The question of settlements has loomed over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, and has only intensified in the past year. According to a UN report, since October 7, 2023, there has been a record surge in settlement activities and increased settler violence against Palestinians. Today on the show: how the settlement movement grew from a small religious mission to one of the central tenets of the current Israeli government. It’s a story that intersects with other topics we’ve covered in our series relating to this conflict – the history of Hamas, the rise of the Israeli right wing, Hezbollah, and Zionism.

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Guests:

Khaled Elgindy, Senior Fellow and Director of Program on Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs at the Middle East Institute

Sara Yael Hirschhorn, Visiting Professor at the University of Haifa and author of City on a Hilltop, American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement

Gideon Aran, Professor Emeritus of sociology and anthropology at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem

Avi Shlaim, Israeli-British historian and author of the book The Iron Wall: Israel and the Arab World

Diana Buttu, Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization