Up to date 7:00 PM ET Hamdan Ballal, one of many Oscar-winning co-directors of the Israeli-Palestinian documentary “No Different Land,” was attacked by settlers whereas within the West Financial institution after which taken by troopers, in accordance with Ballal’s different co-director Yuval Abraham. The Guardian corroborated it with a report Monday that Ballal was arrested by the Israeli navy after being attacked by a gaggle of 15 masked settlers who attacked his home in Susya within the Masafer Yatta space south of Hebron.
Abraham on Monday, March 24 first posted on X that Ballal was “lynched” by a gaggle of settlers, presumably referring to Israeli settlers dwelling on Palestinian land within the West Financial institution, and was then arrested by troopers who “invaded” his ambulance. He added there was no signal of Ballal since.
“A gaggle of settlers simply lynched Hamdan Ballal, co-director of our movie ‘No Different Land.’ They beat him and he has accidents in his head and abdomen, bleeding. Troopers invaded the ambulance he known as, and took him. No signal of him since,” Abraham posted on X.
In a subsequent publish written in Hebrew and translated through X, Abraham stated, “A gaggle of settlers attacked the house of Hamdan Ballal, who directed the Oscar-winning movie ‘No Different Land’ with me. They beat him within the head and throughout his physique. Whereas wounded and bleeding, troopers entered the ambulance he had known as and arrested him. He has since disappeared and it’s unclear whether or not he’s receiving medical therapy or what is occurring to him.”
Shortly after his preliminary publish, Abraham shared one other disturbing video of a masked man who he claimed was a part of the “lynch mob” that attacked Ballal’s village, including that Ballal’s location continues to be unknown. The video exhibits the person attacking a gaggle of American activists (it’s unclear why the activists are within the area), cracking their automotive’s windshield with a stone.
A number of of these American activists described the scene to the Guardian, saying that the settlers threw stones and destroyed the water tank close to Ballal’s home, that his automotive’s tires have been slashed and his windshield was damaged, and {that a} group of troopers arrived on the scene alongside different settlers wearing navy uniforms, who then handed Ballal over to the navy.
The movie’s different co-director Basel Adra additionally shared a photograph from the scene, saying he was with Ballal’s 7-year-old son.
‘I’m standing with Karam, Hamdan’s 7-year-old son, close to the blood of Hamdan’s in his home, after settlers lynched him. Hamdan, co-director of our movie ‘No Different Land,’ continues to be lacking after troopers kidnapped him, injured and bleeding. That is how they erase Masafer Yatta,” Adra wrote.
Adra spoke to The Guardian and stated the violence within the area is “growing” and settlers assault “virtually each day,” main him to surprise if it’s “revenge” in response to “No Different Land” successful the Oscar.
“There have been dozens of settlers along with the Israeli troopers and so they have been threatening us with weapons,” he advised The Guardian Monday. “The police have been there from the start and didn’t intervene. Whereas the troopers have been pointing their weapons at us, the settlers began attacking the homes of the Palestinians.”
Ballal is a Palestinian photographer and farmer from Susya, which is a settlement in Space C of the West Financial institution. Ballal simply six hours previous to Abraham’s publish on X shared a photograph and caption on Instagram from Susya, which described one other settler assault in opposition to three Palestinian shepherds and confirmed a photograph of a shepherd who he stated was hospitalized with a head and ear harm attributable to a stone. He wrote in a separate publish from every week prior that Susya is “beneath steady terrorist assaults” together with 10 totally different extreme assaults reported for the reason that begin of 2025.
“No Different Land” received the Oscar for Finest Documentary Characteristic earlier this month, the place Abraham and Ballal have been each in attendance together with their different co-director Basel Adra. The movie has been within the information once more of late after the Mayor of Miami Seashore known as on a neighborhood artwork home theater to cease screening the movie, believing it to be antisemitic, and sparking a public outcry.
IndieWire will present updates of this story as they arrive to mild. We’ve reached out to reps for Cinetic Media, which has dealt with publicity for the movie.