A prominent Palestinian rights organization has fiercely denounced the Oscar-winning documentary, "No Other Land," asserting that the film, helmed by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, breaches the ethical compass of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement stands firm against collaborating with Israeli entities operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a staunch ally of the BDS movement, has taken aim at "No Other Land," accusing it of violating so-called "anti-normalization" principles that, according to the group, normalize the notions of Israeli "occupation, apartheid, and settler colonialism," thereby fostering normal relations with the Israeli regime.
Surprisingly, "No Other Land" has emerged as an unlikely target for pro-Palestinian groups. This poignant film documents the relentless demolition of the Masafer Yatta community in the occupied West Bank and chronicles the alliance forged between Palestinian journalist and co-director Basel Adra, and Israeli journalist and co-director Yuval Abraham. Ever since its premiered at last year's Berlinale, where it secured the Best Documentary award, the film has come under fire from right-wing and pro-Israeli critics. Israel's Culture and Sports Minister, Miki Zohar, lambasted the film's Oscar victory as "a sorrowful moment for the cinema world," accusing the documentary of "defaming Israel."
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, has thrown its weight behind the film, publicly urging U.S. distributors and streaming platforms to make it accessible to American audiences. (Despite its Oscar glory, "No Other Land" is still without a U.S. distributor.) "The American people deserve the right to witness this film," CAIR declared.
In a statement released on March 5, PACBI acknowledges that "Israel, its influential lobby groups, and its anti-Palestinian racist allies in western cultural circles" have attacked "No Other Land" because they perceive it as exposing a crucial, albeit partial, aspect of Israel's colonial oppression system and its crimes, such as the ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta.
However, PACBI contends that the film still contravenes BDS guidelines, as it was produced with assistance from the Israeli documentary film NGO Close-Up, which, while not providing financial support, aided the filmmakers during the production phase. PACBI has called for a boycott of Close-Up, accusing it of "engaging in normalization" by encouraging filmmakers to engage with Israel "as though it were an ordinary state." In 2019, a boycott call against Close-Up garnered signatures from over 500 filmmakers, predominantly from the Arab world, including Palestinian director Mohamed Bakri ("Jenin, Jenin"), Egyptian director Ali Badrakhan ("Karnak Cafe"), and Lebanese documentarian Eliane Raheb ("Miguel's War").
PACBI also notes that "No Other Land" has sparked "simmering controversy" in the Arab world, particularly following its Oscar triumph and co-director Abraham's acceptance speech, where he condemned "the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people" and lambasted the brutality of the October 7 attacks on Israel.
PACBI has also reprimanded some Israeli members of "No Other Land" for "[failing] to acknowledge that Israel is committing genocide or for making exceedingly harmful, immoral statements that draw a false equivalence between the colonizer and the colonized, potentially justifying Israel's genocide."
Nonetheless, PACBI has refrained from calling for a boycott of the film, deeming it "counterproductive" and observing that in "mainstream circles," the movie could help elevate awareness "about the struggle against Israel's military occupation and ethnic cleansing."
In an FAQ statement posted on its website on Monday, PACBI emphasized that prior to the Oscars, the "anticipated harm to the Palestinian struggle" from publicly criticizing the film outweighed the potential benefit. However, following the film's Oscar win, the group perceived a peril in what it views as "No Other Land's" normalization of Israel, particularly in the Arab region. "This is precisely why," the group writes, "the position was initially crafted and released in Arabic for an Arab audience."
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, a PACBI spokesperson clarified that the BDS movement's anti-normalization guidelines "target complicity, not identity, and institutions, not individuals," emphasizing that the criticism of "No Other Land" is directed at the film's ties to Close-Up, rather than the individual filmmakers.
