Illegal settlement. Now tax free!
February 7, 2011 11:37 AM Subscribe
Louis Theroux: The Ultra Zionists Louis Theroux catches Daniel Luria, founder of Ateret Cohanim, a tax-exempt US charity, illegally seizing an apartment complex -- and the tenant's property -- in East Jerusalem. This is not the only time they've been caught doing so. Ateret Cohanim is best known for illegally occupying Beit Yonatan, which the Mayor of Jerusalem has refused to evacuate for years, despite an Israeli Supreme Court order. Ateret Cohanim was recently involved in the destruction of the Shepard Hotel, an illegally seized residence "purchased" by Irving Moskowitz, a neoconservative US billionaire. This provoked a rare response from the US government. The entirety of "The Ultra Zionists" is available online.
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Watched this the other night, and while not particularly enamoured of Theroux's style thought it worked well here: letting his respondents speak was plenty enough to make fully clear the colonial mindset involved.
Not sure you could go as far as to say he 'caught' Ateret Cohanim in illegal practices - the signs all pointed to that being the case but IIRC we only had the refusal of their spokesperson to answer questions of the subject and the suspicions/experience in previous cases of Palestinian residents to go on. Good enough for me but probably no a court of law and I presume that's the plan.
posted by Abiezer at 12:01 PM on February 7, 2011
Not sure you could go as far as to say he 'caught' Ateret Cohanim in illegal practices - the signs all pointed to that being the case but IIRC we only had the refusal of their spokesperson to answer questions of the subject and the suspicions/experience in previous cases of Palestinian residents to go on. Good enough for me but probably no a court of law and I presume that's the plan.
posted by Abiezer at 12:01 PM on February 7, 2011
This looks fascinating. I know what I'll be watching after work. Thanks.
posted by Amanojaku at 12:03 PM on February 7, 2011
posted by Amanojaku at 12:03 PM on February 7, 2011
I'm a big Louis Theroux fan and didn't know this existed, so thanks!
posted by aganders3 at 12:05 PM on February 7, 2011
posted by aganders3 at 12:05 PM on February 7, 2011
Not sure you could go as far as to say he 'caught' Ateret Cohanim in illegal practices - the signs all pointed to that being the case but IIRC we only had the refusal of their spokesperson to answer questions of the subject and the suspicions/experience in previous cases of Palestinian residents to go on.
Having watched the documentary, I thought the implication was that Palestinian residents wanting to sell up need a cover story so their friends and family don't know that they sold to Jews. They said the family snuck out at night, then their cover story was that they had been away at a wedding when their house was seized.
posted by RokkitNite at 12:19 PM on February 7, 2011
Having watched the documentary, I thought the implication was that Palestinian residents wanting to sell up need a cover story so their friends and family don't know that they sold to Jews. They said the family snuck out at night, then their cover story was that they had been away at a wedding when their house was seized.
posted by RokkitNite at 12:19 PM on February 7, 2011
That sounds more like it, RokkitNite. Theroux didn't pursue it beyond the Ateret Cohanim bloke's version that you set out as it's not his style of interviewing.
posted by Abiezer at 12:28 PM on February 7, 2011
posted by Abiezer at 12:28 PM on February 7, 2011
Thanks for posting this, I am actually a fan of Theroux's hands off style.
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 12:30 PM on February 7, 2011
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 12:30 PM on February 7, 2011
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