The strength of film is that it can give voice to stories otherwise silenced. For Oscar-Winning Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, that voice came at a very high price. Only weeks after toasting the success of the film internationally, Palestinian Director Hamdan Ballal was beaten by Israeli settlers and arrested by the Israeli army in his native village of Susiya, within the occupied West Bank.
Rising Settler Violence in the West Bank
Ballal’s arrest is the latest incident in the growing wave of settler aggression against Palestinians, a truth his film attempted to uncover. No Other Land documents the plight of the people of Masafer Yatta, a region declared by the Israeli army a live-fire training area. Court orders and worldwide indignation notwithstanding, demolition and eviction persist, challenging the very existence of Palestinian villages.
Witnesses said that a group of settlers, including some masked and armed ones, invaded Susiya after dark, just after locals had ended their Ramadan fast. Basel Adra, Ballal’s co-director, stated that settlers and soldiers moved together—settlers hurling rocks while soldiers aimed at Palestinians. Ballal’s wife heard in horror as he was attacked viciously before being blindfolded, handcuffed and removed by the military. His blood, as Adra further reported, persisted on the sidewalk in front of his house.
Military Justifications and a Pattern of Suppression
The Israeli army maintains it arrested Ballal and two other men for attacking soldiers with stones—an accusation consistently made against Palestinian. Concurrently, a settler caught up in the attack was himself arrested, a circumstance which commonly leads to very little legal prosecution.
Read More: ‘No Other Land’ Palestinian Film Wins at Oscars
Ballal’s arrest showcases the risks endured by those who take the daring step of capturing the suffering of Palestinians under siege. The worldwide success of No Other Land thrust international scrutiny of the deliberate effacement of Palestinian communities into public discourse. However, in the West Bank, exposure tends to draw retribution. Israeli state officials and violent settlers have hardened their repression against Palestinian activism as much as in response to Israel’s continued bombing campaign in Gaza, where the assault has escalated on Palestinian soil everywhere.
While the world celebrates No Other Land for its artistry and courage, its makers continue to experience the reality they portray on screen. Theirs is an unfinished story, as is the fight of those who continue to battle to remain on their land.
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