Winning Best Documentary Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards means No Other Land offers an unprecedented opportunity for Palestinian activists to have their voices heard in the midst of Israel’s genocide against their people.
The film tells the story of people from the village of Masafer Yatta in the Occupied West Bank, which has been under siege by the Israeli Defense Forces for years, with its people resisting forced displacement after the military declared the territory to be a “firing zone”.
More specifically, it documents the friendship between filmmaker and lawyer Basel Adra — who has been protesting the siege since his childhood — and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, who joins the villagers to document what is happening.
Adra and Abraham were two members of the collective behind the film’s production, alongside filmmakers Rachel Szor, who is Israeli, and Hamdan Ballal, who is Palestinian.
Only a few days after the film’s award, activists hosted a sold-out screening of No Other Land at Luna Palace Cinema, which attracted more than 470 people. It raised more than $11,000 in ticket sales, plus more than $2400 worth of donations to the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association, which provides medical support and relief to Palestinians.
The screening on March 6 was sponsored by Friends of Palestine Western Australia, the Palestinian Community of Western Australia, Jews for Palestine WA and Healthcare Workers for Palestine WA.
The organisers, a collective of women, wanted to highlight the Oscar-winning film and give people another opportunity to see it (given it had only screened for three nights during Perth Festival). One of these was Janet Parker, from Socialist Alliance and Jews for Palestine WA, who told Green Left it is particularly important to shine a light on this region of the Occupied Territories.
“The release of No Other Land comes at a time when Israel’s Operation Iron Wall is in full force,” Parker said. “This assault on the West Bank has seen the largest displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank since the 1967 war. Israel’s military is systematically emptying entire refugee camps.
“Over the last 18 months, our eyes have largely been focussed on Gaza, as we have witnessed the horror of the genocidal war that has, just now, taken on an ever-more murderous intent. Yet, all the while, Israel has been continuing its war of occupation and attrition on the Palestinian residents of the West Bank.”
Parker said that documenting the destruction of Masafer Yatta’s homes, schools and community buildings — and people’s resistance to this — provided an important insight into the wider context of occupation and cultural genocide.
“It is, in microcosm, the story of Israel’s murderous, colonialist plan to expel Palestinians from their land forever in the quest for their ‘Greater Israel’ and shines the light on the fact that our solidarity must extend not just to Gaza, but the West Bank as well,” Parker said.
“While some have called it ‘normalising’, we felt the collaboration between an Israeli Jew and a Palestinian activist, journalist and lawyer offered hope.
“It was a reflection that not all Israeli Jews support the Zionist project and here, one is involved in helping amplify the reality of Israel’s murderous project.”
Parker added that the audience appeared “profoundly moved” by the film, especially given that many had not been familiar with the unrelenting nature of Israel’s day-to-day assault on villages in the West Bank.
Parker said she was extremely happy that so many people took information about future protest actions and asked how they could become more active in the solidarity campaign.