Theroux: “I’m interested in ideologues and fundamentalists of all stripes …I wanted to see settler expansionism up close, and the human cost it entails.”
The Israeli Sovereignty Movement warned Israelis not to participate in or speak with Louis Theroux for his upcoming documentary, which is likely to put settlers in a negative light.
Documentary film presenter Louis Theroux will return to Judea and Samaria for a show on the BBC called “The Settlers.”
Fifteen years ago, Theroux made a documentary called “The Ultra-Zionists,” whose purpose was to look at the “extreme end of the Israeli settler community in the West Bank.”
According to Theroux, the purpose of returning is to observe settlers in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Since then, those same extreme settlers are even more emboldened,” Theroux said, likely referring to the BBC statement that Theroux will reveal that some settlers “are already making plans to move into” the Gaza Strip.
Working with the assumption that settlers are inherently extremists, Theroux said, “I’m interested in ideologues and fundamentalists of all stripes. In going back to the West Bank, I wanted to see settler expansionism up close, and the human cost it entails.”
“It’s a story specific to a time, a place, and a region, but it’s also a universal insight into tribalism and the ways in which we can blind ourselves to the humanity of those around us.”
The Israeli Sovereignty Movement, headed by Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, is warning Israelis not to engage with or talk to Louis Theroux and his team because of the negative way Theroux has depicted settlers in the past.
In a post, the organization called Theroux “a very anti-Israel person” and “very smart and experienced,” who travels the world and exposes anyone the left-wing labels as “extreme.”
They described Theroux’s 2010 documentary as “very, very negative.”
In the warning, the organization characterizes Theroux as someone who presents himself as “naive and even a bit stupid” and as someone who “just wants to understand another perspective.” However, it adds, he intends to create a “trap” in order to get “the most extreme, stupid, or weird responses, or anything that can be edited that way.”
The Israeli Sovereignty Movement warned Israelis not to speak to Theroux or any member of his team, including director Josh Baker, senior producer Sara Obeidat, producer Matan Cohen, and production manager Emily Wallace.
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