Oscar-Winning Palestinian Filmmaker Hamdan Ballal Brutally Beaten in Mob Attack by Israeli Settlers

Hamdan Ballal, the Oscar-winning Palestinian director of No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, arrested by Israeli soldiers and held overnight. The group entered their village and started the assault shortly after residents broke their daily Ramadan fast. Ballal’s No Other Land co-director Basel Adra witnessed the attack. He tells Democracy Now! that “settlers and soldiers together attacked [Ballal] physically, brutally, and abducted him,” while soldiers pointed guns and fired warning shots at a group of villagers including women and children. Ballal screamed “I’m dying” as he was being beaten. “Although the Israeli military has accused Ballal and two other Palestinians of throwing stones at soldiers, another eyewitness, Jewish American peace activist Anna Lippman, says the accusations are groundless. “The double standard is so strong here in the West Bank that Palestinians know that if they were to touch a stone, that could mean their life.” Adra calls on international intervention to end the violent occupation of Masafer Yatta, where “almost every day there is [an] attack.” Since this interview was conducted, Ballal has reportedly been released from Israeli custody and returned to his family.