On March 24, Hamdan Ballal, Palestinian co-director of the documentary “No Other Land,” was detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank after being severely beaten and injured by Israeli settlers.
As reported by The Guardian, shortly after breaking the daily fast for the month of Ramadan, dozens of masked Israeli settlers escorted by Israeli soldiers entered the occupied West Bank. The settlers donned batons and knives, with one settler holding an M16 assault rifle.
The settlers threw stones at Ballal’s house before chasing him inside, where he was beaten and bruised, severely injuring his head and shoulder. The Israeli military handcuffed and blindfolded Ballal and detained him along with two other people.
There are reports that Ballal and the two other people were released from custody. His lawyer is planning to file a complaint against his attacker.
President Janet Yang and CEO Bill Kramer of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences put out a statement regarding the incident on March 27 but did not specifically mention Ballal.
The Academy received backlash for one particular section, where they said, “We are living in a time of profound change, marked by conflict and uncertainty — across the globe, in the U.S. and within our own industry. Understandably, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political and economic events. In these instances, it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints.”
All the directors of No Other Land wrote a letter criticizing the Academy for not mentioning Ballal on March 28. Almost 900 Academy members — including Pedro Pascal, Ben Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix — signed the letter
The Academy has publicly apologized for omitting Ballal from the statement. As reported by Deadline, “On Wednesday, we sent a letter in response to reports of violence against Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal, co-director of No Other Land, connected to his artistic expression. We regret that we failed to directly acknowledge Mr. Ballal and the film by name.”
This is a developing story.
