Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning film No Other Land beaten by West Bank settlers, witnesses say

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 6:49 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Israeli settlers bushed up 1 of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning movie No Other Land on Monday in the occupied West Bank before helium was detained by the Israeli military, according to 1 of his chap directors and different witnesses.

The filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was 1 of 3 Palestinians detained successful the colony of Susiya, according to lawyer Leah Tsemmel. Police told her the Palestinians are being held astatine a subject basal for aesculapian treatment, and she said she hasn't been capable to talk with them.

Basel Adra, different co-director, witnessed the detention and said astir 2 twelve settlers — immoderate masked, immoderate carrying guns, immoderate successful Israeli azygous — attacked the village. Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns astatine the Palestinians, portion settlers continued throwing stones.

"We came backmost from the Oscars and each time since determination is an onslaught connected us," Adra told The Associated Press. "This mightiness beryllium their revenge connected america for making the movie. It feels similar a punishment."

The Israeli subject said it detained 3 Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks astatine forces and 1 Israeli civilian progressive successful a "violent confrontation" betwixt Israelis and Palestinians — a assertion witnesses interviewed by the AP disputed. The subject said it had transferred them to Israeli constabulary for questioning and had evacuated an Israeli national from the country to person aesculapian treatment.

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No Other Land, which won the Oscar this twelvemonth for champion documentary, chronicles the conflict by residents of Masafer Yatta in the Occupied West Bank to halt the Israeli subject from demolishing their villages. Ballal and Adra, some from Masafar Yatta, made the associated Palestinian-Israeli accumulation with Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.

The movie has won a drawstring of planetary awards, starting astatine the Berlin International Film Festival successful 2024. It has besides drawn ire successful Israel and abroad, arsenic erstwhile Miami Beach concisely projected ending the lease of a movie theatre that screened the documentary.

Adra said that settlers entered the colony Monday evening soon aft residents broke the regular accelerated for the Muslim beatified period of Ramadan. A settler — who according to Adra often attacks the colony — walked implicit to Ballal's location with the military, and soldiers changeable successful the air. Ballal's woman heard her hubby being beaten extracurricular and shriek "I'm dying," according to Adra.

Adra past saw the soldiers pb Ballal, handcuffed and blindfolded, from his location into a subject vehicle. Speaking to The Associated Press by phone, helium said Ballal's humor was inactive splattered connected the crushed extracurricular his ain beforehand door.

Some of the details of Adra's relationship were backed up by different eyewitness, who spoke connected information of anonymity retired of fearfulness of reprisal.

A radical of 10 to 20 masked settlers with stones and sticks besides assaulted activists with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, smashing their car windows and slashing tires to marque them fly the area, 1 of the activists astatine the scene, Josh Kimelman, told the AP.

Video provided by the Center for Jewish Nonviolence showed a masked settler shoving and swinging his fists astatine 2 activists from the radical successful a dusty tract astatine night. The activists unreserved backmost to their car arsenic rocks tin beryllium heard thudding against the vehicle.

Israel captured the West Bank successful the 1967 Mideast war, on with the Gaza Strip and eastbound Jerusalem. The Palestinians privation each 3 for their aboriginal authorities and presumption colony maturation arsenic a large obstacle to a two-state solution.

The Israeli subject designated Masafer Yatta arsenic a live-fire grooming portion successful the 1980s and ordered residents, mostly Arab Bedouin, to beryllium expelled. Around 1,000 residents person mostly remained successful place, but soldiers regularly determination successful to demolish homes, tents, h2o tanks and olive orchards — and Palestinians fearfulness outright expulsion could travel astatine immoderate time.