Oscar-Winning Palestinian Director Attacked By Israeli Settlers, Detained

Israeli settlers attacked and detained one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary film 'No Other Land' in the occupied West Bank.

'No Other Land' won best documentary at this year's Academy Awards

Source : X - SaadAbedine

Israeli settlers beat up one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary film 'No Other Land' on Monday in the occupied West Bank before he was detained by the Israeli military, according to two of his fellow directors and other witnesses, AP reported.

Attorney Lea Tsemel said that three Palestinians were arrested in the village of Susiya, including filmmaker Hamdan Ballal.  She claimed she hasn't been able to communicate with the police, who informed her they are being detained at a military facility for medical treatment.

Another co-director, Basel Adra, saw the detention and said that over two dozen settlers invaded the community, some wearing Israeli uniforms, others with rifles, and some wearing masks.  While settlers continued to throw stones, the soldiers aimed their weapons at the Palestinians.

“We came back from the Oscars and every day since there is an attack on us,” Adra told The Associated Press. “This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like a punishment.”

The Israeli military claimed that it had arrested one Israeli civilian involved in a "violent confrontation" between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as three Palestinians suspected of throwing rocks at military personnel. However, the AP spoke with witnesses who denied this account.  According to the military, it had taken an Israeli national out of the area for medical care and handed them over to Israeli police for interrogation.

Shortly after locals broke their daily fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, immigrants arrived in the community Monday night, according to Adra. Soldiers fired in the air as a settler, who Adra claims regularly attacks the village, approached Ballal's house with the military. According to Adra, Ballal's wife screamed, "I'm dying," as she heard her husband being thrashed outside.

Then Adra witnessed the troops escort Ballal from his house onto a military truck while he was blindfolded and in handcuffs. Ballal's blood was still splashed on the ground outside his own front door, he told the AP over the phone.

Another eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation, supported some of the facts of Adra's story.

Josh Kimelman, one of the activists at the scene, told the AP that a group of ten to twenty masked settlers also attacked Centre for Jewish Nonviolence activists with sticks and stones, slashing tires and smashing car windows to force them to leave the area.

About Oscar-winning documentary Film 'No Other Land'

Israeli-Palestinian activists' film "No Other Land" took home the Academy Award for best documentary this year.

The documentary, which was filmed in the nearby town of Masafer Yatta, centres on a teenage Palestinian who is forced to flee his community as the Israeli army demolishes its houses to create a firing range.

In the 1980s, Masafer Yatta was designated a restricted military zone by the Israeli army.

About three million Palestinians and almost half a million Israelis reside in settlements that are prohibited by international law in the West Bank, with the exception of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.