- Hamdan Ballal said he was attacked by settlers and soldiers pointed guns at him.
- No Other Land Co-Director Calls 'Cruelty' Life-Threatening
SUSYA, Palestinian Territories: Oscar-winning Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal said Wednesday he was attacked by Israeli settlers for accepting a prestigious award, calling the “brutality” life-threatening.
Israeli police released Ballal on Tuesday after he was detained the previous day for allegedly “throwing stones” following what activists described as an attack by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Ballal co-directed No Other Earth, which won this year's Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
The film depicts the forced displacement of Palestinians by Israeli troops and settlers in Masafer Yatta, an area that Israel declared a closed military zone in the 1980s.
Ballal said he was attacked by settlers and soldiers pointed guns at him.
“I felt like these were the last minutes of my life, that I would lose it because of the brutality of the beatings,” he said in a video interview with AFP.
“My head was trapped between the settler's leg, the door and the wall, as if it were a football.”
He said the “brutality” of the attack “made me feel like it was because I won an Oscar.”
While in custody at an Israeli military center, Ballal noticed that soldiers would mention his name next to the word “Oscar” during shift changes.
“Although I couldn't understand everything they said, I clearly recognized my name and the word 'Oscar', since these words do not change in Hebrew,” he said.
Three Palestinians were arrested on Monday for “throwing stones” during clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in the southern West Bank village of Susiya, the Israeli military said.
The village is located near Masafer Yatta, a group of villages south of the city of Hebron where No Other Land takes place.
Yuval Abraham, one of the documentary's directors, criticized the American Academy for its silence on the issue.
“Unfortunately, the American Academy, which gave us the Oscar three weeks ago, refused to publicly support Hamdan Ballal when he was beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers,” Abraham said on Channel X.
“While Hamdan was clearly persecuted for making No Other Land… he was also persecuted for being Palestinian – like countless others who are ignored every day.”
“It seems to have given the Academy an excuse to remain silent when the director they are honoring, who lives under Israeli occupation, needs them most,” Abraham added.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “allegations that detainees were beaten overnight in an IDF detention facility have proven to be completely baseless.”
“IDF forces provided medical assistance to the detainees… and the detainees remained in the military detention center in handcuffs throughout the night, in accordance with operational protocol,” the statement said, and after interrogation they were released on bail.
Activists from the anti-occupation group “Center for Jewish Non-Violence” said they witnessed violence in Susiya.
Foreign activists regularly visit Masafer Yatta communities to accompany Palestinians as they tend their crops or herd their sheep, and to document incidents of settler violence.
Rights groups have said there has been a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians, as well as nearly half a million Israelis who live in settlements that are illegal under international law.
