‘No Other Land’ co-director Yuval Abraham condemns Academy for not supporting Hamdan Ballal
After Oscar-winning No Other Land co-director Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers, his co-director Yuval Abraham has criticised the Academy for not issuing a statement in support of Ballal.
Abraham revealed news of Ballal being attacked on March 24th, telling his followers on X, “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.”
Following Abraham’s announcement, a petition was launched for Ballal’s release, which was signed by Mark Ruffalo among other notable figures. On March 25th, Abraham confirmed Ballal had been released, writing on X, “After being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base, Hamdan Ballal is now free and is about to go home to his family.”
Earlier this month, Ballal won ‘Best Documentary’ at the Oscars for No Other Land. The documentary follows a Palestinian family living in the West Bank while their home is destroyed by Israeli forces. Yet, much to Abraham’s anger, the Academy didn’t comment on the attack on Ballal.
The director wrote: “Sadly, the U.S. Academy, which awarded us an Oscar three weeks ago, declined to publicly support Hamdan Ballal while he was beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers.”
The message from Abraham continued: “The European Academy voiced support, as did countless other award groups and festivals. Several U.S. Academy members — especially in the documentary branch — pushed for a statement, but it was ultimately refused. We were told that because other Palestinians were beaten up in the settler attack, it could be considered unrelated to the film, so they felt no need to respond.”
He added: “In other words, while Hamdan was clearly targeted for making ‘No Other Land’ (he recalled soldiers joking about the Oscar as they tortured him), he was also targeted for being Palestinian — like countless others every day who are disregarded. This, it seems, gave the Academy an excuse to remain silent when a filmmaker they honored, living under Israeli occupation, needed them the most.”
Abraham concluded by encouraging the Academy to break their silence, stating, “It’s not too late to change this stance. Even now, issuing a statement condemning the attack on Hamdan and the Masafer Yatta community would send a meaningful message and serve as a deterrent for the future.”
From his hospital bed, Ballal told ABC News that he is currently “afraid” and described it as “a hard, hard attack”, adding, “I feel I will die, because this attack was so hard, I bleed from everywhere. I’m crying from deeply in my heart. I feel pain everywhere in my body. So, they continue attacking me like 15-20 minutes.”
A spokesperson from the Israeli police claimed that Ballal and other Palestinians were arrested due to “conditions that include not contacting other people involved and self-bail”.
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