The Academy Award for best documentary went to “No Other Land,” which chronicles Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes in the West Bank, igniting an online firestorm between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists.
“So happy for ’No Other Land,’ I really hope Palestinian cinema continues to be more recognized and celebrated,” one X user posted.
“What happened to the creators covering Hamas’s 4,000 rockets on Israeli civilians in 2021 alone?” JFeed columnist Gilla Isaacson posted in a response to the win.
The film’s directors, Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, used their acceptance speech Sunday night to call for an end to “ethnic cleansing” and the release of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023.
“When I look at Basel, I see my brother,” said Mr. Abraham. “But we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law, and Basel is under military laws — that destroy lives — that he cannot control.”
The speech was met with mixed applause in a Los Angeles auditorium filled with celebrities who have publicly expressed varying views on the conflict.
Israel-based journalist Emily Schrader dismissed the film as one-sided, arguing on X that Palestinians “live in the destiny they created” and should focus on rooting out Hamas rather than condemning Israel.
Pro-Palestinian activist Ihab Hassan fired back, saying that “No Other Land” “lays bare systematic oppression” and adding that Ms. Schrader’s view was “a transparent attempt to twist reality.”
“And by the way, Yuval Abraham, in his speech, explicitly condemned Hamas’ crimes on October 7 and called for the release of Israeli hostages,” Mr. Hassan posted. “But you conveniently leave that out because it doesn’t fit your narrative.”
The film follows Mr. Adra’s firsthand documentation of life in Masafer Yatta, a rural region in the West Bank where Palestinian families are reportedly facing home demolitions and forced displacement by Israeli authorities.
The footage captures bulldozers reducing homes to rubble, families weeping over their lost livelihood and confrontations between Palestinians and Israeli forces.
In one scene, Mr. Adra films Israeli soldiers as they shoot a young man, who collapses in the street. Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled that the government has the right to clear the area depicted in the film.
Ms. Isaacson, the Jfeed writer, called the film a “surgical hatchet job” of anti-Israel propaganda.
But Christian Palestinian activist Khalil Sayegh praised the film on X, saying the ideological bridge the two have built is crucial to the fate of Palestine. “Basel and Yuval represent the way forward out of the occupation and apartheid,” he posted.
The controversy surrounding “No Other Land” has been compounded by its struggle to secure U.S. distribution, making it difficult for American audiences to view it in theaters or on streaming platforms.
Mr. Abraham pled for a fast resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian turmoil.
“I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path,” he said in his acceptance speech. “Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe? There is another way.”
• Emma Ayers can be reached at eayers@washingtontimes.com.