Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers make defiant speech after winning best documentary Oscar

Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham accept the Documentary Feature Film award for "No Other Land" onstage during the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 2 in Hollywood, California. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)

A joint Israeli-Palestinian team which made a film chronicling the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in the occupied West Bank delivered a passionate speech calling out injustices faced by Palestinians on Sunday night after they won the Oscar for best documentary.

“No Other Land” tells the story of the continued demolition by Israeli authorities of Masafer Yatta, a collection of villages in the Hebron mountains of the West Bank where Basel Adra, one of the directors, lives with his family.

The documentary follows the Israeli government’s attempt to evict the villagers by force, having claimed the land for a military training facility and firing range in 1981. Viewers see the local playground being torn down, the killing of Adra’s brother by Israeli soldiers, and other attacks by Jewish settlers while the community tries to survive.

The film also shows the human connection between Adra and the film’s other creator, Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham.

While filming for “No Other Land” wrapped before Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, prompting Israel to launch its war in Gaza, the documentary’s themes are especially relevant during a time of heightened conflict in the Middle East.

Palestinians in the West Bank have faced evictions and the encroachment of Jewish settlers for decades.

Hours before the film’s Oscar win, residents of the West Bank area depicted in the documentary were attacked by Israeli settlers who were accompanied by Israeli forces, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Israeli soldiers detained three people in the area and settlers attacked residents of the village of Khirbet Asfi, in Masafer Yatta, throwing stones, destroying solar panels and damaging water tanks, Wafa reported, citing the head of the Susiya village council Jihad Nawajaa.

Images obtained by CNN showed several solar panels and a home security camera which appeared to have been damaged by stones.

CNN has contacted Israel’s military for comment.

‘Harsh reality’

Israel has ramped up its military campaign in the West Bank, displacing roughly 40,000 Palestinians since late January, according to the United Nations, with Israel’s defense minister promising to occupy large areas for the remainder of the year.

The Israeli military says it is targeting Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank who have mounted attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians. But Palestinians and human rights groups say the expanded assault is increasingly indiscriminate – killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in a manner that is consistent with collective punishment.

The filmmakers used their acceptance speeches to highlight the effects of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Adra said the film “reflects the harsh reality that we have been suffering for decades, a reality that continues until today, and we call on the world to take concrete steps to end this injustice.”

Abraham called for the end of the “terrible destruction of Gaza” and the release of Israeli hostages.

“We created this film together, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” he added.

The film has racked up several awards in the past year. But despite its critical acclaim, its creators have come under fire for their comments on the war in Gaza.

High-level German and Israeli officials criticized Abraham after he called for a ceasefire upon accepting the award for best documentary at the Berlin International Film Festival last February. Abraham said he subsequently received death threats.

Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports called the film’s Oscar win “a sad moment for the world of cinema” in a post to social media Monday.

“Instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify narratives that distort Israel’s image vis-à-vis international audiences,” Miki Zohar wrote.

“Freedom of expression is an important value, but turning the defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art—it is sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war.”

Adra, a new father, said in his Oscar acceptance speech Sunday that he hopes his daughter “won’t have to live the life I’m living now: always anxious, fearing home demolitions, settler violence, and the threat of forced displacement that we, in Masafer Yatta, face every day living under Israeli occupation.”

“When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are not equal,” Abraham said. “We live under a regime where I enjoy freedom under civil law, and where he is governed by military laws.”