The Palestinian co-director of Oscar-winning film “No Other Land” Hamdan Ballal was beaten up by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and taken away by Israeli soldiers, his colleagues and eyewitnesses said.
Outside Ballal’s home was a group of Israeli settlers, some of whom were throwing stones. Israeli police and military were also outside the home and Israeli soldiers were firing at anyone who tried to get close, he said.
Yuval Abraham, another co-director of the film, who is Israeli, said Ballal had sustained injuries to his head and abdomen in the attack and had not been heard from since. Abraham did not witness the incident himself.
Five American activists from the Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV) who were also at the scene said they too had been assaulted by Israeli settlers. They said more than a dozen settlers had attacked the village, wielding batons, knives and at least one assault rifle, following a dispute involving an Israeli settler who was shepherding near a Palestinian home.
Jenna, an activist who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said she and her colleagues were attacked by around 20 masked settlers when they approached Susya that night. Her group did not witness Ballal’s arrest.
Josh Kimelman, who was in the same group, said Israeli soldiers witnessed the incident but did nothing to prevent it.
Earlier this month, Ballal, Adra and Abraham had all stood alongside each other to accept the Oscar for best documentary. The joint Israeli-Palestinian team’s film recounts the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank.
Ballal had documented his interactions with settlers, including threats of violence from a settler who claimed God had given him Ballal’s land.
Ballal said he called the police but to no avail.
“No Other Land” documents the continued demolition by Israeli authorities of Masafer Yatta, a collection of villages in the Hebron mountains of the West Bank where Adra lives with his family. The documentary highlights the Israeli government’s efforts to evict the villagers by force, with viewers seeing the local playground being torn down, the killing of Adra’s brother by Israeli soldiers, and other attacks by Jewish settlers while the community tries to survive.
The film also explores the human connection between Adra and Abraham.