It was Monday that the Palestinian village of Susiya in the Masafer Yatta area was attacked by dozens of settlers, according to AP. One of those abused was the Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal. He must have suffered injuries to his head and stomach, according to the activist group Center for Jewish Nonviolence. The settlers must also have struck car windows, destroyed water tanks and stolen safety cameras.
The Israeli military has announced that they have arrested three Palestinians, suspected of throwing stones at Israeli forces, and a civilian Israel that was all involved in a “violent confrontation”. The military has handed over the persons to Israeli police for interrogation.
According to witnesses in place, Ballal was one of those brought away by the Israeli military. His colleague, the Israeli director Yuval Abraham, Writes on X. that Ballal was removed by soldiers from the ambulance where he received care for his injuries.
The colleague: “Revenge because we made the movie”
Ballal is one of the directors of the movie “No other country” which was awarded an Oscar for best documentary film 2025. The documentary “No Other Land” takes place in the village of Masafer Yatta on the West Bank, where the viewer gets to take part in both the destruction of the village and the friendship between the Palestinian activist Basel Adra and the director Yuval ABS
Basel Adra, who also directed the film, witnessed the event. He says that about two dozen settlers, some of which were masked, carried weapons or were dressed in Israeli uniform, attacked the village. According to Adra, the soldiers directed their weapons at the Palestinians, while settlers threw stones.
Basel Adra tells AP that a settlers, who attacked the village on repeated occasions, went to Ballal’s home with the military. According to Adra, soldiers shot in the air and Ballal’s wife heard how her husband was beaten and screamed: “I die”. Ballal should then have been removed with handcuffs and blindfolds.
– We came back from the Oscars gala and every day since then there has been an attack on us, Adra tells AP and adds::
– This can be their revenge against us because we made the movie. It feels like a punishment.
Can be prosecuted for crime
The film “No other country” has won several international awards and was hailed at Berlin’s international film festival in 2024, but has also aroused anger in Israel and abroad.
Terese Cristiansson is TV4’s Middle Eastern correspondent.
– Many on the West Bank have been on the same thing and we still do not know exactly what happened, but of course many will think that this particular arrest is a revenge for the film, a clear silence of culture and freedom of opinion. It remains to be seen if he is released or what he may be charged with, says Terese Cristiansson.