Filmmaker Yuval Abraham has issued a scathing rebuke towards the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its lack of public support for Hamdan Ballal, co-director of "No Other Land," who suffered a brutal beating and detention in the West Bank. Abraham, one of the four directors behind the Oscar-winning documentary that garnered the prestigious award earlier this month, took to social media earlier this week to narrate how Ballal was assaulted by a gang of settlers in his hometown of Susiya before being arrested on Monday night. An eyewitness to the harrowing ordeal revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that a pool of blood lay outside Ballal's front door, with two other Palestinians, Khaled Mohammad Shanran and Nasser Shreteh, also being apprehended.
On Tuesday, Abraham provided an update stating that Ballal had been released after undergoing interrogation by the Israeli police. However, the creative mind behind the documentary is now voicing his fury once again, lambasting the Academy for "refusing" to issue a statement condemning the incident.
"It is可悲that the U.S. Academy, which honored us with an Oscar just three weeks ago, declined to lend public support to Hamdan Ballal while he was brutally beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers," Abraham wrote passionately. "The European Academy expressed their solidarity, as did numerous other award-granting bodies and festivals. Several Academy members, particularly those in the documentary branch, advocated for a statement, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. We were informed that since other Palestinians were also beaten in the settler attack, it could be deemed unrelated to the film, justifying their silence."
Abraham further lamented, "In essence, while Hamdan was unmistakably targeted for making 'No Other Land' — he recounted soldiers mocking the Oscar as they subjected him to torment — he was also preyed upon for being Palestinian, like countless others who face neglect daily. This, it appears, served as an excuse for the Academy to remain mute when a filmmaker they celebrated, living under Israeli occupation, needed them the most. It is not yet too late to alter this stance. Even now, issuing a statement condemning the attack on Hamdan and the Masafer Yatta community would send a potent message and act as a deterrent for future occurrences."
The Academy did not immediately respond to THR's request for comment, adhering to its long-standing policy of refraining from commenting on matters beyond its immediate jurisdiction. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) offered a contrasting narrative of the events, stating in their Monday statement that the violence erupted after "several terrorists threw rocks at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles." Both sides subsequently indulged in rock-throwing, and as IDF and Israeli police arrived at the scene, "several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces." Both entities concurred that three Palestinians were detained.
Directed by a quartet of filmmakers — two Israelis and two Palestinians — "No Other Land" triumphed at the 97th annual Academy Awards on March 2, securing the Best Documentary Feature honor.
