According to reports, Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Academy Award-winning documentary film No Other Land was assaulted by Israeli settlers near his home village in the West Bank on Monday (March 24). In a post on X, formerly Twitter, his co-director Yuval Abraham detailed what happened: “A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co-director of our film No Other Land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called and took him. No sign of him since.”
https://twitter.com/yuval_abraham/status/1904235552620339365
According to AP News, Palestinian residents of the village of Susya confronted a settler who approached their homes during the breaking of their Ramadan fast and asked them to leave. More settlers arrived, smashing car windows and damaging infrastructure on top of attacking villagers. Soldiers then detained Ballal after a settler beat him in front of his home, according to his wife, Lamia. According to Abraham, the same setter threatened Ballal in April, which was captured on video. “This is my land, I was given it by God,” the settler says in the video, shouting profanity and goading Ballal into trying to fight him. “Next time it won’t be nice,” the settler says.
Ballal was released Tuesday (March 25) from a police station in the Kiryat Arba settlement. “All my body is pain,” he said to the Associated Press. “I heard the voices of the soldiers, they were laughing about me … I heard ‘Oscar’ but I didn’t speak Hebrew.” He revealed he was held at an army base and forced to sleep under an ongoing air conditioner while blindfolded.
Ballal is one of four directors of the documentary along with Abraham, who is Israeli. No Other Land covers the struggles of Palestinians living in Israel under daily oppression. Another one of the directors, Palestinian activist Basel Adra, confirmed that since the Oscar win, settlers and Israeli soldiers have increased their attacks. “We’re living in dark days here, in Gaza, and all of the West Bank,” Adra said, adding, “Nobody’s stopping this.” No Other Land has been under attack since its win at the 97th Academy Awards, with Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner voicing intent to end the lease of a cinema planning to show the film claiming it wasn’t a balanced view. Local opposition forced him to back off from the move.
Oscar-Winning Palestinian Director Hamdan Ballal Arrested In West Bank
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