Who owns the Holy Land?

Two German Jews move into a settlement near Bethlehem. The reason: they dream of a life in the Holy Land. Under international law, Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are considered illegal. But the settlers believe they have a right to this land. What attracts Germans to the settlements? And how do they imagine living together with the Palestinians?

What drives people from Europe to exchange their comparatively comfortable lives for a much more complicated and dangerous one in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel? Chaya Tal from Cologne and Nethanel von Boxberg from Bonn have done just that: they have moved to the Gush Etzion settlement block near Bethlehem in the West Bank.  Both are convinced that Judea and Samaria, as they call this area, belongs to the people of Israel, i.e. to the Jews. Under international law, however, the area is considered illegally occupied by Israel, even though Israel's government does not accept this. Chaya and Nethanel are not the only Europeans among the approximately 450,000 settlers in the West Bank - Belgians, French, Swiss or Dutch have found a new home in Gush Etzion. And especially among the Europeans are many who live an astonishing contradiction: on the one hand, they occupy land that belongs to the Palestinians, and at the same time they advocate peaceful coexistence with them. How does that work?  Chaya speaks fluent Arabic and has friends in the Palestinian villages, which Israeli citizens are actually strictly forbidden to enter.