Palestinians hope the Oscar victory of "No Other Land" will bring support as they face possible expulsion by Israel, reports AP.
Just last week, Israeli troops demolished a Palestinian family’s shed in this remote, hilly part of the West Bank, residents reported. It was the latest instance of destruction targeting a group of hamlets whose population is under threat of displacement.
Palestinians in Masafer Yatta celebrated the Oscar win of the documentary No Other Land, which portrays life in the embattled community, hoping it would draw attention to their plight.
In al-Tuwaneh, one of the hamlets in Masafer Yatta, Salem Adra said his family stayed up all night to watch the Oscar ceremony. They cheered as his older brother, Basel Adra, co-director of the film, took the stage to accept the award for Best Documentary.
“It was such a huge surprise, such joy,” he said.
The documentary follows Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of Masafer Yatta, located at the southern edge of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He is joined by his co-director, Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham.
This joint Palestinian-Israeli production has earned multiple international awards, beginning with the Berlin International Film Festival in 2024. Five years in the making, it has gained even greater significance amid Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza, which has displaced nearly its entire population, alongside increasing raids in the West Bank that have forced tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes.
However, the film has also sparked controversy in Israel, which remains deeply affected by the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war.
Salem Adra, who occasionally assisted his brother with filming, expressed hope that the Oscar win would “open the world’s eyes to what’s happening here in Masafer Yatta.”
“This is a victory for all of Palestine and for everyone living in Masafer Yatta,” he added.
Since the film’s release, he said, threats and pressure against his family have escalated. Their car has been stoned by settlers, and following the film’s recognition at the Berlin International Film Festival, the military repeatedly raided their home. At one point, soldiers detained his father, searched his phone, and questioned him: “Why are you filming?”
Masafer Yatta was designated as a live-fire training zone by the Israeli military in the 1980s, leading to an order for the expulsion of its residents, who are mostly Arab Bedouin. Israel argues that they had no permanent structures in the area, while families maintain that they have lived and herded livestock there long before Israel took control of the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.
After a two-decade legal battle, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the expulsion order in 2022. While most of the approximately 1,000 residents remain, troops routinely enter to demolish homes, tents, water tanks, and olive orchards. Many Palestinians fear an imminent full-scale expulsion.
The latest demolition occurred last Wednesday when troops tore down a family’s shed in a nearby hamlet.
Standing on a rocky ridge above al-Tuwaneh, Salem Adra noted that since October 7, 2023, Jewish settlers, with military backing, have established 10 outposts around the village.
Shepherd Raed al-Hamamdeh, 48, guided his goats across the rugged land. He pointed to one such outpost—visible across a small valley—where tents and a trailer displayed the flag of an Israeli military unit. Farmers no longer tend to the valley’s olive grove due to fears of attacks.
According to al-Hamamdeh, the military uses drones to drive away herds if they venture too close to the outposts. “Settlers attack us. When we herd sheep, we can’t go far, as you can see. We can only go up to this point,” he said, indicating a boundary. He gestured toward the rubble of a house that, he claimed, settlers had destroyed after forcing out the family and burning their furniture.
In Israel, the film has received little media attention, and the coverage it has garnered has been largely negative. When it won Best Documentary in Berlin, Israeli director Abraham faced backlash for an acceptance speech calling for an end to the war in Gaza—without mentioning Hamas’ initial attack and the hostages held in Gaza.
During his Oscar acceptance speech, Abraham referenced both events, but this did little to quell criticism in Israel. Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar called the win “a sad moment for the world of cinema,” accusing the filmmakers of distorting reality and using “defamation” of Israel to promote their work.
Ordinarily, Israeli films nominated for prestigious international awards receive widespread praise at home.
However, following the Hamas attack, “everyone is in mourning or in trauma. We can hardly hear any other voice on any other subject,” said Raya Morag, a cinema and trauma expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
On Monday, she noted that it remains uncertain whether the Oscar win will draw more attention to the film in Israel. Still, she added, “it will be impossible for people to ignore the message of the two directors, even if they haven’t seen the film.”
In his Oscar speech, Basel Adra urged the world to "stop the injustice and halt the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people." He expressed hope that his newborn daughter would not face the same fears he does, such as settler violence, home demolitions, and forced displacement. On Monday, his brother Salem descended the ridge with his 4-year-old son, making his way to their family home. He checked the CCTV cameras around the house, which were still recording, to keep an eye out for settlers.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
