Ross Kemp Middle East: Gaza
Following on from his BAFTA-nominated reports documenting the post election turmoil in Kenya and from the front line in Helmand province Ross Kemp travels to Israel and Gaza to explore a conflict which shapes our world yet remains largely misunderstood.
With unprecedented access to all sides, this two-part series will offer insight into life in Gaza post Operation Cast Lead and detail what it’s like to live under the threat of terrorist attack in cities like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It explores the mindset of the men behind the violence, and highlights the experiences of those trapped in the middle.
The Middle East has been the centre of one of the world’s most bitter conflicts for decades, one that has cost tens of thousands of lives and forced millions to live in fear and misery. For more than half a century the world’s leaders have tried to forge a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, yet today the prospects are as remote as ever.
Ross Kemp comments: “I didn’t fully understand the situation in the Middle East before making these films and I think that’s the general feeling in this country. We’re making a programme for the person who leads a busy life and sees the conflict in the Middle East going on in the background, on the news, but doesn’t understand what it’s all about.”
The two-part series aims to explore the situation in the region at this point in time and hear from the people involved with and affected by the conflict.
Ross Kemp comments: “It’s the politicians and the extremists who are pushing the agenda. You don’t get to hear the voices of the average person on the street, whether it be in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, or whether it be in Gaza or Ramallah.”
The situation in Israel and Gaza is a dispute which affects the whole world, one that has divided communities and acted as a pre-cursor to acts of violence that have claimed thousands of lives. “Terrorism will not be defeated without peace in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine”, former Prime Minister Tony Blair told the US Congress 2003. “Here it is that the poison is incubated.”
Beginning his journey in Gaza, Ross meets the men behind the violence and the communities caught in the crossfire. In episode two, Ross travels to Israel and discovers a country divided, one that is surrounded by enemies and lives under the constant fear of attack from terrorist groups dedicated to its destruction.
“We spoke to people from Hamas and from the IDF, the Israeli Defence Force. We also heard from people on the streets. We spoke about the building of the wall around the West Bank, and about what it’s like to be under the blockade of Gaza.”
“When you go into Gaza you have your bags checked by a recognised terrorist organisation, Hamas. It’s a very odd situation. But they’re the legitimately elected government of Gaza. Only essential items are allowed to cross the border into Gaza at the moment, such as nappies, milk and fruit.”
This has not stopped the trade in other items getting into Gaza. “All the expensive goods are getting into the country via an illegal black market. These items are taken through tunnels from Egypt, it’s really dangerous. I went down one of the tunnels before it was even finished, there was a bloke still digging, scrabbling away on his hands and knees under some scaffolding. It was shocking to see.”
During another scene in the Gaza film, Ross is taken to meet a group of Palestinian extremists: “We met an extreme group called al-Quds Brigade, a military wing of Islamic Jihad who are a splinter group that don’t believe Hamas is extreme enough. They’ve committed numerous suicide attacks and rocket attacks into Israel.”
Ross also visits Gaza Community Mental Health Project to visit young Palestinian children who have lost family members to the violence.
“Nearly 1,400 Palestinian people were killed during Operation Cast Lead*. We visited a psychiatric hospital in Gaza that cared for young children who had been orphaned by the violence. To hear them talk about their experiences losing loved ones was intensely powerful. Some of the children we met witnessed their whole family being killed. When you hear children talk about pulling out dismembered members of their family out of the rubble it’s tough, emotional stuff.”
Ross also interviews John Ging, Director of Operations, Gaza, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to discuss how the situation in Gaza has intensified following Operation Cast Lead*.
The second film focuses on Israel and shows how the ordinary citizens of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv live with the constant threat of terror. Ross meets with families who have lost children to the conflict, journalists who have followed the evolving conflict and politicians who wish to end the suffering and violence using diplomatic means.
Ross Kemp comments: “The people of Israel, especially in places like Sderot can be under a very short warning of a rocket attack. And they have to live with that everyday. When those rockets land, they take kids’ legs off.”
Ross also meets groups and settlers who believe that Israel should adopt more extreme policies and expand its occupied territories. Many follow former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s statement – “Everybody has to move, run and grab as many hilltops as they can to enlarge the settlements because everything we take now will stay ours… Everything we don’t grab will go to them.” to the letter and occupy land in the West Bank in a move that attracts criticism as contrary to international law.
“It is such a sensitive and provocative issue. If we’ve done our job correctly, we’ve made an honest documentary that’s an observation of the situation in the Middle East.”
CELIA TAYLOR, Commissioning Editor, Factual and Features, Sky1 HD, Sky1, Sky2, Sky3 comments: “Once again Ross Kemp promises to take us beyond the headlines and get to the heart of what is really going on. By talking to those involved from both sides of the conflict Ross will allow us to hear the extraordinary stories from the people that are at the heart of the conflict”.
ROSS KEMP MIDDLE EAST joins previous Ross Kemp series on Sky1 HD. ROSS KEMP ON GANGS was awarded the BAFTA for best factual series in 2007. The four-part series triumphed in a category that included Stephen Fry’s THE SECRET LIFE OF THE MANIC DEPRESSIVE, Bruce Parry’s TRIBE and WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
In January 2008, ROSS KEMP IN AFGHANISTAN was broadcast on Sky1 HD; a gritty account of soldiering on the front line it provided a unique perspective on what British troops face. The five-part series reached over two million viewers per episode and won the award for Best Multichannel programme at the Broadcast awards in 2008.
ROSS KEMP IN AFGHANISTAN along with ROSS KEMP: A KENYA SPECIAL were both nominated for BAFTA’s in 2009 in the factual series and current affairs categories respectively.
In October 2009 Ross was awarded GQ Magazine’s Television Man of the Year accolade and the Association of International Broadcaster (AIB) TV personality of the year award.
ROSS KEMP MIDDLE EAST – Sunday 3 Jan – Sky1/HD and Anytime – www.sky.com/rosskemp
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31 Responses to “Ross Kemp Middle East: Gaza”
- al-Quds Brigade, Director of Operations, Gaza, Gaza Community Mental Health Project, GQ Magazine's Television Man of the Year, Islamic Jihad, Jerusalem, John Ging, Palestinian, Prime Minister, Ross Kemp, ROSS KEMP IN AFGHANISTAN, ROSS KEMP MIDDLE EAST, Ross Kemp Middle East: Gaza, ROSS KEMP ON GANGS, ROSS KEMP: A KENYA SPECIAL, Tel Aviv, Tony Blair, TV personality of the year award, UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
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Ive been to israel and tried to visit ghaza to understand the conflict from both perspectives, i was clearly shocked at not being allowed in ghaza. The security from the IDF tells me they had to blackade gaza due to it 100% percent of the poplulation is terrorist. i mean how ignorant were they classifying evry citizen as mere terrorists. Hence the reason i realised when i visited the west bank how awful and lying our mass media is its truly disgraceful showing pro-israel perspectives and often neglectig the root cause.
The media is totally biased towards the israeli’s. I’ve also been to israel/occupied Palestine the number of checkpoints and the way the IDF treat ordinary Palestinians is truly despicable.
I’m glad that Ross has done this documentary because he will give a fair unbiased report. All the stuff you watch on the TV and especially the BBC is so anti Israel. I guess James Fallon wants to visit Iran and when he is kidnapped he might think why didn’t i take notice of the British governments warning of not visiting. It takes 2 to tango.
have you been to sderot Adam? have you seen how the israelis there have to live? do you think israelis like having to serve in the army for 3 years? do u think they enjoy having to deal with terrorists? if the terrorism stopped tomorrow the SECURITY wall and blockades would disappear. wake up. you only see what you want to see. very sad fact of life.
christian mouwes – you are an idiot.
well said Larry!
I’m sick of people describing this as a war.
This is a brutal occupation which is illegal under many international laws. Israel time and time again have completely ignored UN resolutions. It is illegal to prevent the free movement of peoples under occupation, yet the people of Gaza are completely cut off from the rest of the country, huge walls cutting them off from even their own land. They are being denied basic supplies and aid getting into there by the Israeli forces.
One year ago Israel systematically destroyed the infostructure of Gaza, insanely blowing up schools and hospitals and UN buildings used as shelters! Showering innocent people in white phosphorous!
On tv they say this is a ‘disproportionate reaction’ at worst, but how can you react to a situation you have caused in the first place? How can anyone justify the murder of innocent civilians as a response to some terrorists?? Thats like england bombing the hell out of the whole of Ireland in response to IRA attacks! absolutely insane..
Israel is attempting nothing short of ethnic cleansing.
Sounds liek a Zionist propaganda already. All the Palestinians under starvation are terrorists. Its apparently a “dispute” and not an illegal occupation and mass starvation. How nice of the Israelis to let “essentials” like milk and nappies in. But no food or medicine. Call this guy a journalist? He should have stuck to the bad acting in East Enders. What Zionazi propaganda! They are pratically killing a nation by mass starvation and stealing their fertile land to build illigal settlements for immigrants. This is genocide.
The settlers do not have to be there. They are on other people’s land by choice and illegally, what do they expect. Even a starving dying animal will fight back. There owuld be outrage if the a dog was starved in cage. Then again the Palestinians are vermin accordign to the Israelis.
Well said Danyip.. they would of course prefer for the Plestinians to simply give up and leave their land for the zioniazis to take over. If not they Israeli’s will bomb, burn, shoot, starve them to death – and claim that the poor and unarmed Israelis are goignt o be “run in ot the sea by the crazy nuke weilding Palestinians”. Its just that like the so many other brave indegnious people in history, the Palestinians will not die quietly.
If the Palestinians, in Gaza, genuinely desired peace, they would stop terrorist attacks on Israel. They would stop training their children to become martyrs. They would disown the terrorist leaders they slavishly follow, and they would stop crying ‘we are the victims’ as their leaders plan further outrageous attacks on Israeli civilians. The key to peace and coexistance is in their own hands and they should strive to use it.
it should have been danny dyer hosting: “this geezer’s propa nawty, he tried to blow himself up in a shopping mall.”
A typical ‘made for the West’ production, sanitised with a stereo-typical line of ‘Kemp style’ irreverent shock value questioning. “their planting an IED, i’ve seen what these things do in Afganistan”!
How about an Isreali Warship firing a missle onto a Gazan beach killing 9 members of the same family who were having a picnic? Kemp is a wannabe War-Hero who lacks the intellect to cover such a serious subject. Kemp stated, “1400 Palestinian people and 13 Isreali soldiers were killed during the conflict, he failed to mention that 8 of the 13 Isreali soldiers were killed by friendly fire and 400 out of the 1400 Palestinians killed were children. Theres a million and one things that should have been asked to give a true picture of the Palestinian struggle but instead Kemp went out of his way to imply that Hamas were holding the Gazan population to ransom and that they were no more than a criminal organisation (Kemp “Hamas tax the hard working tunnellers for bringing goods into Gaza!”) like it or not Hamas is a legitimately elected party. Kemp should have read the Goldstone Report and articles 3, 18, 32 & 33 of the Geneva convention during his research. I wouldnt be suprised if the programme was influenced in some way by the Isreali’s?
Quote By Sydney J Harris: “Terrorism is what we call the violence of the weak, and we condemn it, war is what we call the violence of the strong, and we glorify it”.
Niall Ginty – You are an intellectual light-weight, take your meds and get your nurse to put you to bed!
If you support the Palestinian side of this argument, you support terrorism.
Israel will continue to shove the Palestinians in a ghetto and treat them as terrorists for as long as the Palestinians support terrorism (Hamas) and not negotiations (fatah). Yes Israel do some bad things like the white phosphorous and the illegal occupation in a small part of east Jerusalem
But as for Israel as a whole the occupation is perfectly legal and the Jews have a right to be there.
James…apparently you don’t know anything.
Ross Kemp’s take on it all is probably pap; made for TV soft soap. The jews in the occupied Holy Land are the usual cry babies, the poor victims. Their army is a bunch of baby killers, parasitically dependent on the US for everything. If the Palestinian rockets are so dangerous why don’t the jews adopt them and give up their F16 American planes and their phospherous bombs and their sophisticated rocketry.
Go on youtube and see what they are like for yourself, pure evil. It is also said that all the citizens tax bailout money for the thieving banksters has gone to the so called land of Israel.
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James please stop with the lies, the middle east conflict has been going on for decades long before any terrorist acts were committed or hamas was elected, it is Israel who does not want peace as peace would mean following international laws which they do not want to do. The whole conflict is due to Israel’s occupation. There are a lot of decent people in Israel who want peace but the government listens to the Zionist extremists who believe god gave them all of Palestine and they have been stealing land from the Palestinians for decades breaking international law. People are waking up and realising what is going on now, arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli leaders who committed war crimes during operation cast lead and they have not travelled to the UK due to fear of being arrested and prosecuted.
Chris – Your childish response doesn’t answer any questions, but it does reveal your fear of having lost the argument.
Niall Ginty
It’s more than about time the UK saw the situation from Sderoti children’s perspective. It is Israel under siege – and that truth will out, truth will always be revealed and i hold my hat off to Ross Kemp and Sky here. I AM pleasantly surprised on Sky’s valuable contribution of reality here it’s the most objective the Israelis are going to get in today’s world where hate and extremism dictates. The worlds anti-Semites don’t like the truth stuffed in their faces, this is how we defeat them. THE TRUTH! Kudos to you Ross Kemp and Sky.
The UK is coming to realise that ‘GODS’ chosen ones? are not the innocent victims. The UK news on various channels have began to broadcast a number of reports on how Palestinians are being *displaced, *forced from their homes so Jewish families can move in, *killed by the IDF when innocently protesting, *Palestinian children escorted to school because Israelis feel the need to attack them, *land grabbing etc, etc. The media have also broadcast a report that the IDF in the 1990’s were involved in the killing of Palestinians so their organs could be harvested – events which have now been officially confirmed by the Israeli Government. “So yes, the tide is slowly turning against Israel as the UK & the world get to see the on-going brutal treatment of the Palestinians under the Israelis”.
It’s strange how 76% of Israelis think the Gaza conflict should have carried on regardless of the loss of innocent Palestinian life? which to me say’s a lot about the Israeli people as a devout nation? What does their faith represent or stand for if it’s ok to kill innocent men women & children for the sake of gaining more land? How can Israel brutalise another population in the same way their own nation was brutalised under the Nazis regime?
As the world begins to take notice of the plight of the Palestinians I think the American Government is starting to realise that it’s Middle East out-post namely (Israel) has ‘over time’ and at ‘great expense’ become an un-wieldy out of control ‘monster’.
I wonder how you would like the British government to respond to rockets being fired indiscriminately at the equivalent of Liverpool, Birmingham, London in their thousands on a daily basis over a 6 year period. Whilst most palestinians are victims the UN recognised terrorist group they have elected Hamas are aggressors. The Hamas charter calls upon the destruction of Israel as its main cause. Hamas uses its own women and children as shields and suicide bombers but you make no attempt to criticise hamas only Israel. Gaza also has a border with Egypt remember. hamas receive millions of pounds from the UN which should go to their people. instead only a small portion gets to their people as they sit their as fat cats with their people in poverty ordering Gazans to their deaths. You make no mention of this instead choosing to ignore and talk of Jewish conspracies and institutional evil which is unfounded antisemitism. You say the 6000+ rockets fired indiscriminately at Israel are somehow not potent and can be ignored. Try telling that to Israelis who have had their legs blown off and their children who live in fear still as they run daily to the bomb shelters.
John, the Great British public have been tested over a period of 25 years, of bombings, shootings and political murders. However the British nation did not collectively imprison the whole of N/Ireland behind a wall to make it an open air prison, we never destroyed the N/Ireland economy or psychologically terrified the population as a whole, starved or murdered innocent Irish Men Woman & Children! John save your empty rhetoric for the gullible, the facts speak for themselves:
As of April 27, 2008, a total of 13 Israelis have been killed by Qassam rockets since the attacks started in 2001, for every Israeli killed by Qassam rockets, Israel has killed about 100 Palestinians through various means.
If antisemitism is defending the “oppressed” then i am antisemetic and proud of it, and i don’t think i am alone. Your arguement’s don’t wash and world citizens are starting to question the brutal Israeli regime that even denies the Palestinian people amongst many other things, their basic human rights.
John i forgot to mention, terrorism can be ’state sponsored’ like Israel, in fact Israel was born out of terrorism remember the bombing of the King David Hotel (British Command HQ) in Jerusalem by militant Zionist group i.e (Israeli terrorists) killing 91 people?
Also you mention terrorism as being all bad? One of the most respected men in the world today was a terrorist (Nelson Mandela), Its strange how ‘resistance’ (rather than calling it terrorism) in all it’s crude and brutal forms is the weapon of the weak and is condemed, when pushing a button to fire expensive ’state of the art’ high explosive munitions designed to kill many is viewed as weapons of the strong and is glorified?
Sometimes the only option left by the opressed is crude forms of ressistance, remember one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.
In response to John’s post.
When someone states the truth about what Israel is doing to the palestinians (ethnic cleansing) that person is antisemitic, i am sorry i have nothing against the Jews, however i am antisionist.
What Israel is doing is exterminating another people, and it is getting away with it, the whole world is watching and not doing anything about it.
What are they waiting for? The UN is useless!!!!!
More bloodshed, more hatred, more comdemnations,
More suffering for what??????????????
[...] John you talk about the isrealis who are running to shelters afraid of getting killed, [...] what about the Palestinians who dont even have bomb shelters who are being shot at on a daily basis, not to mention the starvation and homeless numbers, it seems like your either a uneducated bum or a ignorant evil mofo who loves the zionists as your personal views are all portrayed by this evil organisation, [...] fill that empty head up with some brain molecules. {Some copy removed by admin…]
Overall, the combination of this documentary and the second documentary on the state of Israel does provide useful context for the uninformed viewer. They include many of the arguments used by both sides, like the one about there being plenty of goods in Gaza, Sderot is under seige etc. I think the casual viewer of Sky News, while reinforced in their belief that Hamas are the main problem in Gaza, will have to conclude that the Israelis are the ones with all the cards and in fact are the root of the problem.
The contrast between the damage in Sderot and the devastation in Gaza couldn’t be starker.
Don’t know where to start, but Ross Kemp lied at the beginning of part 1 when he said he wanted to understand the conflict. He certainly ignored the hardcore issues and meant to focus on secondary aspects of the conflict, which was created in the first place by the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Killing civilians is wrong, on both sides, but let me tell you: “suicide bombings” (started in the 90) is not the reason for the existence of the conflict nor the rockets (started after 2000).
The issue here is the injustice that the Palestinians had/have to live with for the past 60 years or so. As long as that justice is missing then I’m afraid there will be always blood, suffering on both side and propaganda films like Ross Kemp who is clearly trying to clean up Israel’s image in the west after it’s criminal war on the people of Gaza.
Just caught up with it last night, very balanced doc made for the people who don’t fully understand. Of course, theres a lot more to know, it didn’t go too deep but it showed the reason for the wall is a security measure and not a political one. This is a fact, and i am glad it was put across. When you have animals like the al Qud brigade and kids willing to get strapped up and blow themselves to kingdom come, there really is no argument. Peace will never come as long as Hamas are in power, it is a shame, as i want nothing more than for there to be a dual state solution, but who can blame Israeli civilians for not wanting to live in fear of the minority who seek revenge for government wrong-doings?
I have seen neither programme as I’m not prepared to pay a bean to Murdoch’s coffers. However, reading Sky’s previews of the series suggested to me that this was simply a Zionist-inspired PR campaign; the comments above do little to dispel that suspicion. Let me just throw one fact into the mix that I am sure that reknown investigative journalist will have failed to mention (let alone know). Sderot, this terrorised town of innocent, peace-loving civilians was originally the site of a Palestinian village, Najd, which was ethnically cleansed by Jewish soldiers in 1948, the Arab population being expelled to Gaza. Thereafter the village was levelled to the ground. Sderot was build over this site in 1951. So, when rockets are fired into Sderot from Gaza, the Gazans are firing rockets at the occupiers of their stolen land.
As a Neutral all my life, i have to admit the i dont know why i supported Israel. My eyes have been opened. Children witnessing death of parents is disguting. How can you take someones land because god told you so. For the sake of the argument i can imagine how a palestinian feels, i can’t imagine someone coming over to my house and taking or ocuupying it because god told them to. Gosh what a weak argument to steal land.
I can’t believe the amount of vicious ignorance there is here. So much moral and political righteousness, so much unsubstantiated dogma, paraded as knowledge of the facts.
Adam B says: “The media is totally biased towards the israeli’s.” If only. Provide us with say, ten examples then. Oh well, maybe one? This is why we need better coverage of the Middle East and the Israel/Palestine issue, because the media, generally, is so systematically biased against Israel. Especially the BBC. Read the dispatches by Tom Gross or Honest Reporting. Learn about the actual history of the problem and you will see.
But Dave says: “The whole conflict is due to Israel’s occupation.” How naive. The problem with Israel is not that it occupies anything but the space it – Israel itself – is on. The problem is its very existence and this has an ancient historical context which is lost on most. Everything else is merely secondary. The Jews were persecuted by the Romans, but have a special place in Islamic literature and theology: in the Qur’an and Hadith they are depicted as Islam’s eternal enemy. The Jews have been demonised since the inception of Islam, when Muhammad said `there shall not be two religions on the [Arabian] peninsula.’ Thus the problem is not `Zionism’ but rather an uncompromising ideology – Islam – which makes no room whatsoever for a Jewish state: especially in lands once conquered by Islam there can be no relenting in aspirations for a return to Islamic rule. Do I need to remind anyone that as soon as Israel was announced in 1948 it was invaded by 8 surrounding Arab states? All Arab animosity towards Israel stems from this historical non-acceptance of a Jewish state in what was once part of the Islamic Caliphate.
To get this crystal clear: Israel was not built on ’stolen land’. It was in fact built upon land which Jews have lived since the second millennium BC, under Joshua and King David. The Romans took over the Jewish kingdom following its revival in 168 BC, suppressing a number of revolts. `Palestine’ was the name given to the Kingdom of Judea by the Romans in order to de-Judaise it after the Philistines, earlier coastal inhabitants. There were no `Palestinians’. Later, in the 7th Century, the Jews who lived in Jericho included refugees from Muhammad’s bloody massacre and expulsion of the Jewish tribes living on the Arab peninsula. According to Islamic sources trusted by Muslims (Ibn Ishaq) the men of the Jewish Qurayzah tribe were mass murdered by decapitation and the women sold into slavery; other Jewish tribes including the Khaybar were driven from the peninsula to settle in modern-day Israel.
There were no people known as the “Palestinians” – they were, and are, simply Arabs. There was never a “Palestinian” state or homeland. This was acknowledged at the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations in Jerusalem, February 1919, which convened to choose “Palestinian” representatives for the Paris Peace Conference; they adopted following resolution: “We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds.” Furthermore, the statement from the representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations submitted to the General Assembly in May 1947 said that “Palestine was part of the Province of Syria” and that, “politically, the Arabs of Palestine were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity.” Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council a few years later “It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria.” The myth of the “Palestinians” is sadly a bi-product of Arab Muslim geopolitics, a tool to wrench land from the Jews, the hatred of which is deeply entrenched in Islamic scripture, law and culture.
Just in case there was some misunderstanding, DL Perry is mis-using history to state Zionists’ ‘ancestral’ claims to the land known as Palestine (I can’t say Israel, because Zionists are trying to claim the West Bank as well, which is not part of the UN agreement). This land has had many names – Canaan, Palestine, Outremar to name a few. It has been occupied by many forces – Romans, Arabs and Crusaders at different times. Zionists claim Jews were the first there, so they have the prime right to the area. But actually Jews drove out the original occupants – namely, Caananites – and seized the land for themselves. Their claims to be the first in the region are false, unless you include the first by conquest. In that case, any subsequent conquerors can claim an equal right. The business of being an ancestral homeland is based on nonsense. Whatever about the State of Israel as agreed under the UN in 1947, they have no business in the West Bank or expanding their borders in any other direction. Going all the way back to the mists of time won’t help their cause here.