Israel arrests ‘No Other Land’ director Hamdan Ballal
Pro-Palestine and human rights activists took to social media in outrage after finding out that Israel has arrested Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian director behind the Oscar-winning Gaza documentary “No Other Land.”
Ballal was attacked by 15 masked Israeli settlers at his home in Susya, a village located in southern Hebron Governorate, West Bank, as witnessed and filmed by five Jewish American activists.
One of the activists said, “They started throwing stones towards Palestinians and destroyed a water tank near Hamdan’s house.” The activist didn’t disclose their full name for extra safety measures but stated further that the Israeli settlers who had soldiers among them chased Hamdan to his home and arrested him.
Another witness added that they destroyed the “No Other Land” director’s car by slashing its tires and breaking all its windows and windshields.
Israel arrests ‘No Other Land’ director Hamdan Ballal
The attack left Hamdan Ballal injured with blood visible on the floor due to suffering a hit on the head, according to footage taken by the Jewish activists.
He was later arrested alongside another man named Nasser and taken to the police station. While the reason still remains unknown on why the arrest took place, Israel’s IDF made a statement referring to Ballal as a “terrorist” and accusing him alongside three other Palestinians of “hurling rocks”.
“IDF and Israeli Police forces arrived to disperse the confrontation, at this point, several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces.”
The statement added, “The forces apprehended three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at them, as well as an Israeli civilian involved in the violent confrontation. The detainees were taken for further questioning by the Israel Police.”
A video of the incident was widely shared on several social media platforms:
Basel Adra, another of “No Other Land’s” directors said that the arrest could’ve been made due to the documentary’s global success and recognition at the Oscars.
Adra who also witnessed the attack described it as “horrific,” adding that the Israeli settlers threatened them with weapons. This is not the first time that Israeli settlers attacked the “No Other Land” team since Adra suffered a similar fate in February.
Yuval Abraham, one of the Israeli directors behind “No Other Land” took to Musk’s X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote that the soldiers who attacked Ballal also invaded the ambulance he called and has been missing since then.
