- No Other Land co-director attacked in Palestinian village
- A dozen masked teenagers threw stones and destroyed property
- Ballal taken away in blindfold and remains missing
Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal has been beaten by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and taken away blindfolded.
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Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning No Other Land, was in the Palestinian village of Susiya when settlers attacked Jewish activists and destroyed property, said the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence.
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During the incident, as reported by The Associated Press, around a dozen masked settlers reportedly threw stones, smashed car windows and slashed tires.
Ballal suffered injuries to his head and stomach in the attack and was treated inside an ambulance at the scene.
Witnesses reported that a majority of the masked people were teenagers with sticks and knives, according to Joseph Kaplan Weinger.
Hamdan Ballal is currently missing
The Centre for Jewish Nonviolence added that as Ballal was being treated in an ambulance, soldiers detained him and a second Palestinian man. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
According to a series of posts on X from co-director Yuval Abraham “Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since.”.
Josh Kimelman, one of the activists who was at the scene, told The Associated Press “We don’t know where Hamdan is because he was taken away in a blindfold.”
The International Documentary Association (IDA) shared a statement with Variety in response to the attack: “We demand Ballal’s immediate release and that his family and community be informed about his condition, location, and the justification for his detention.”
The Israeli military had said it was looking into the incident but did not immediately comment.
No Other Land
The attack comes just three weeks after No Other Land won the Academy Award for best documentary. It follows the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers.
The critically acclaimed film has two Palestinian co-directors, Ballal and Basel Adra, both Masafar Yatta residents, and two Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
During their acceptance speech, they took the opportunity to call attention to the destruction happening in Gaza.
“We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” said Adra. “About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now.…No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist.”
“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other,” added Abraham.
