has not watched it but some of these settlers would creep out Jimmy Saville. I really hope this documentary opens the eyes of the people unaware of the deep struggle the Palestines have endured for decades. The funny thing is that Louis has met with Nazis, alien hunters, etc. and these people are probably the maddest bunch he's ever interviewed. The illegal Israel settlers are the embodiment of evil and incase BBC take it down watch it here: