An Israeli co-director of an Oscar-winning film about settler violence said the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences refused to publicly condemn the beating and detention of the Palestinian co-director by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Writing on X, Yuval Abraham, co-director of “No Other Land,” wrote that several members of the academy, which awards the Oscars, advocated in vain for the group to make a statement denouncing the attack on Hamdan Ballal.
He said he was told that the academy would not denounce the attack because it involved other Palestinians.
“In other words, while Hamdan was clearly targeted for making No Other Land ... he was also targeted for being Palestinian — like countless others every day who are disregarded. This, it seems, gave the Academy an excuse to remain silent when a filmmaker they honored, living under Israeli occupation, needed them the most,” wrote Abraham.
He noted that the European Academy had voiced solidarity with Ballal following the attack and said it was not too late for the American Academy to do the same. The military has denied that Ballal was beaten.
