Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, whose documentary “No Other Land” won an Oscar, was attacked by armed people and then allegedly arrested by the Israeli police in the West Bank on Monday, his co-directors said.
Co-director Yuval Abraham confirmed that his colleague Hamdan Ballal was lynched by a group of ‘settlers’.
He said the filmmaker remained missing.
He wrote on X: “I’m standing with Karam, Hamdan’s 7-year-old son, near the blood of Hamdan’s in his house, after settlers lynched him. Hamdan, co-director of our film No Other Land, is still missing after soldiers abducted him, injured and bleeding. This is how they erase Masafer Yatta.”
Abraham said the Palestinian filmmaker was injured in the West Bank attack.
In another X post, he said: “A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co-director of our film No Other Land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since.”
Attack In Hometown
The attack reportedly took place on Monday in Susiya village.
The village, which is Ballal’s hometown, is located in southern Hebron Governorate in the West Bank.
According to five Jewish American activists who witnessed the attack, the filmmaker was surrounded and attacked by masked people.
“They started throwing stones towards Palestinians and destroyed a water tank near Hamdan’s house,” Joseph, a Center for Jewish Nonviolence activist, told The Guardian.
The witnesses told the newspaper that a group of soldiers arrived at the scene alongside other settlers dressed in military uniform, who chased Hamdan to his house and handed him over to the military.
‘‘The settlers destroyed his car with stones and slashed one of the tyres,’’ another witness, Raviv, told the Guardian. ‘‘All the windows and windshields were broken.’’
According to some media reports, the director and another man named Nasser were arrested by the police.
IDF Issues Statement
The Israel Defense Forces issued a statement where it claimed a violent confrontation occurred between Palestinians and Israelis after “terrorists” threw rocks at Israeli citizens.
“IDF and Israeli Police forces arrived to disperse the confrontation, at this point, several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces,” the statement said as quoted by The Guardian.
Basel Adra, another of No Other Land’s four directors, told the newspaper: “Palestinians in the village have been under physical attack by settlers almost daily. The settlers’ violence is increasing here. Maybe it’s revenge for the movie and the Oscar.”
He described the attack as ‘horrific’.
“The police were there from the beginning and did not intervene. While the soldiers were pointing their weapons at us, the settlers started attacking the houses of the Palestinians,” he told the newspaper.
International Documentary Association Demands Immediate Release
The International Documentary Association on Monday issued a statement where it demanded the immediate release of the director.
“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 Association said.
No Other Land
Directed by four directors, the documentary No Other Land won the Oscar title at the 97th annual Academy Awards on March 2.
The film documents the forced displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta.
(With inputs from IBNS)
