Video : Unreported World - Israel’s Wild West

On the West Bank, where a quarter-of-a-million Israelis live cheek-by-jowl with over two million Palestinians, ideologically driven Israeli settlers are exploiting political weaknesses to take back settlements the Israeli government expelled them from only two years before.”

Israel’s government is in disarray after its failed Lebanon venture. The Palestinian authority is tearing itself apart in Gaza. On the West Bank, where a quarter-of-a-million Israelis live cheek-by-jowl with over two million Palestinians, ideologically driven Israeli settlers are exploiting these political weaknesses to take back settlements the Israeli government expelled them from only two years before and are expanding into new areas.

As Reporter Sandra Jordan and Producer Edward Watts find when a member of their own team is injured, violence in the West Bank is never far from the surface. As tensions escalate, the prospect of more widespread conflict across the West bank is growing by the day. If that happens, it’ll make what’s happening in Gaza look insignificant.

Jordan and Watts get an early indication of how dangerous life has become in the West Bank as they begin their journey at the Palestininan village of Bi’lin, whose land has been divided by Israel’s security barrier. It’s Friday, and Palestinians, Israelis and international activists are protesting against the wall. Despite the peaceful demonstration, which takes place every Friday, Israeli soldiers decide to break it up with tear gas and rubber batons. The team’s fixer, Massad Abu Toameh, is hit by a tear gas canister, sending him flying headfirst into some rocks. He’s unconscious with a serious head injury and medics are forced to carry him off while the soldiers continue to fire rubber bullets at Jordan and Watts.

The team continue on their journey along the divide between Israeli and Palestinian communities to Hebron. On the frontline in this segregated city, Jordan enters the “Shalom House”, a foothold just being established by Israeli settlers in the Arab area, and now guarded by Israeli soldiers. Their leader David Wilder tells Jordan that he believes the whole West Bank, including all the Palestinian areas, are rightfully part of the state of Israel given to them by God. Despite its illegality, the settlers are still living there and still protected by the army.

While she’s inside, there’s a commotion outside as Yossi Belin, a member of the Israeli Parliament, arrives. He’s come to condemn the settlers and tells Jordan that all the settlers should leave Hebron, but feelings are so high that he has to be protected from the settlers by armed guards.

But the settlers also have to pay the price for their presence in Hebron. Jordan meets the family of Schmai Elazar Leibowicz, a young soldier shot by Palestinian gunmen as he left a pizza parlour. His father tells her that Palestinians target Jews indiscriminately, but that they are doing God’s work by settling here.

Jordan and Watts continue through the divided West Bank and arrive at one of the checkpoints in the separation wall. They arrive in time for a demonstration - this time by Palestinian trade unionists complaining that Israeli security measures make it impossible to work. As before, soldiers move in with batons. Again Jordan and Watts seem to be targeted with tear gas canisters by the soldiers.

The team are then told about a group of settlers heading for a settlement called Homesh, 15km inside Palestinian territory, which was evacuated two years ago by the government. The settlers have vowed to reoccupy it. Despite initially being prevented by Israeli soldiers from reaching the site, thousands of settlers risk their lives to travel cross country through Palestinian villages, to show their determination that the settlers will never leave the West Bank.

As the world focuses on the fighting in Gaza and political scandals in Israel, the struggle for the West Bank is intensifying. The Saudis have put a new peace deal on the table, offering Israel recognition from Arab countries in return for the end of the occupation of the West Bank. But while the Israeli government is making the right noises to the international community, the settlers are creating facts on the ground that will make it very difficult to disentangle. The daily violence is increasing; people are dying in the West Bank and the time for talking is running out. If peace falls by the wayside, then there is a threat of all-out war.




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Posted in: Islamic Videos