0:00:15 > 0:00:19If you're going to film in here, just film from inside the car.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22It's not an area that you should be out walking about, here.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25This would still be an area that would have a lot of tension in it.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28In front of you is another peace wall.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31On the other side of that peace wall are the Catholics.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34And these houses here have been damaged by those Catholics,
0:00:34 > 0:00:36sort of driving the people out of this area.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40And why don't they knock these horrible houses down?
0:00:40 > 0:00:42They will be knocked down.
0:00:42 > 0:00:44If you look down this street here,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47- you'll see people are living in the middle of that.- Wow.
0:00:47 > 0:00:48And still, the flag's flying.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Again, it's the stubbornness. The act of defiance.
0:00:51 > 0:00:52That we don't give in.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54They don't like strangers.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57They don't like change. They feel that it's a threat.
0:00:57 > 0:00:58Even you, yourself,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01if somebody was talking to you and you're a Jew,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05They be very inclined to ask you, "Are you a Protestant Jew?"
0:01:05 > 0:01:09You know? And that's just the mentality that, you know?
0:01:09 > 0:01:13Listen, a guy came up to me and he said, "You're Israeli?"
0:01:13 > 0:01:16"You are Arabic Israeli, or Jewish Israeli?"
0:01:16 > 0:01:19And a guy said, "No, no, he's OK. He's a Protestant Israeli!"
0:01:19 > 0:01:21THEY LAUGH
0:01:32 > 0:01:36I grew up wanting to live in the UK, and always dreamt of Ireland.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40In the summer of 2009, my wife Julia, who I met in Tel Aviv
0:01:40 > 0:01:43when she was the British cultural attache in Israel,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45got a new posting in Northern Ireland.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Initially, I thought this was a dream come true.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55The perfect combination of my British-Irish childhood fantasy.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Moving to Belfast, as far away as you can get
0:01:58 > 0:02:01from the Israeli heat and the Jewish-Arabic conflict
0:02:01 > 0:02:02in the land of Israel.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13But, to my dismay, I was unable to escape this conflict.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Like in Israel, the scars of division are all around me.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18A huge peace wall divides the city.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23If that was not enough,
0:02:23 > 0:02:25I suddenly noticed that Catholics and Protestants
0:02:25 > 0:02:28seem to have embraced a new conflict,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30a conflict that I wanted to escape.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43Throughout 2,000 years of Jewish Diaspora,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47the Jews dreamt of returning to their homeland in Zion.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50The first Zionists started to arrive in Israel
0:02:50 > 0:02:51at the end of the 19th century,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55and were promised a national home by the British government.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59The arrival of Jewish Zionists led to violence clashes
0:02:59 > 0:03:02with the Arabic Muslim communities within the region.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06In November 1947, the United Nations had given approval
0:03:06 > 0:03:08for the Jews to establish a Jewish state.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11The Arab nations rejected this proposal
0:03:11 > 0:03:14and declared war on the new Israeli state.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Jewish forces won this war,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20and some 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled from the country.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25This was the catalyst for over 60 years of violent conflict
0:03:25 > 0:03:28between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30EXPLOSION
0:03:34 > 0:03:37The kind of person I am, I'm a sensitive guy.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40When I get into a certain place,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44I always try to understand the local psychology,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47the local way of thinking.
0:03:47 > 0:03:48And...
0:03:50 > 0:03:54..in Northern Ireland, I think it was far more interesting
0:03:54 > 0:03:58than other places, because I felt, and I feel,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02that it's got something to do with me personally,
0:04:02 > 0:04:07being an Israeli who ended up here in Northern Ireland.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10THEY SHOUT
0:04:12 > 0:04:15Nowhere is the Protestant support for Israel more evident
0:04:15 > 0:04:19than on Belfast's Sandy Row, that hosts two notorious bars -
0:04:19 > 0:04:22The Royal and the Rangers Supporters Club,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25that carried their politics into football.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29I was shot three times and blew up twice.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31- Wow.- They blew up my car.
0:04:31 > 0:04:35- I lost a child of five years of age.- Really?
0:04:35 > 0:04:37Aye. They blew my car up,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41they killed my child, and it turned me nasty.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43What you mean by, "turned you nasty?"
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Then I went for, ah...
0:04:46 > 0:04:48- Revenge?- Mmm-hmm.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Protestant loyalists, or Unionists,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56is one of the few communities in the Western world at the moment
0:04:56 > 0:04:59that sees the Israeli point of view.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Well, I can't speak for the Protestant community,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I can't speak for the Loyalist community.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07- I'm speaking from a personal point of view.- Sure.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08I am a Loyalist, and I am a Protestant,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and I can only speak from that point of view,
0:05:11 > 0:05:13and you're right in what you say.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15That the vast majority...
0:05:17 > 0:05:21..of that community can sympathise with Israel,
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and Israel is an example to the rest of the world.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30And I think all Israelis are brilliant people.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32And I love what they're doing.
0:05:32 > 0:05:33I love their stance.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39I'm a British citizen. My father fought to free...
0:05:39 > 0:05:43not only the Jews, to free everybody from the Nazis.
0:05:43 > 0:05:46FOOTBALL PLAYS ON TV
0:05:46 > 0:05:49THEY CHEER AND SHOUT
0:05:50 > 0:05:53THEY CELEBRATE GOAL
0:06:08 > 0:06:10You told me, "Listen, I would die for Israel."
0:06:10 > 0:06:13- I would die for Israel if it was needed.- Yeah?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16Yeah, I would die for Israel. Yeah. Not a problem.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17I would die for Ulster.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20But the only place I can put close to my heart would be Israel.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22You're an oppressed country.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24Nobody likes them, and nobody likes us.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30- He's a Muslim! - THEY SHOUT AND LAUGH
0:06:30 > 0:06:33- You hate Hamas?- I hate Hamas.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Blowing people up. Women, children. No good.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39And why do you hate them?
0:06:39 > 0:06:43Because they're blowing up bars, pubs, restaurants.
0:06:43 > 0:06:44They're no good. No good.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47Sending missiles over to Israel for nothing.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48Fuck them.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52# That I might see before I die
0:06:52 > 0:06:56# The Antrim glens
0:06:56 > 0:06:59# And the hills of County Down... #
0:06:59 > 0:07:01'The strange thing is,
0:07:01 > 0:07:03'that despite their great love for Israel,
0:07:03 > 0:07:07'that somehow comes from their far right tendencies,
0:07:07 > 0:07:11'their identification with British culture is something I admire,
0:07:11 > 0:07:12'because, as a teenager,
0:07:12 > 0:07:17'I was immersed in the '60s British subculture, the mods.'
0:07:17 > 0:07:23Most of the Western world is very critical about Israel at the moment.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25We understand the criticism you have received.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28You have received criticism you don't deserve,
0:07:28 > 0:07:31the same as the Protestant people of Northern Ireland.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34We receive criticism from all round the world not deserved to us.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36The world do not hear your point of view.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38The world hears Palestinians.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41- The Palestinian propaganda is better than yours.- Much better.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44Just as the Republican propaganda is better in Ireland.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47But that's the only thing that is better than us.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52# And come tell me, Sean O'Farrell
0:07:52 > 0:07:55# Tell my why you hurry so
0:07:55 > 0:07:58# Hush a bhuachaill, hush and listen
0:07:58 > 0:08:00# And his cheeks are all aglow
0:08:00 > 0:08:02# I bear orders from the captain
0:08:02 > 0:08:05# Get you ready quick and soon
0:08:05 > 0:08:07# For the pikes must be together
0:08:07 > 0:08:10# At the rising of the moon
0:08:10 > 0:08:12# At the rising of the moon
0:08:12 > 0:08:15# At the rising of the moon
0:08:15 > 0:08:17# Their pikes must be together
0:08:17 > 0:08:18# At the rising of the moon... #
0:08:18 > 0:08:22'Republican legends and the Irish struggle for independence
0:08:22 > 0:08:25'were also part of my life, because, as a youth,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27'I fell in love with The Pogues, the Dubliners,
0:08:27 > 0:08:30'Irish rebel music, and Irish culture in general.'
0:08:30 > 0:08:33# ..flew their own beloved green
0:08:33 > 0:08:35# Death to every foe and traitor
0:08:35 > 0:08:39# Whistle out the marching tune
0:08:39 > 0:08:42# And hoorah, me boys for freedom
0:08:42 > 0:08:46# 'Tis the rising of the moon. #
0:08:46 > 0:08:49THEY CHEER AND APPLAUD
0:08:49 > 0:08:51- Well done!- Thank you!
0:08:51 > 0:08:52- L'chaim!- L'chaim!
0:08:52 > 0:08:54L'chaim! Slainte!
0:08:54 > 0:08:56- Slainte!- Slainte!
0:08:56 > 0:09:00History is full of little ironies.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02You know, traditionally in Israel,
0:09:02 > 0:09:06especially in the Likud, and the right wing movement,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10there is a big total support towards Irish Republicanism.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15And Yitzhak Shamir, who was later Prime Minister,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18his nickname as the head of the Irgun
0:09:18 > 0:09:20was Michael, after Michael Collins.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23And all the Loyalists that I've met
0:09:23 > 0:09:27who wave Israeli flags in the neighbourhoods
0:09:27 > 0:09:32forget that in the '40s, the Israelis quite severely fought
0:09:32 > 0:09:36against the British occupation in Israel.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40HE PLAYS TRADITIONAL SONG
0:09:45 > 0:09:49How did you sought out to join the struggle, to join the..?
0:09:49 > 0:09:52It's not that I sought out to join. The conditions are there.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54We grew up with a sense from a very young age
0:09:54 > 0:09:57that there's something wrong with society.
0:09:57 > 0:09:58We were second-class citizens.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02You knew you weren't going to get a job in the shipyards.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04That the City Hall wasn't our City Hall.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06You hear, 4am, people's doors getting kicked down,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10your father's friends and neighbours being dragged from their homes,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12going to internment ships and internment camps.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15At a young age, it's very natural for us to say,
0:10:15 > 0:10:16"We've got to do something."
0:10:16 > 0:10:20We grew up in Christian families, good values, fine, normal young boys.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22And all of a sudden, within those couple of months,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25we're sitting in a room learning how to make bombs.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27That's not natural for 14- or 15-year-olds.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31We didn't fall out of a tree wanting to be urban guerrillas.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Nail-bombing, urban guerrillas.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35We were conditioned. It was the conditions.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38And when you look at Palestine, you look at the Gaza Strip,
0:10:38 > 0:10:40and you look at the West Bank,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43the densely populated areas, the sense of occupation...
0:10:43 > 0:10:45it's planting seeds all around.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52You know, the idea that someone is a second-class citizen
0:10:52 > 0:10:53in the land of their birth,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56people don't care whether they live or die.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And it creates that whole mentality then
0:10:59 > 0:11:03that gives rise to this notion of suicide bombing.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10THEY APPLAUD
0:11:20 > 0:11:22The 11th of July is the start
0:11:22 > 0:11:25of the most important part of Ulster Protestant culture.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Julia and I were invited to come along and witness the celebrations.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43It reminded me of the Jewish festival of Lag LaOmer,
0:11:43 > 0:11:45when bonfires are lit across the wall
0:11:45 > 0:11:48to symbolise the fighting Jewish spirit.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50CHEERING
0:11:53 > 0:11:54Like the Jewish festival,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57this could have been a nice, family night out,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00if it wasn't for the burning of Irish tricolours,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04Palestinian flags, and sometimes even pictures of the Pope.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07CHEERING
0:12:16 > 0:12:19WHISTLES AND DRUMS
0:12:24 > 0:12:28- MINISTER:- 'We pray it will be a day free from trouble
0:12:28 > 0:12:29'and violence of any kind.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32'So we would ask of the brethren and the bandsmen
0:12:32 > 0:12:35'not to do anything that will bring discredit
0:12:35 > 0:12:38'on the colours we wear or what we represent.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41'And so we pray the Lord that we will have a good day.'
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Let's just bow our heads in prayer now.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45We leave ourselves in your loving care.
0:12:45 > 0:12:46At the end of it all, Lord,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49we pray you will bring us back in safely. Amen.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55WHISTLES AND DRUMS
0:12:59 > 0:13:02'A friend of mine invited me to walk with them
0:13:02 > 0:13:04'on the 12th of July parade.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07'Given the fact that I loved the costumes, I said, "Why not?"
0:13:07 > 0:13:10'I would never get the chance to do it back at home.'
0:13:10 > 0:13:15So, if I wanted to join a lodge, how can I do that?
0:13:15 > 0:13:16You would have to, like,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18say, me and Sandy would have to say
0:13:18 > 0:13:21that we have known you for a couple of years
0:13:21 > 0:13:22and that you're a good guy.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25You're not...well, basically, you're not a Catholic.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32This colourful festival
0:13:32 > 0:13:35continues to cause tension amongst communities here
0:13:35 > 0:13:37and leads to serious fighting every year.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47To be honest, I cannot see what the fuss is all about.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49Perhaps my friend, Lolor,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52who is not a Protestant, would think differently.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56So, what you feel in a day like today?
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Do you oppose those parades?
0:14:01 > 0:14:05You think they don't have the right to parade? The Orangemen?
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Well, you see, they would say that it's part of their culture,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11and I would be the first person to say,
0:14:11 > 0:14:13if it's a respectful part of your culture,
0:14:13 > 0:14:15you're totally entitled to it.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17- OK.- You know?
0:14:17 > 0:14:20But there is an association with it.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22It's political?
0:14:22 > 0:14:26It has been that it was a symbol
0:14:26 > 0:14:29and a festival of oppression.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32You know, from my point of view,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35it was always an anti-Catholic festival.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40Funnily enough, I found quite a lot of my Catholic friends
0:14:40 > 0:14:46are quite interested in Jewish culture and Jewish history.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51- Very much.- Though, politically, they are anti-Israeli.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56- Or in some cases. - Erm...anti-Israeli?
0:14:57 > 0:15:00- Yeah.- The Catholic population at large?
0:15:00 > 0:15:02In Northern Ireland.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07I think they have difficulty
0:15:07 > 0:15:10with the sense of oppression of a minority,
0:15:10 > 0:15:13because that's what they are themselves.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- If that's what you mean.- Yeah.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17But it's too bold a statement
0:15:17 > 0:15:19to say that they're anti-Israeli, in my opinion.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Well, they are pro-Palestinian.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27- And therefore... - Yeah, that's too generalised too.
0:15:27 > 0:15:33They are against the oppression of the Palestinian state, I think.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Because they identify themselves
0:15:37 > 0:15:41with the notion of an oppressed people.
0:15:56 > 0:16:01Even in south Belfast, there is an area called the Holy Land.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05I seem to be constantly reminded I am never too far away from home.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08In fact, every month, local Palestinian activists
0:16:08 > 0:16:11hold a vigil of support outside Belfast City Hall.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16I'm very proud to be here today,
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and while we always talk about
0:16:18 > 0:16:22the Israeli atrocities towards the Palestinians,
0:16:22 > 0:16:24I also would like to take this moment
0:16:24 > 0:16:28to single out the individuals and the various groups in Israel
0:16:28 > 0:16:31that have stood tall for the Palestinians.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34They're a very, very loud voice in a big sea,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38and it's through them coming forward as well
0:16:38 > 0:16:42and them saying, "Enough is enough."
0:16:42 > 0:16:47I spoke to John Hurson, the founder of Gaza TV News, to find out more.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50The Jewish state is a racist state,
0:16:50 > 0:16:54because it's only designed and governed for Jews only.
0:16:54 > 0:16:55Judaism as a nation.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58To be a Jew, for me, is to be part of the Jewish nation.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01No, being Jewish is a religion. It's not a state.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03No, you can't tell me what I am!
0:17:03 > 0:17:06That's the biggest misconception out there.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09I mean, Judaism is not a state. It's a religion.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12- No, it's the only religion... - A religion can't be a state.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Judaism is the only religion that is both national and religious.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19- But how is it a nation? - What do you mean?
0:17:19 > 0:17:20It's never been a nation.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22So you believe that the idea
0:17:22 > 0:17:25of having a Zionist, Jewish state is a false idea?
0:17:25 > 0:17:30Totally. Because it's so prejudiced and so apartheid.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35I mean, we were all repulsed at apartheid South Africa,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38and the way that the blacks had to carry round little ID papers
0:17:38 > 0:17:40and what they had to go through.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Well, the Palestinians are worse off than that.
0:17:43 > 0:17:44One has to look at Gaza alone,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46with 1,400 people murdered in three weeks.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48That's state murder.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51So here you have these people that were under ferocious attack
0:17:51 > 0:17:52and they couldn't escape.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54There was nowhere to go.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58In Northern Ireland, there's a little area here called the Ards Peninsula,
0:17:58 > 0:17:59and it's around the same size as Gaza,
0:17:59 > 0:18:02so if you imagine all of the Northern Ireland population
0:18:02 > 0:18:04in that little area under attack,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07and they're locked up, and they can't get out,
0:18:07 > 0:18:11the siege, the naval blockade and round the borders...
0:18:11 > 0:18:13that was the one thing that got me.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Like, why can aid not get in to these people?
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Why can these people not get out?
0:18:19 > 0:18:21And that was the inhumane aspect of it.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25# Holy
0:18:25 > 0:18:28# Ho-ly
0:18:28 > 0:18:30# Holy
0:18:34 > 0:18:39# Is the Lord, our God
0:18:40 > 0:18:44# Oh, holy
0:18:45 > 0:18:48I received an e-mail in Hebrew from a man named Jim Clint,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51inviting me to a Friday night Shabbat service.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56The fact that someone from Northern Ireland
0:18:56 > 0:18:59wrote to me in Hebrew frightened me.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Perhaps as a result of my inbuilt Jewish paranoia.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Despite this, I travelled to
0:19:04 > 0:19:06the beautiful seaside town of Donaghadee.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13You guys come from a Protestant background. Most of you are?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Most often, but we wouldn't class ourselves...
0:19:16 > 0:19:19like, as I am now, I wouldn't class myself even Christian.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Even Protestant, Catholic.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23I'm just a believer.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Ani maamin beemuna shlemah. That's all I say.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28# Shabbat, shalom
0:19:28 > 0:19:32# Shabbat, shabbat, shabbat, shabbat, shalom... #
0:19:32 > 0:19:35We pray that...because we're commanded in the Tanakh,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38we're commanded to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41We pray for the protection of the borders of Israel,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43the protection of the soldiers,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46the police, you know, the authorities.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48# Od avinu chai
0:19:48 > 0:19:53# Od avinu, od avinu, od avinu chai
0:19:53 > 0:19:55# Shabbat Shalom
0:19:55 > 0:19:58# Shabbat Shalom
0:19:58 > 0:20:01# Shabbat, shabbat, shabbat, shabbat, shalom. #
0:20:01 > 0:20:06- Your biggest dream is to live in Israel.- Yeah.- And to be an Israeli citizen.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Now, we are sitting in this most beautiful place in the world
0:20:10 > 0:20:16and I really can't understand who would like to leave that thing
0:20:16 > 0:20:19for the heat of the Israeli desert.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22I don't know, Northern Ireland is nice
0:20:22 > 0:20:25and sometimes maybe I can't see the beauty.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27But for me, my heart is Jewish. I'm not Jewish.
0:20:27 > 0:20:30In my heart is Jewish.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Because of what I believe, you know this issue has done for me.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37SINGING IN YIDDISH
0:21:01 > 0:21:06I wonder how Rabbi Menachem Brackman, Rabbi of Belfast,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10feels about Northern Ireland's obsession with the Holy Land.
0:21:11 > 0:21:14In Belfast, the Palestinian flag is
0:21:14 > 0:21:17- because all the Catholics are the underdogs.- Yeah.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22- And the Israeli's flag is because they are the superior and able to control them.- Yes.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25Therefore it's not necessarily a love to Israel,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29it's just that they have sided with Israel, they've found
0:21:29 > 0:21:33another fight in another part of the world and have decided
0:21:33 > 0:21:36that in Israel... they are like the Israelis
0:21:36 > 0:21:38and they are like the Palestinians.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Do they really like Israel? I don't know.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44What do you feel when you see the Israeli flag flying next to
0:21:44 > 0:21:47the Union Jack and the Ulster flag?
0:21:47 > 0:21:51If they are safe neighbourhoods, they are safe neighbourhoods whatever they are flying.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54If they are not safe neighbourhoods...
0:21:55 > 0:21:59- ..then they're not safe neighbourhoods even if the Israeli flags are flying.- Yes.
0:21:59 > 0:22:04We met a lot of people from different Protestant sects
0:22:04 > 0:22:10and they love Judaism out of this radical Protestant belief.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12And you can find it here...
0:22:12 > 0:22:17As I said before, I'm very wary of that, very...
0:22:19 > 0:22:23..a bit scared and a bit admire it.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28I'm scared that their motives are not the right motives.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54There is a small but vibrant Jewish community here in Belfast.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Gordon McKnight a Protestant from Bangor,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04is just about to head to Miami to complete his conversion to Judaism.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10What do you feel when you see the Israeli flag
0:23:10 > 0:23:15being hoisted in different loyalist areas here in Northern Ireland?
0:23:15 > 0:23:20Do you share this kind of Protestant support of Israel?
0:23:20 > 0:23:24- Cos you do have a badge...- Yeah, I'd like to point to this badge.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27that you can get in some Union Jack shops.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29- I think that says it all, really.- OK.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34Whenever I see the Israeli flag being hoisted, anywhere really,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37I tend to feel an immense amount of pride.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40It's strange, I'm not an Israeli,
0:23:40 > 0:23:43but I actually feel more Israeli than anything.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46I feel more Israeli than British. It's a strange thing.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50And what you feel when you see the Palestinian flag being raised
0:23:50 > 0:23:54in nationalist and republican areas?
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Do you find it offensive?
0:23:57 > 0:24:02It does not conjure up feelings of warmth and affection.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04But offensive? Um...
0:24:04 > 0:24:11I don't know, I guess it makes me angry, but offended, I wouldn't...
0:24:11 > 0:24:13Why does it make you angry?
0:24:13 > 0:24:16It makes me angry in the sense that it is
0:24:16 > 0:24:20a way of denying Israel's right to exist.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22This is my take on it.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- Would you go and live in Judaea and Samaria, for example?- Er, yeah.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27In a settlement?
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Yes, I would call it a town, but you can call it a settlement.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33It's what most people call it.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38I was in Israel for Shavuot two years ago and we visited a town near Ariel.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43And I thought it was a shame that the Jewish people had to live surrounded
0:24:43 > 0:24:48by fences and protected by the Army, I thought it was very unfortunate.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59- SAT NAV:- 'Turn right, then take the second right.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07'Keep left.'
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I am on the road to visit my favourite Hebrew students,
0:25:11 > 0:25:15the Bingham sisters who have become sort of surrogate aunts to me
0:25:15 > 0:25:17here in Northern Ireland.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21So, what's written here?
0:25:21 > 0:25:24- BOTH: Shalom. - And today is?
0:25:24 > 0:25:25Shabbat. Shalom.
0:25:25 > 0:25:31And I think we can also do with some more everyday life
0:25:31 > 0:25:34for the next time you are in Israel.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37HE SPEAKS IN HEBREW
0:25:37 > 0:25:38Where do you live?
0:25:38 > 0:25:43SHE REPLIES IN HEBREW
0:25:43 > 0:25:45HE REPLIES IN HEBREW
0:25:45 > 0:25:47..You say?
0:25:47 > 0:25:48REPLIES IN HEBREW
0:25:48 > 0:25:50- Yes.- OK.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55You were telling us how you met Protestant and Catholics
0:25:55 > 0:25:59and prayed together for peace in Northern Ireland.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03- True.- Don't you want to choose an Arab spring together for peace in Israel?
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Israel is different from Northern Ireland.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11And it's the only verse in the Bible that says,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15"He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps."
0:26:15 > 0:26:17It doesn't say that about Northern Ireland,
0:26:17 > 0:26:19doesn't say it about any other country.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22So that is why I have such...
0:26:23 > 0:26:27I have such love for Israel, I have such love for the Jewish people.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Because God keeps his eye on them.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34- So you feel Jewish? - I do, I do, I really do.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Unfortunately, one little bit of me is gentile, unfortunately.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42This is what God said to Abraham.
0:26:42 > 0:26:48"Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house
0:26:48 > 0:26:50"to a land that I will show you,
0:26:50 > 0:26:52"and I will bless those who bless you."
0:26:52 > 0:26:57So I knew that those who bless Israel will be blessed.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01Nearly all my money from about the middle of 20s -
0:27:01 > 0:27:03and I'm going on to 62 -
0:27:03 > 0:27:07has been given to Israel and no other people.
0:27:07 > 0:27:15And the lady in the office has been saying that we had just been praying
0:27:15 > 0:27:18that people would actually support us
0:27:18 > 0:27:21and I rang her up the next day
0:27:21 > 0:27:26- and gave him a gift of... I think it was about £400.- Wow!
0:27:26 > 0:27:30You know, it's every so often... All my money's gone to Israel,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32to the Jewish people.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52I am one of the 320 million people living in the states of Europe,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56joined in economic and political union.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59I am one of the 60 million people living on the islands
0:27:59 > 0:28:02immediately west of the European peninsula.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05One of the six million people on the smaller of these islands.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Of the 1.5 million who inhabit the six north-eastern most counties
0:28:09 > 0:28:12of the historic nine-county province of Ulster that make up
0:28:12 > 0:28:16the administrative region of the United Kingdom known as Northern Ireland.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23With all the problems of identity and nationality,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27how can they identify so passionately
0:28:27 > 0:28:29with the Middle East conflict?
0:28:29 > 0:28:33What do you think is the psychology of all that?
0:28:35 > 0:28:37I think there are...
0:28:37 > 0:28:40First of all, I speak as someone whose member of Parliament
0:28:40 > 0:28:42when I was younger was...
0:28:42 > 0:28:44was someone who believed
0:28:44 > 0:28:48that the Protestants of Ulster were the lost tribe of Israel.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51Um, the Reverend Robert Bradford,
0:28:51 > 0:28:55and he was murdered, actually, in Finaghy, where I grew up.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57He was murdered by the IRA.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01And there has always been this need here
0:29:01 > 0:29:06for justification that there is such a thing as...
0:29:06 > 0:29:10the Irish people or the Northern Irish Protestants who are somehow...
0:29:10 > 0:29:12So you look for a lineage.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14And I think for the Northern Protestants,
0:29:14 > 0:29:20the attraction of the lost tribe identity is that it's a pure lineage.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22It's fu... It's mad.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26You know, the lost tribe thing, it's...it's mad.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28- So you don't feel... - But it's equally...
0:29:28 > 0:29:34I tell you, it's mad and its equally mad to walk into a community centre
0:29:34 > 0:29:37where an MP is conducting a surgery
0:29:37 > 0:29:40talking to constituents, and shoot him in the head.
0:29:40 > 0:29:41Yes.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51I am one of the people who voted for the Good Friday Agreement,
0:29:51 > 0:29:54aimed at bringing peace and stability to Northern Ireland,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57and one of the ones who worry that the agreement has made this
0:29:57 > 0:30:00a more divided place than ever to live in.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08I am one of the two people who will get out of bed
0:30:08 > 0:30:13to feed Marvin and Daisy Blur, the cats, in the morning.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17Correction, I am the only person.
0:30:20 > 0:30:22I remember when I was having conversations with people
0:30:22 > 0:30:24and they would say...
0:30:24 > 0:30:28the first thing they would tell you about someone was what their religion was.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30And you know, "This guy... nice fellow, Catholic."
0:30:30 > 0:30:34That's the way they would speak, you know, "very nice but Catholic."
0:30:34 > 0:30:37And I'm a Belfast person first and foremost.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41But I will happily say that I am British and that I'm Irish
0:30:41 > 0:30:43and I'm European.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46So you have all of those identities, then you have the other identities
0:30:46 > 0:30:49which are the identities you have chosen,
0:30:49 > 0:30:52the community of those whom you relate to,
0:30:52 > 0:30:55whether it's in terms of music, sport...
0:30:55 > 0:30:58all of these things just make you who you are.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00They make you who you are, you know.
0:31:16 > 0:31:22Instead of saying, "I hate Catholic" or "I hate Protestant",
0:31:22 > 0:31:26"I am a Unionist" or "I am a Republican",
0:31:26 > 0:31:30they say, "I support Palestine"
0:31:30 > 0:31:34or "I hate Palestine, I support Israel" or "I hate Israel."
0:31:34 > 0:31:38And I was trying even to think, could that thing happen in Israel?
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Would people in Israel or in Palestine choose
0:31:42 > 0:31:47somebody else's conflict in order to continue and hate each other?
0:31:49 > 0:31:52I don't know the answer, but I think not.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02READS IN HEBREW
0:32:09 > 0:32:15- Wow! So it happened. You are a full-on Jew.- Yes.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17So how do feel about it?
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Yeah, I'm delighted.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Yeah, it's... Everything feels different.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26You said that you would love to move to Israel and live,
0:32:26 > 0:32:31not necessarily in Israel, but in what most of the world regards as occupied territories.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35And you would be happy to live there as a settler.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38As Tesco say, "Every little helps," every extra person helps,
0:32:38 > 0:32:40every extra family helps.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43This is how we want to fulfil your Judaism?
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Well, the Arabs have only been there a very short period of time.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51And that is why I do not recognise the Palestinian people,
0:32:51 > 0:32:53nation, nothing.
0:32:53 > 0:32:58They are a political invention, invented after the 1967 war.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01But you, from Bangor,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05or somebody from South Africa or the United States,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08has more right on the land than they do?
0:33:08 > 0:33:11You don't find it a contradiction?
0:33:11 > 0:33:17You know, I can see why they would be upset, but you know...
0:33:17 > 0:33:21Upset? That's quite an understatement, upset.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24Yes, it's a bit of an understatement, perhaps,
0:33:24 > 0:33:30but my advice would be, you had a nice holiday, time to go home.
0:33:30 > 0:33:32That would be my advice.
0:33:32 > 0:33:36Gordon McKnight, who is now Avram ben Avraham,
0:33:36 > 0:33:41you who have just converted to Judaism, coming from Bangor,
0:33:41 > 0:33:47is entitled to sit in that land and they were there
0:33:47 > 0:33:49even - you claim three generations -
0:33:49 > 0:33:52they would claim it a bit more, they should go?
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Because they are on vacation. I mean, it actually saddens me
0:33:55 > 0:33:58that this is your understanding of Judaism.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00And this is your understanding
0:34:00 > 0:34:02of how you want to help the Jewish people.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07You know, Rabbi Akiva, who was the biggest Rabbi of all time,
0:34:07 > 0:34:12yeah, said, Rabbi Akiva said...
0:34:12 > 0:34:15SPEAKS HEBREW
0:34:15 > 0:34:19There is only one big rule in the Torah - love thy neighbour.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23And that said that Rabbi Akiva, the greatest Jewish rabbi of all time.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26So how, from "love thy neighbour" -
0:34:26 > 0:34:28it doesn't say "love your Jewish neighbour",
0:34:28 > 0:34:32just love thy neighbour, the people in Hebron don't love their neighbours,
0:34:32 > 0:34:37they oppress their neighbours, the torture their neighbours,
0:34:37 > 0:34:40they humiliate their neighbours,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43they sometimes kill their neighbours.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47How can you justify that?
0:34:47 > 0:34:49How can you want to live like that?
0:34:49 > 0:34:53It's the Arab side that is causing all the tension.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56The Jewish side has done, I believe,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00more than it could honestly be asked of to do.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04It's removed roadblocks, it's allowed permits to travel
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and it allows their banks to function and all of this.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10I don't think any more can be asked from Israel.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43There are still some things I feel I need to say to John Hurson.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47He doesn't seem to understand the ridiculous appropriation
0:35:47 > 0:35:50of a conflict that doesn't even belong to him.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53I'm trying to think of myself. I live here
0:35:53 > 0:35:57as if I will come and say, "Man, IRA, Republicanism!"
0:35:57 > 0:36:01I mean, wouldn't it be a bit funny to you that I will do that?
0:36:01 > 0:36:05- No.- You don't think it's...- No, I wouldn't say it's that funny at all.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Like choosing a side where I am somebody that it's not my story?
0:36:09 > 0:36:13I don't put fun into struggles. That's one thing I don't do. Right?
0:36:13 > 0:36:18- But...- But you are choosing sides, so like the bad Israelis,
0:36:18 > 0:36:23- the good Palestinians... - I choose the side of the people that were starving.
0:36:23 > 0:36:27I don't care about land, I don't care about nationality,
0:36:27 > 0:36:33I don't associate with this whole Irish nationalism or with this British loyalism.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36I don't care about those things, to be honest with you.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41If you truly ask me, I find it all, A, boring, B, useless.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44Why do we need all the time to define ourselves -
0:36:44 > 0:36:46"I'm an Irish Catholic."
0:36:46 > 0:36:49"I'm a British Protestant." "I'm an Israeli Jewish."
0:36:49 > 0:36:51"I'm a Palestinian Muslim, Christian."
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Why we can't just live our life?
0:36:54 > 0:36:57But I fear sometimes, and I might be wrong,
0:36:57 > 0:37:01that your kind of activity, or other activities,
0:37:01 > 0:37:03instead of increasing the peace,
0:37:03 > 0:37:07are increasing hostility and violence.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10And this is where I find it offensive.
0:37:10 > 0:37:14So bringing food, blankets and medicine to people is offensive?
0:37:14 > 0:37:18- No, not at all. That's very important.- Yes.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21Well, if it was offensive with the flotilla that went last year
0:37:21 > 0:37:24because, as you know, nine people were murdered
0:37:24 > 0:37:27for bringing food and medicine...
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Yes, and I wasn't interviewed here on telly,
0:37:29 > 0:37:31which will probably be in the film,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34and I said I was ashamed to be called Israeli after that attack.
0:37:43 > 0:37:49My wife Julie and I are now moving on again. We are leaving for Paris.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53So what have I learnt here during my time in Northern Ireland?
0:37:59 > 0:38:05In Belfast, I saw how Catholic and Protestant are all Irish
0:38:05 > 0:38:07and they all look the same to me.
0:38:07 > 0:38:11And I don't understand why they hated each other for so long
0:38:11 > 0:38:13and killed each other for so long.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16And I think maybe it reflects on, you know,
0:38:16 > 0:38:19on the place where I'm coming from,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21where...I guess, when...
0:38:22 > 0:38:26..you would look at me and the Palestinian journalist,
0:38:26 > 0:38:29you'd think there is not much difference there
0:38:29 > 0:38:31and why they can't...
0:38:32 > 0:38:34..sit and get along.
0:38:34 > 0:38:38And I think Belfast and Northern Ireland is still
0:38:38 > 0:38:43a great example of people, the majority of the people...
0:38:45 > 0:38:46..moving on.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49And if people who are stuck in the past - which a lot of the people
0:38:49 > 0:38:52we met are stuck in the past - but I think they are holding
0:38:52 > 0:38:56to something because they don't know how to define themselves.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59And I think I learnt how to define myself...
0:38:59 > 0:39:03regardless to my nationality or my religion.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07And that's something, funny enough, that I learnt in Belfast.
0:39:16 > 0:39:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd