Films About Israeli Settlers (West Bank and Pre-2005 Gaza)

In the West-bank city of Hebron, a major holy place to both Jews and Muslims, some 800 extremist Jewish settlers live in the midst of a Palestinian population of over 120,000. In this tense situation, where the military watches day & night over the Jewish community from city rooftops, all foreign media are mistrusted and access almost impossible. Over a period of three years, Dutch Israeli visual-anthropologist Esther Hertog lived with regularity amongst the settlers, and was slowly allowed to film their lives from within their community. After winning two separate competitions at IDFA 2012 (Dutch doc & First appearance), the Jury commented: This unique documentary accomplishes a seemingly innocent and lighthearted approach that manages to both relate the daily lives of Jewish settlers, and their belief system, and shed light on the lives of the Palestinians surrounding them. Soldier on the Roof has captured unique scenes of the settlers real, sometimes even surreal daily life, by showing the absurdity of choices where logic and reality are overtaken by dogma and entrenched hatred.

Una mirada íntima a la vida en los asentamientos judíos de Cisjordania.

Gush Etzion Junction, between Jerusalem and Hevron: Ali Abu Awwad dedicates his family's field as a Palestinian Center for Non-violence. Despite his life experience, four years in an Israeli prison, his mother's five year sentence, a brother killed by an Israeli soldier- Ali creates "Roots" with local Israeli settlers, advancing responsibility and grassroots work to enable political reconciliation.

Un estudio se convierte en laboratorio sociológico con encuentros entre la cámara e israelís asentados en el banco occidental.

Judith Kahana grew up on the Samaria hills. She was considered a classic "Hill Top" girl: she participated in the resistence movement against the evacuation of Gush Katif, took part in the settlement efforts and was part of a movement of young people, for whom this land was sacred and priceless. But as she matured, something inside her broke and her feelings towards this land of bloodshed became more ambivalent. Judith sets out on a journey to find some answers to the questions that were bothering her: she confronts her mother, who had hoped that her daughter would continue in the path paved for her; she re-examines some of the religious leaders she so look up to, and who had betrayed her. Torn between the land, calling her to stay, and this new inner voice asking her to leave, she sets out to find a new home.

The story explores Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, a site of religious significance to Jews and Muslims, and the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, showcasing archival footage and interviews with military commanders.

Baram begins to lose faith in the possibility of a two-state solution, he decides to travel throughout the West Bank to speak with both the Palestinians and the Israeli settlers living there.

In the summer of 2005 the Israeli government attempted to remove 8,500 Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip. The operation split Israel down the middle, between those who see settling the land as a religious duty, and others who believe the settlements are a barrier to peace. This observational documentary follows the General in charge of the operation, himself the son of one of the founders of the settler movement.

The film documents the eviction of women and girls who barricaded themselves in the synagogue in Neve Dekalim during the Israel's unilateral removal of Jews from Gaza in 2005.

When the Israeli government announces that it will withdraw from the Gaza Strip, it means lifeguards Lior, 21, and Meir, 27, will be forced to leave their home - Gaza's Palm Beach - forever. They and their surf posse could be characters on MTV's The Real World, but in the blink of an eye it becomes obvious that the danger is all too real. For Neta, 20, a religious filmmaker, the pullout plan sets off a desperate struggle to convince Israelis and the world that the withdrawal is a crime against God. Soldiers Yuval, 21, and Tamar, 20, must prepare for a mission against other Israelis, putting aside their own emotions to face angry protestors and the prospect of attacks. Ye'ela, 21, joins a cross-country tour in support of the withdrawal, even as she mourns a sister killed by Palestinian terrorists. For young Israelis, the summer of 2005 will change the meaning - and for some the very location - of home.

Chronicles the Israeli Defense Forces as they evacuate 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip in five days to make way for 250,000 Palestinians.

A day in the life of the Jewish settlement of Hebron, the tomb of Abraham and the stronghold of the Israeli religious right.A polyphonic tale of spirituality and violence. Guns'n'Moses is a documentary about the Israeli ultra nationalist-religious settlers and their ideology in their own words . Their accounts interweave to create a fabric in which stand up their concepts of time and space, their idea of identity and enemy, the Divine plan underlying the daily life and the same use of the violence. Modern prophets carrying assault rifles, hippies devoted to the Cabala and the American folk music, techno-dancers longing for the Redemption and mothers proud to raise the future soldiers of the Messiah. In their own word and through their own eyes.

This powerful film explores a settlement in Israel through the eyes of two charismatic individuals - an ex-terrorist and a hippy Jewish settler. Full of moments of pathos and streaked with dark humour, this thought-provoking documentary reflects the animosity and tensions bubbling under the surface in the towns which host settlements.

A portrait of one of the hot-spots of the Westbank. You will never get as close to the main obstacle of the Palestinian-Israeli contemporary peace process.

Palestinians and Israelis pursue conflicting visions of justice in the West Bank, zeroing in on the explosive issue of the Israeli settlements: its protagonists are both Israeli settlers and the Palestinians and Israelis who oppose them.