‘The Settlers’ proved a viral hit when it was released last month, revealing the daily struggles of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank with objectivity and bravery. Theroux witnesses the casual intimidation of Palestinians by armed Israeli guards, the difficulties of living in a tightly segregated occupied city and the complete lack of empathy from the Israelis enforcing the subjugation.
It was shocking television which, despite Theroux’s journalistic neutrality and genuine desire to understand the Israeli psyche, hardly painted the Israel Defence Force (IDF) in a good light. In the weeks since its release, Amro has reported further raids on his house by the IDF, claiming “they wanted revenge”. He filmed the soldiers as they stole his property, cut down one of his trees and injured a fellow activist.
Amro is one of Palestine’s most prominent activists, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year. “They [Israel] don’t see us as equal human beings who deserve the same rights they do,” he told Theroux in the documentary. After giving Theroux a tour of the West Bank’s administrative capital Hebron, Amro was forced to walk a humiliatingly long route home through a series of Palestinian checkpoints, whilst Theroux was free to walk the five minutes home through occupied land which the IDF term a “sterile zone”.
It was shocking television which, despite Theroux’s journalistic neutralit...hardly painted the Israel Defence Force (IDF) in a good light.
Theroux wrote in the Guardian that the raid’s on Amro’s home were “outrageous” and that “our team got in touch with him and did its best to provide appropriate support.” Theroux also highlighted that the outrage over the grim scenes shown in the documentary were indicative of the general public’s lack of knowledge around Israel’s steadily advancing ‘settlement’ of Palestine, which the UN Security Council has called a “flagrant violation” of internation law. “If you were shocked by my film on Israeli settlers in the West Bank,” Theroux wrote, “you haven’t been paying attention.”