In 2011, Louis Theroux made a documentary about Jewish settlers on the West Bank. Now, with the world’s attention turned to Gaza, “he is back with another”, said Carol Midgley in The Times.
His earlier film caused quite a stir, but if the settlers were wary about him returning, with his faux-naive questions, they didn’t show it. On the contrary, they welcomed him into their homes (some half-built), and didn’t hesitate to express their belief that they have a God-given right to live there. This despite the fact that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
Limited viewpoints
“We were in this land planting vineyards before Mohammed was in the third grade,” one interviewee tells him; and at a meeting to discuss new settlements in Gaza, an ultra-nationalist rabbi declares that Lebanon should be “cleansed of these camel riders”.
But he also meets an Israeli who says that the idea of settling Gaza is “ridiculous”, and sees Israeli peace activists defending Palestinians who are being stopped by soldiers from harvesting their olives. It’s perhaps a pity he doesn’t devote more time to these viewpoints.
Lightly sceptical style feels jarring
Most moderate Israelis regard the settlers as a “national embarrassment”, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. But Theroux’s shtick is to spend time with extremists – and, of course, he finds them here.
Even so, I am not sure that this follow-up adds much; and post 7 October, his lightly sceptical style felt jarring to me. That said, I’d love to see him try it on Hamas officials.
The film-maker meets Jewish settlers with his signature ‘faux naivety’
