Oscar Winner, Hamdan Ballal, Attacked by Israeli Settlers, Is Now Released After Being Detained
Director of the Oscar Award-winning film No Other Land, Hamdan Ballal, was attacked by Israeli settlers before being detained by the Israeli military, from which he was freed the following day.
A few weeks ago, Selena Gomez and Samuel L. Jackson announced that the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature would go to No Other Land, becoming the first Palestinian film to win an Oscar. The Oscars audience gave a standing ovation as co-directors Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham gave powerful acceptance speeches.
Adra stated, “About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter [is] that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now. Always fearing surveillance, home demolitions, and forced displacements that my community, Masafer Yatta, is living and facing every day under the Israeli occupation.”
The film No Other Land documents the exact oppression Adra mentions, focusing on the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta and the bond between Adra and Abraham, who live such different lives because of it.
This week highlighted that when Abraham posted, “A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. 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.”
Note: Hamdan was assaulted and beaten up, not murdered. My use of ‘lynched’ was a mistranslation from Hebrew (English isn’t my first language). He’s injured and being held at a police station in a settlement. They did not let his lawyer speak to him yet so we don’t know more.
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 25, 2025
Abraham posted this just two weeks after holding the coveted Oscar statuette, stating, “When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal… Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe.”
He later posted a video to his X account of masked Israeli settlers throwing rocks.
The group of armed KKK-like masked settlers that lynched No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal (still missing), caught here on camera. pic.twitter.com/kFGFxSEanY
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 24, 2025
The attack was stated to have occurred during Iftar, when Muslims gather in the evening to break their fast during Ramadan. This comes after Human Rights Watch reports of an increase in Israeli settler violence.
The next day, Ballal was freed from the Israel Defense Forces’ detainment and was able to share his story in a West Bank hospital.
The detainment was stated to be because of reports that Palestinians were throwing rocks, but Ballal has stated he did not commit these actions, sharing with ABC News, “I didn’t throw stones, I didn’t do any problems with the settlers. The settlers came attacking me and beating me. That’s it.”
The Israeli police stated that this case is still being developed.
Ballal shared that the soldiers had beaten and blindfolded him in detainment and stated in an interview, “I realized they were attacking me specifically. When they say ‘Oscar,’ you understand. When they say your name, you understand.”
Fellow Palestinian director Adra also believes the attacks were targeted, sharing with Reuters, “Because [Ballal] carries his camera and documents what is going on, I think he is targeted and he was avenged this way at night.”
No further updates in this incident have been made.
