'No Other Land' directors fume as Israeli military blocks media trip to view settler violence

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“The next time your politicians call this country the only democracy in the Middle East, film this so that they can see how democratic it really is. Film the reality and truth of what they’re doing to us,” Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra told dozens of international journalists at the entrance to his village in the occupied West Bank, which had unexpectedly turned into a heavily manned Israeli military checkpoint.

“The only democracy in the Middle East is preventing international media from filming villages after settlers attacked them.”

Exactly three months ago to the day, Adra, along with No Other Land co-directors Yuval Abraham and Hamdan Ballal, was on stage at the 97th Academy Awards to receive the award for Best Documentary. It was the first time a Palestinian film had won an Oscar.

On Monday, those behind this remarkable achievement were reduced to arguing without success with masked Israeli forces to let their group through to the villages that have captured the world’s attention.

No Other Land documented the struggles of the residents of Masafer Yatta, a cluster of hamlets and villages, to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their communities. In the 1980s, the army designated it as a military training area, ordering residents to leave, a fate that has befallen many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, particularly agricultural communities. Despite this, about 1,000 people have stayed in the area, including Adra and his family.

The community has faced regular attacks from Israeli settlers. The violence intensified after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza. With international attention focused on the war, Israeli ministers in the far-right government, many themselves prominent settlers themselves, urged the seizure of Palestinian land.

“I think the film made a huge difference in the opinions of people all over the world … but sadly it did not make a difference for the people who have power. Israel is an ally of your countries. Here it is blocking journalists from these allied countries from visiting and seeing these crimes being committed,” said Abraham, an Israeli Jew, who made the trip from Jerusalem to help Adra’s tour.

On Sunday evening, the Israeli army declared the village of Khirbet Khallet Al Dabaa, where the tour was set to take place, a closed military zone, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. The day before, Israeli forces arrested two foreign activists working to support the communities in Masafer Yatta.

Attacks on these communities rose to critical levels in the months after No Other Land was released, a situation that the filmmakers tried to show the world’s media on Monday. Ballal was brutally attacked by a mob of Israeli settlers in March.

“There is destruction of water wells, pipes and solar panels. Settlers have come into the village and set up in the area under military protection. They have attacked children and pregnant women,” Adra said.

Addressing the Israeli troops, whose numbers soon swelled to include more soldiers, as well as civilian and border police, he said: “I have so many videos of settlers here to attack us and shoot us and you do nothing. Right now when journalists are here to see this and interview people you come to prevent them.”

A softly spoken soldier, face covered with a balaclava, only reiterated that his forces were there to “keep the public order”.

“Last week had a lot of disturbance to the order,” he added. “In this crossroads, no journalists, no guests, to keep the order in the area. Right here you are a public disturbance.”

These mild exchanges were the extent of the confrontations on Monday. Even the arrival of a senior Palestinian Authority official to observe the situation caused little commotion.

But hours after the media left, the reports of violence and intimidation against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank resumed, including the military reportedly shooting a minor and settlers using drones to intimidate Palestinian shepherds and their sheep near Bethlehem.