WHEN A HALF STORY BECOMES THE WHOLE STORY

Louis Theroux has made a career out of playing the wide-eyed wanderer — the curious Brit bumbling into strange worlds and asking simple, devastating questions.

But in The Settlers, his latest BBC documentary about Israelis living in Judea and Samaria, he drops the act.

From the very first frame, it’s evident that Louis isn’t there to explore. He’s there to confirm what he already believes.

It’s confirmation bias — on amphetamines.

The Jewish claim to the Land of Israel? Absurd, at best.

The Arab demand that Palestine must be Judenrein? Perfectly understandable. Totally reasonable.

Welcome to journalism, 2025!

Ancient History? What Ancient History?

You could watch The Settlers five times over and never guess that the Jewish historical connection to places like Hebron, Shechem (Nablus), or Bet El — cities where Jewish life thrived long before England was even called England — is legitimate.

In Theroux’s telling, the settlers are bizarre fanatics clinging to ancient fairy tales, dragging modern Israel into endless conflict because of dusty old myths.

It’s a neat trick: erase the Jewish story, sidestep Jewish history, and suddenly the Jewish presence and love for the Land of Israel looks like postmodern colonialism.

If history only started in 1948 — or 1967 — suddenly Israel becomes the villain.

Theroux isn’t just questioning the settlers’ ideology. He’s questioning whether Jews have any legitimate claim to the land at all — without ever quite saying it out loud. Instead, he raises an eyebrow here, flashes a skeptical smile there, and lets the disdain drip gently into the audience’s mind.

It’s subtle. It’s clever. And it’s completely dishonest.

The Missing Half of the Story

But Theroux’s biggest sleight of hand isn’t what he shows. It’s what he doesn’t show.

Nowhere does he mention that under Palestinian Authority control, cities like Ramallah and Bethlehem are proudly Jew-free.

Nowhere does he ask why Palestinian leaders insist that any future Palestine must be Judenrein — why even the possibility of a Jew living among them would be treated as an unforgivable crime.

Imagine if a Western government declared that no Muslims could live within its borders.

Imagine if any nation proudly announced it would be “Christian-only” — no minorities allowed, no outsiders tolerated.

It would be called apartheid, bigotry, racism — and rightly so.

But when Palestinian leaders say it about Jews, Theroux doesn’t bat an eyelid. In fact, he doesn’t even bring it up.

Apparently, the only presence that’s ever a problem — anywhere in ancient Israel — is Jewish presence.

The Asymmetry No One Talks About

The settlers’ “crime,” in Theroux’s worldview, is that they exist.

Meanwhile, Palestinian demands for a Jew-free state are just a backdrop, not worth mentioning.

In Theroux’s world, building a Jewish home in Hebron is an act of aggression. But forbidding Jews from even visiting Ramallah is… unremarkable.

If you start by assuming that Jews have no right to be there, then sure — settlers look extreme, provocative, even cruel. But that starting point isn’t a neutral fact. It’s a loaded political choice.

It’s bias, pure and simple, even if it’s dressed up in the language of curiosity.

Louis’s World and the Real One

In the real world, Jews have lived, prayed, fought, and died in Judea and Samaria for thousands of years. They didn’t just show up in 1967. And they certainly didn’t invent their history to spite anyone. They came back because it was always home.

In the real world, the greatest obstacle to peace has never been Jewish stubbornness — it’s been the chronic Arab refusal to accept any Jewish presence as the sovereign owners of their ancestral homeland, on any part of the land, within any borders.

From 1947 to 1967, and right through until today, that same refusal remains the core issue.

But one thing is for sure – you wouldn’t know any of that from Theroux’s documentary. Watching The Settlers, you’d think the whole problem started when some fanatical religious Jews decided to plant vineyards near Shiloh.

Conclusion: When the Questions Are Already Answered

Louis Theroux is at his best when he’s genuinely curious. In The Settlers, he’s not. He has decided who the good guys are. And he “knows” who the bad guys are. His job, as he sees it, is just to film enough to prove it.

A serious journalist would have asked the real questions.
Why are Jews so determined to live in Hebron?
Why must Palestinian-controlled areas be Judenrein?
Why is Jewish love for the Land of Israel always framed as extremism, while Arab exclusion of Jews is treated as normal, even virtuous?

But that would require real curiosity — and a willingness to confront some very uncomfortable (for him) truths. Much easier, it seems, to stick with the story everyone already wants to hear.