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Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last year, the cry 鈥淔fom the River to the Sea鈥� has been heard more and more as a pro-Palestinian slogan. But what river? What sea? And what exactly does the phrase mean? It鈥檚 the subject of intense controversy. In this two-part series, reporter Tim Whewell travels from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, across a tiny stretch of land 鈥� just over an hour by car if you don鈥檛 stop - that鈥檚 perhaps the most argued-over in the world.

Along the way, he meets shepherds and teachers, soldiers and gardeners, artists and activists - Palestinians and Israelis of many different views and backgrounds. The shortest line from the River to the Sea doesn鈥檛 pass through Gaza. But everyone Tim meets on his journey across the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the River, and in Israel, is living in the terrible shadow of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel and the war that鈥檚 followed. The future of the often-beautiful, fast-changing, overcrowded region he crosses will be at the heart of any eventual solution to the Middle East conflict. In this first programme, he goes from the Jordan, through the Israeli settlement of Argaman, the Palestinian herding community of al-Farisiyah and the Palestinian village of Duma, ending up at the Israeli settlement of Shilo. What do people in those places think now 鈥� and do they have any hope for the future?
(In Part 2, Tim leaves the West Bank and travels through Israel.)

Presenter/producer: Tim Whewell
Sound mixing: Andy Fell and Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Penny Murphy

(Photo shows some of the people Tim meets in the two parts of the series. Clockwise from top left: Ben Levy, Israeli nature ranger; Sulieman Mleahat, Palestinian development worker; Susie Becher, Israeli political activist; Okayla Shehadi, retired Palestinian citizen of Israel.)