No Other Land’s Palestinian co-director Hamdan Ballal has been freed, after reportedly being attacked by Israeli settlers in his village on the West Bank and arrested.
Ballal’s Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham posted on X in the past hour: “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.”
Abraham raised the alarm of Ballal’s assault and detainment in a military base yesterday (March 24).
“After the assault, Hamdan was handcuffed and blindfolded all night in an army base while two soldiers beat him up on the floor, his lawyer Leah Tsemel said after speaking with him just now. He’s still held in the Kiryat Arba police station,” Abraham posted on X earlier today.
The international film community has expressed outrage at the assault and detainment of Ballal, with the Berlinale, CPH:DOX, International Documentary Fund, Channel 4 and UK performers’ union Equity posting statements demanding his safe return.
Individuals to sign a 4,000-strong petition on Change.org demanding the filmmaker’s release include Alex Gibney, Christine Vachon, Liz Garbus, Ezra Edelman, Dan Cogan, Kristi Jacobson, Julie Goldman, Lee Hirsch, Joslyn Barnes and Fisher Stevens.
March 24 attack
According to The Guardian, which cited five Jewish American activists who witnessed the incident, Ballal was surrounded by around 15 armed settlers who threw stones and destroyed a water cooler. The report said that after the attack Ballal was taken into custody by the Israeli army along with another, unidentified, man. The activist witnesses said when they entered Ballal’s home they saw blood on the floor.
A statement issued by Israeli Defence Forces read: “IDF and Israeli Police forces arrived to disperse the confrontation, at this point, several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces. The forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation. The detainees were taken for further questioning by the Israel Police.”
No Other Land won the documentary Oscar on March 2 and depicts Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta communities on the West Bank as they attempt to live their lives despite an Israeli programme to demolish their homes. It was co-directed by a Palestinian-Israeli collective comprising Basel Adra, Abraham, Ballal, and Rachel Szor.
The documentary world premiered at the 2024 Berlinale, where it became embroiled in a row over antisemitism, following statements made by the filmmakers at the festival’s closing ceremony, which German politicians claimed equated to antisemitism.
No US distributor picked up the film, although it has earned more than $1.7m at the North American box office after Cinetic Media brought on Michael Tuckman to book cinemas. It has earned more than $700,000 internationally through distributors licensed by Autlook Film Sales.
Last week a mayor in Miami Beach, Florida, reversed his proposal to evict an arthouse cinema after it screened No Other Land.
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