Palestinian Director of Oscar Winner ‘No Other Land’ Released by IDF After Arrested for Throwing Rocks at Israeli Forces

Palestinian filmmaker and photographer Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed the anti-Israel Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was released Tuesday morning after being arrested by the Israel Defense Forces the night before on suspicion of throwing rocks at Israeli security forces in the southern West Bank, according to the IDF.

“No Other Land” co-director Basel Adra, a Palestinian journalist and activist, said in a post on X that Ballal was currently being treated at a hospital in Hebron for injuries sustained “all over his body” during a confrontation between Palestinians and Israeli security forces on Monday night.

Following his arrest, a spokesperson for the IDF said that, “contrary to claims, no Palestinian was apprehended from inside an ambulance.” The statement directly denies claims made by “No Other Land” co-director and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham about Ballal’s arrest. On Monday, Abraham claimed in a message on X that Ballal was “assaulted and beaten up” by a group of settlers” in the West Bank. Abraham was reportedly not at the scene of the incident. Adra, who lives in Masafer Yatta, added in a post on X that Ballal was allegedly “abducted” by IDF soldiers while he was “injured and bleeding.”

“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,” Abraham said.

Early Tuesday morning, Abraham posted an update on X, saying that Ballal was held at a police station in Kiryat Arba, and that “after being handcuffed all night and beaten in a military base,” he was released.

“No Other Land” is a documentary about Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta, a collection of villages in the southern West Bank that were illegally built on land that Israel had claimed for a military training zone in the 1980s. The film is highly critical of Israel’s military actions and portrays Israel as violent land grabbers who forcibly evict and displace Palestinians from their homes in Masafer Yatta. The film was made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four young activists – Abraham, Ballal, Adra, and Israeli cinematographer Rachel Szor. Earlier this month, all four were at the Oscars to accept the award for best documentary feature film for “No Other Land.”

After news of Monday night’s incident surfaced online, anti-Israel actor Mark Ruffalo voiced support for Ballal on social media. He commented on an Instagram post by IndieWire about Ballal’s arrest and said in part that “every film maker and academy member should be acting together in protest.”

The IDF spokesperson said in a statement that on Monday night, “several terrorists hurled rocks at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles,” near the Palestinian village of Susya, located in the Masafer Yatta area in the West Bank. Afterward, a “violent confrontation” broke out, which involved “mutual rock-hurling” between Palestinians and Israelis, the IDF said. Videos purportedly showing the violent clashes were shared on social media by Anna Lippman, an activist with the pro-Palestinian group Center for Jewish Nonviolence who was targeted with violence at the scene.

“IDF and Israeli Police forces arrived to disperse the confrontation, at this point, several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces,” the military spokesperson said. “In response, the forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation. The detainees were taken for further questioning by the Israel Police … Among the detainees is Hamdan Bilal [sic], who is suspected of hurling rocks at the forces.” The spokesperson added that an Israeli citizen was injured in the incident and “was evacuated to receive medical treatment.”

“No Other Land” does not have a theatrical distributor in the United States but did screen at independent cinemas in selected cities. After it began screening at an independent theater in Miami Beach, Florida, the city’s mayor proposed evicting the theater from city property and cutting its funding.

Mayor Steven Meiner withdrew his proposal after it faced backlash from many community members.

The post Palestinian Director of Oscar Winner ‘No Other Land’ Released by IDF After Arrested for Throwing Rocks at Israeli Forces first appeared on Algemeiner.com.