Activists say settlers are encouraged by the unconfirmed support given by US President Donald Trump.
Israeli soldiers and settlers are harassing Palestinian activists featured in a recent BBC documentary that praised Palestinians in the occupied West Bank for their praise for shining light on the lights of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The world’s attention is fixed in Israel’s 18-month war in Gaza, which forced the Palestinians to flee their homes as they attacked Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. Israel’s lack of police action has further encouraged settlers citing laws claiming their rights to Palestinian land.
Featured in a settler documentary created by British-American journalist and broadcaster Louis Theroux, Issa Amuro has released online footage showing how armed soldiers and settlers stormed the occupied Hebron house on the West Bank.
Amuro also said police arrested and threatened him and told him not to complain about what he said was another case of apartheid imposed by Israel on the West Bank. Rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have accused Israel of practicing apartheid in occupied territories.
Amro added on Sunday that Israeli settlers who attacked him a day ago told him that President Donald Trump had supported them. The settlers “feeled brave for the blind support of the Trump administration,” the activists said.
Theroux said he and his team continue to contact Amro regularly.
. @issaamro, who appeared in Settlers, posted his latest harassment video by settlers and soldiers. Our team has been in regular contact with him since the documentary and the past 24 hours. We continue to monitor the situation. https://t.co/asewkkvx5h
– Louis Theroux (@louistheroux) May 4, 2025
The BBC documentary is a follow-up to the 2012 film “The Super Zionist,” reflecting how the situation evolved in occupied Palestinian territory.
While interviewing Palestine and Israeli figures, the documentary explored how the settler population grew significantly, and how new military pre-post bases and Israeli infrastructure expanded across Palestinian territory.
It delves into the religious and ideological motivations behind Israel’s expansion that led to massive displacements and violent clashes among the Palestinians, which question the legality and morality of occupation to rule as a court to undermine international law and norms.
“You bring a Jewish family. [to the occupied West Bank]you live a Jewish life, which brings light instead of darkness. And this is how the state of Israel was established, and this is what we want to do in Gaza,” says Daniela Weiss, a key member of the Israeli settler movement, in a documentary.
Weiss, who also enjoys support from many Israeli rabbis, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “happy” about the expansion of settlers. Netanyahu opposed the sovereignty of Palestine, which occupied Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The settlers are Israeli citizens who live on civilian Palestinian lands in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are now over 700,000. All Israeli settlements are deemed illegal under international law.
The settlement and its expansion are considered the greatest hurdle in achieving life in a sovereign and independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Last year, the UN General Assembly called on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian territory. This comes months after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) determined that Israel’s existence in Palestinian territory was “illegal.”
When Israeli soldiers approached him and tried to leave the area, and made a part of a documentary in Hebron, Theroux himself was equally harassed.
Amuro’s harassment comes shortly after Hamdan Baral, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary “Other Lands,” is attacked by Israeli settlers at his home in Suzaya in a village on the West Bank.
Armed, masked settlers were injured when they destroyed their homes and vehicles in late March. While undergoing treatment in an ambulance, Israeli soldiers blindfolded and arrested the filmmaker.
Like Amro’s harassment on Saturday, the attack was also seen as international acclaim for the documentary and retaliation for efforts to demonstrate the struggle of the Palestinians in the West Bank.
The incident also highlights the dangers facing journalists and filmmakers under Israeli occupation when Israel kills more than 200 media workers in the Gaza Strip.
Source link