Latest / The Fourcast / Oscar-winning director: West Bank situation 'escalating' after friend shot dead

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Oscar-winning director: West Bank situation 'escalating' after friend shot dead · The Fourcast

• 0:00
  I can't really believe that Alda was shot Do.
• 0:02
  You think that getting the Oscar has made any difference at all?
• 0:06
  No, not on the ground. The international community is
• 0:08
  so late, even France now announcing that it will
• 0:11
  recognize the state of Palestine, UK.
• 0:13
  But on the ground the annexation is happening do.
• 0:15
  You think there's a possibility that Trump might actually,
• 0:18
  against many expectations, bring about peace in the Middle East?
• 0:21
  This war can stop tomorrow now if Trump decide really to stop
• 0:25
  it. Because this jets that bombing
• 0:28
  Gaza is made at the US, this bomb bombs are made in the US.
• 0:31
  So if they want to end it, they can do it very easily.
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  But I don't believe that is America want to stop this
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  genocide. Hello and welcome to the
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  forecast. The world's eyes are on Gaza as
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  the NK faces mass starvation. But the war there is also
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  emboldening. Israeli settlers in the occupied
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  West Bank, or De Hathalin, A Palestinian teacher and
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  activist, campaigned against illegal Israeli settlements and
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  settler violence. He also helped to make this
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  year's Oscar winning film No Other Land, which documents
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  Israeli attacks on the Palestinian community of Masafa
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  Riata. It was there that he was shot
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  dead, reportedly after a confrontation between villagers
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  and settlers who were using a bulldozer to destroy property.
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  An extremist settler previously sanctioned by the US has been
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  arrested Around 1000 Palestinians have reportedly
• 1:25
  been killed in the West Bank in the last two years and made an
• 1:28
  increasing wave of settler and Israeli military violence.
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  Well, joining me now is the Palestinian film maker Basil
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  Adra. He Co wrote and Co directed No
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  Other Land and was a friend of Ode.
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  Thanks for coming on the programme.
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  Let's start first of all with Ode himself.
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  What was he like your friend? Roda was a very, very close
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  friend to us. He was an activist, he was a
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  father and English teacher teaching the students of the
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  community. He was the one that really for
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  for years supporting in nonviolent protests against the
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  occupation, against the settlers, against the military,
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  demolishing his community and the other communities in
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  Mesafriata. He helped welcoming solidarity
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  activists from UK, from the US, from all over the world who come
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  in solidarity to stay in his village and in other villages in
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  Mesafriata. He was the person that gathered
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  us as a Palestinian activist in the hall moments to give us very
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  small parties like BBQ like Together for a Cafe and to laugh
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  when we had harsh time. Our loss is really, really big.
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  Our hearts are break. We are not believing that he's
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  gone in this settler bullet. Your hearts must be broken.
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  Yeah, we, we're really like, we're really not believing that
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  like his body's still captured by the by the Israelis today.
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  They, the army invaded the mourn tent that his family and us
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  established in his in his in at his home.
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  They forced us all to leave solidarity activists,
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  journalists and the Palestinians who gathered there.
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  They used stun grenades to chase everybody away and to only allow
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  the the that bulldozer that was yesterday there to come and to
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  continue the the work at Elders Family Land.
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  And so the reason they gave for, you know, for, for ending the
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  the morning tent and the meeting was that it was illegal or an
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  illegal gathering. What?
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  What was the reason they gave you?
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  You know, everything here where I live is done by military, by
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  military orders, like the law is, is is set up by Israeli
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  occupation military. So the commander can decide to
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  take my home now and to say it's for for security purpose.
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  And that would be legal in their in their hands because we live
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  under military control. This is what means it's
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  apartheid. Like I can't appeal even to a
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  court for that. I can't protest, I can't reject.
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  And this is what happened there. They said it's closed military
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  area, journalist can't be there. Solidarity activist me can't be
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  there because I'm from different village, but the settlers can be
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  there. So this is this is, this is the
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  law here. And the settlers are governed by
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  civilian law, including the man who allegedly shot your friend,
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  And you are governed by military law because of the occupation.
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  Yeah, So that's the settler that shot shot out yesterday.
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  He was released today in a in a in Israeli civil court, in
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  apartheid court. But 5 from 5 people from Alder's
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  family are still in jail. They were arrested yesterday,
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  abducted by the military. They're still in in jail and
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  they were like postponed their detention in a military court.
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  So here here. Why are they being held under?
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  Under what charges are they being held?
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  They, they claim that they, they, the claims are that they
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  attacked the, the, the attacked the settler and they like throw
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  stones. And so for that they are held in
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  in in a military jail and brought in front of a military
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  court. But the settler who shot Alda to
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  to death is brought in in front of civil court and they decide
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  to release him. Right.
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  And apparently he's under house arrest now.
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  We're never going to gain any justice in in front of Israeli
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  courts because all settlers, their courts, army, police are
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  all has one goal, which is to displace us from our land,
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  whether to destroy our homes or schools infrastructure that it's
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  a policy by the Israeli army or the settlers violence which is
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  torturing our homes, burning our crops, building illegal outposts
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  and settlements and the crimes like killing our friend Alda.
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  It all has one goal, which is to ethnic cleansing us from our our
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  homeland and to an exit. And they don't hide it.
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  Israeli cabinet member are saying it out loud and that this
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  is this is what they are doing here.
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  And it's, it's, it's an Israeli broadcasts like this discussion.
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  And do the Palestinians who are targeted by the settlers, and of
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  course the numbers of those targeted have gone up
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  exponentially since October the 7th, do they ever get justice?
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  As I said, we never gain justice from Israeli, from Israeli
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  courts. This this settlers are are
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  committing these crimes. These crimes are a state policy.
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  It's not isolated crimes happening here and there.
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  You see here on the ground very clear how settlers are deciding
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  for the police and the army to to what to do on the ground.
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  This is happening all the time. You know that the settlers tell
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  the soldiers what to do exactly to arrest who and to close what
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  and what to do on the ground. This is for us if you're we're
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  on the ground and this is we see it in very clear.
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  And the IDF would obviously deny that.
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  They would say that they are in charge, but you're saying that
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  it's the settlers who are in charge.
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  It's, it's, it's not, it's not true.
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  I mean, it's that there's really occupation like by its military,
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  by its police, as I said, by its court has, has the power, but
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  the actual power on the ground, it's in the, you can see it's in
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  the hand of Smothrich and Bengveer and others whose
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  settlers now, now they're elected and they're like
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  representing the state of Israel.
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  They are in the parliament and they're deciding the laws.
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  So they are settlers. They're just like they, they
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  were also facing some charges in the past committing violence
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  again against Palestinians. And now they became the one
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  that's making this decision. So this is how you can see that
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  the whole policy is is is is like is done by this like by
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  this settlers. And what do you think the idea
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  is here? Is the idea to render any kind
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  of Palestinian state unviable impossible?
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  Definitely, yeah, they're saying it actually where I live in is
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  Area C, which is a 60% of the West Bank.
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  And and this is where there's really like settlers, soldiers,
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  violence mainly like and mostly committed, which is to destroy
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  Palestinian villages and to expand more to expand more
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  settlements and to to create more illegal outpost farms for
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  the settlers. With the expansion of the
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  settlements in general happening, which is, yeah, to
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  prevent future Palestinian independent state.
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  And unfortunately, the international community is so
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  late even in France now announcing that it will
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  recognize the state of Palestine.
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  UK thinking about it. But on the ground the annexation
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  is happening because settlers and as I say that the state of
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  Israel is annexing more and more of our land by expanding their
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  settlements and outposts and like settlers projects in
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  general and meantime destroying more and more Palestinian
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  villages or Palestinians are fleeing from their land due to a
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  settlers like bogroms and attacks.
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  So even if Britain, let's say, were to recognize the
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  Palestinian state and other European countries, you know, do
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  the same thing. I know the Norwegians have done
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  it, the Irish have done it, the Spaniards have done it.
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  But if you get a Palestinian state recognised, do you think
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  that might make any difference or at all to your future and
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  your family's future? Yeah, yes, it's important, but
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  it can't. But not alone it should, it
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  should pay consequences for it's crimes for continue continuing
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  the occupation. Now there is AICG ruling that
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  the whole Israeli occupation is illegal.
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  The existence of Israeli military settlements here in the
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  West Bank is illegal. And now it's the turn to the
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  international community to put serious pressure and actions on
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  the Israeli government to end this and to stop that.
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  Israel can't commit those crimes against us and having normal
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  relationship with the UK. UK markets can't be so far
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  opened for the settlers like products.
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  It's Auk airports should not be open for the settle that shot my
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  friend yesterday and that the whole 700,000 settle that
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  illegally and criminally living here in the West Bank.
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  Yes, recognize the state of Palestine, but meanwhile we need
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  serious actions against the state of Israel to put an end
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  for it occupation and apartheid and leave us alone.
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  I mean, the two cabinet ministers in the Israeli cabinet
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  who are settlers, you know, from the far right, they have been
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  sanctioned by the UK government already, although obviously we
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  don't know what difference that will make.
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  I just wonder whether you think that actually the key, as ever,
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  lies with Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is quite
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  confusing because on one hand, he's very supportive of the
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  Israeli government. On the other hand, he's been
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  saying recently that, you know, that every, every morsel of food
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  age should get into Gaza. And he's condemned some of the
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  violence. So where do you see Trump's role
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  in all this? I don't think there is any time
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  more for like condemnations would not help anything.
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  There should be actions that Trump and the US administration
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  carry a lot of the crimes of the Israeli settlers or governments
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  that's happening in Gaza or the West Bank, for example.
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  The settler that shot my friend out there yesterday were sanched
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  by UK and by the US, especially by like Biden administration and
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  the Trump removed the sanctions on, on, on this sector and all
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  settlers that that were that were sanched.
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  And this is a sign from Trump and his position to support this
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  settlers and this settlements project in the West Bank.
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  So the the US should stop playing this policy of
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  supporting settlers and settlements.
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  We see their ambassador to, to Israel how he's supporting
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  settlers and settlements. And this is this is a state
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  policy by by the US to support this criminal settlers.
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  But I mean, is, you know, American public opinion is
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  turning against Israel's war on Gaza.
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  European public opinion has turned against Israel's war on
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  Gaza. We know that Donald Trump is
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  desperate to get the Nobel Peace Prize, and he may love that idea
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  more than he likes or respects Prime Minister Netanyahu.
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  So despite everything you've said, do you think there's a
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  possibility that Trump might actually, against many
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  expectations, bring about peace in the Middle East?
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  Listen, this war can stop tomorrow now if Trump decide
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  really to stop it, because this is this jets that bombing Gaza,
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  it's made at the US, this bombs are made in the US.
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  The, the, the, the Americans are taxpayers are paying for this
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  war. US foreign policy is supporting
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  this war and we saw it many times using the veto against
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  against the against the ceasefire.
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  So I don't believe any any other things that they can't stop it.
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  They can't stop it if they if they want.
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  For me, I believe that this is AUS war as it is Israel
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  genocide. So if they want to to to to end
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  it, they can do it very easily. But I don't believe that is
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  America want to stop this genocide.
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  The film that you made with Yuval Abraham, who is of course
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  Israeli, was very powerful. No other land.
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  It won the Oscar this year. You gave a very powerful speech,
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  as did Yuval, you know, talking about some of the things that
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  we've just talked about. Do you think that getting the
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  Oscar has made any difference at all?
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  No, not on the ground as as as you said, this brought more
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  public opinion and this made more people to understand.
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  This made the circle of people who doesn't know about what's
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  happening here wider. People can learn more about what
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  it look like to live under the occupation under apartheid
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  system. So it's it's succeeded like in
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  the in the Oscar and, and in the festivals in general.
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  But on the ground, as you, as you can see, situation is
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  escalating and things going very fast to worse and worse.
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  And as I said, only like decision makers around the
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  world, like in UK and the US, all Israel allies should take
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  serious actions to stop this. There's a daily killing of
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  Palestinians in Gaza and there is daily crimes committed either
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  by Israeli settlers or soldiers in the West Bank and this is
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  really need to stop. Your friend Aldo, who was
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  killed, was of course had a very prominent role to play in the
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  documentary that you made. Are you afraid that you yourself
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  have now got a target on your head as a result of what you've
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  been doing? Living, living here as a
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  Palestinian and this situation, I think all of us has, has this
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  fear because we're living in, as I said, in everyday there is,
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  there is something going on either by soldiers or by, by
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  settlers. Our homes got annual invades by
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  Israeli soldiers. Our communities got like also
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  invades and attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers together.
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  So there is a there is a fear all the time on our life and
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  then our families and then our our friends.
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  Like until today, I couldn't until now.
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  I can't really believe that Aldo was shot and murdered in in the
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  cold blood. Like he was just like, like I
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  really can't believe this. And the way that the soul like I
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  went there and the soldiers were like exposing their, their hate
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  and the racism and they were saying to us, we don't see you
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  as a human beings. 2 soldiers there said to my friend that
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  they when he when he told them that the settler shot a man in
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  this village, they they said like, I wish it was me like the
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  soldiers. I mean, this is the situation
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  where we're living at and this is has have to stop.
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  The occupation has been going on for decades.
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  The kind of things that you've been describing have been going
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  on for decades. Do you think that October the
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  7th and Hamas have set back the Palestinian cause significantly
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  by their actions? Well, unfortunately I blame the
• 16:33
  international community more to be honest, because Palestinian
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  Authority, like PLO, has laid down their arms and the 90s has
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  signed an agreement by a pressure of Europe and the US
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  together and were promised to get a state and were promised
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  that the occupation will come to an end.
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  But none of that happened. Palestinian civil society is
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  designated as a terrorist. Organizations asked if we are
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  banned for protests like nonviolent protests for sure to
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  build our homes. We got attacked, we got killed
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  international community long time ago should put pressure on
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  Israel and should should should have been end this suffering and
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  should have been end the expansion and the building of
• 17:16
  illegal settlements on the in the in the West Bank to reach a
• 17:19
  day like October 7th or that the day that we're living today.
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  But before October the 7th, you know, there were quite a few
• 17:27
  Israeli citizens who were on the side of Palestinians who wanted
• 17:31
  A2 state solution. And that number has decreased as
• 17:35
  far as I'm concerned. You know, that's my impression
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  anyway. That number of Israelis who want
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  to have, you know, live side by side with Palestinians has
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  decreased dramatically since October the 7th.
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  Until today, there are Israeli amazing activist friends who who
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  comes here to, to support, to, to support us and to stand
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  against the, the apartheid, against the occupation, to
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  oppose this, this policies. But I don't I really don't that
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  much agree with you because Israel, the Israeli majority
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  voted, as I said, for the far right wing radical government to
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  represent them. Smote rich being we're Swiss to
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  go. These are settlers known as a
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  violent settlers and they were elected two years, I think
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  before October 7th. So the Israeli, Israeli public
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  mostly do not see us living here like the people in in Tel Aviv
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  or other cities mostly do not see us here as a Palestinians do
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  not recognize the suffering that we suffer from, from their
• 18:38
  policies, from their government, from their army, from the
• 18:40
  settlers that that living here. So I, I don't think I don't
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  think that is like will ever we will have a solution just
• 18:51
  because Israelis will change their minds.
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  It's there's no time to wait even for that.
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  I as I said as I and back to say that if there is a hope to end
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  this, it's international community to really boot serious
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  actions out there to stop this. Just one final brief question.
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  When you gave your Oscar speech, you said that you hope that your
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  your daughter was then only two months old, would not suffer the
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  same kind of consequences, the same life that you're living
• 19:20
  through right now. Do you really think that she
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  will have a different life to yours?
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  Briefly. I hope, I hope, I hope, I really
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  hope. I pray for that.
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  I pray for elders kids also the three, three amazing kids that
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  they will grow up in in a better life and they will have good
• 19:35
  future not to suffer as the father were were born and killed
• 19:40
  lived all his life and their suffering over the occupation of
• 19:43
  settlers attacks. And I really hope for these kids
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  to grow up in a in a different conditions and to have a better
• 19:50
  future. And this suffering, this killing
• 19:54
  of, of Palestinians, of will will end.
• 19:57
  OK, Basil Aldra, thank you very much indeed for joining us on
• 20:01
  the forecast. Until next time, goodbye.