This powerful film explores the settlement through the eyes of two charismatic individuals – an ex terrorist and a hippy Jewish settler. Full of moments of pathos and streaked with dark humour, this thought-provoking documentary reflects the animosity and tensions bubbling under the surface in the towns which host settlements.

Ali was convicted of terrorism when he was just 17, after planting a bomb in Israel. He has spent over half his adult life in prison and now lives in the Arab quarter in Jerusalem. Although he professes his support for the peace process, he believes that the stoning of Jewish settlers is justified: “Settlers just come here and look for troubles ... They deserve it.” Life under occupation is hard for Ali. He claims that, under Israeli rule, his home city has become a new prison for him: “I don’t deserve such a life. I deserve better.”Five minutes away from Ali’s house is a café run by Dov Shirin. Dov, an American hippy Jew, arrived in Israel a year before the first Intifada. He hosts a wild radio show and has adopted a bohemian lifestyle but sees himself as the personification of religion: “I love God man, love God … I am religion.” Although he claims to also love Arabs, a picture of him posing with a machine gun and a bible was published round the world, seen as embodying Israeli extremisms. However, he resents being describes as a settler: “I’m a human being that happens to live here, okay? Stop that settler bullcrap.”Over the course of the year, Ali and Dov’s world’s move further apart. Ali’s bitterness at the current political situation leads him to turn to drink. “When I see the concessions from the Palestinian side, the way they are humiliating themselves, it drives me crazy.” His wife leaves him, taking his beloved son (Ali’s “little terrorist") with her and he becomes clinically depressed. He spends weeks refusing to get out of bed, drinking every night to try to erase the pain. “Give me one reason to be happy. I’m under occupation … in my city - where I grew up - I can’t walk freely.”During the Intifada, Dov used to spend the evenings vandalising Arab houses: “You’d gather like 20 rocks together and just drive down the road and smash a rock through each Arab window.” His mother advised him to keep his gun clean and well supplied with bullets but, after nearly shooting a Palestinian, he renounced violence. He takes us to the grave of Israel’s most notorious settler, Arak Goldstein, who walked into a Mosque and murdered 29 praying Muslims. “I understand how [he] could have been driven … to go and do what he did.” This connection clearly troubles him. Dov’s home of Hebron is surrounded by Arab towns, leaving him feeling vulnerable and threatened. He refuses to acknowledge the Palestinian claim to Israeli land, stating “the only way to really settle is by cleaning it up … We should have thrown [the Arabs] out.” He becomes increasing suspicious of the camera, stating: “You prefer me to act like a total idiot so that you can de-legitimise me ... you hate Jews.”However, even Dov, with his unshakeable faith is uncertain of the future, “I’m a man of peace. I love Arabs. But do I think it will be peaceful? No.”