The West Bank Belongs to Israel: Debunking the "Illegal Settlements" Narrative

I’m going to explain why. And you’ll see—it actually makes a lot of sense. But first,

a short note on why I’ve never talked about this before. I’ve made dozens of videos about

the Arab-Israeli conflict. I’ve talked about Gaza. I’ve talked about history.. 1948. But

the West Bank? I barely mention it. I’ve mentioned Wisconsin more than I’ve mentioned the West Bank.

At the end of the video, I’ll explain why I keep bringing up Wisconsin. But the question is:

why not the West Bank? Am I hiding something? Nope. The real reason I’ve

avoided it is because of… the war. And no, not the war in Gaza. I’m talking about the bigger,

more important war, the war Israel is losing big time —the war for the narrative.

In one sentence: the war for the narrative is the war over what people talk about. And if you think

the world talks about what matters—about the biggest issues—I’ll say this gently:

you’re being naive. The two biggest conflicts in the world right now are Yemen and Sudan. There’s

real famine there. Tens of thousands of children are dying. But have you seen even one big protest

for them? Have you heard politicians speaking out? Has any artist at a music festival called to stop

the humanitarian crisis in Sudan or Yemen? Muslim communities in England and France don’t seem to

care much when Muslims kill tens of thousands of other Muslims in Yemen. I haven’t seen American

college students protesting for Sudanese lives. Those who dominate the narrative—Qatar, Iran,

Russia, and China—want the world to focus on the West Bank, on “genocide,” on Gaza. Because if

we talk about that, no one talks about the truly urgent things: China’s global takeover. The real

genocide in the Middle East—against Christians. The fact that almost every Muslim-majority country

is not a democracy. No one talks about Yemen. Or Sudan. Or Syria. A million and a half people died

in those three countries in the last decade. But on your social media feeds? It’s all Gaza

and the West Bank. Now, if settlers had murdered tens of thousands of Arabs in the West Bank in

recent years, I’d say—fair enough. That deserves attention. But that’s not the case. There’s no

proportion between what actually happens in the West Bank and the massive media coverage it gets.

I don’t kid myself. I know I can’t control the narrative. I’m just a tour guide who happens to

look pretty good for his age. But here’s what I can do: Not play the game. If they accuse

Israel of genocide, and I respond: “No, it’s not genocide.” And then they say ethnic cleansing,

and I say: “No, it’s not ethnic cleansing”—I’m playing their game.

And what sticks in people’s minds? Israel. Genocide. Ethnic cleansing. Again and again.

Now there’s one word that both my supporters and haters love to use. A word I don’t

like: “hasbara.” My supporters say: “Thank you for your hasbara!” And my critics say: “He’s

doing “hasbara” - Israeli propaganda.” But the literal meaning of hasbara is “explaining.” I’m

explaining Israel. And I don’t like that word. My kids in school can do hasbara, explaining to the

teacher when they are asked, 'Why didn’t you do your homework?' I’m not defending. I’m attacking.

I spread the truth that many people try to avoid. I want people on the other side to say: “Everyone

says the Jews stole land from the Arabs, but Oren says no one can name even one Jewish town

built on stolen land before the Arabs started the war. Hmm, interesting.” Or: “Oren shows that in

Palestinian society, it’s legal for a man to beat his wife, and most Palestinians want to jail or

even execute gay people. Maybe I shouldn’t support people who see women as property.”