Filmmakers received death threats after Pro P-a-l-e-s-t-i-n-e Speech
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The documentary film ‘No other land’ awarded best documentary award at Berlin Film Festival. ‘No other land’ depicts Palestinian displacement from a village in the occupied West Bank amid illegal Israeli settlers’ violence and army raids.
Filmmakers Abraham and Rachel Szor from Israel along with Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal from Palestine, made their directorial debut with the 2024 documentary No Other Land which details the expulsion of Palestinians from occupied Masafer Yatta. The documentary also explores the difference in Adra and Abraham’s living conditions after they befriend each other.
“I’m here celebrating the award, but also (it’s) very hard for me to celebrate when there are tens of thousands of my people being slaughtered, massacred by Israel in Gaza,”
Basel Adra, the co-director of No Other Land, said on Saturday night.He thanked the jury and the festival for the award and called on Germany to change its policy toward Israel and Gaza.He thanked the jury and the festival for the award and called on Germany to change its policy toward Israel and Gaza.
Content:
A young Palestinian activist named Basel Adra has been resisting the forced displacement of his people by Israel’s military in Masafer Yatta, since he was a child. He records the gradual destruction of his homeland, where Israeli soldiers are tearing down homes and evicting their inhabitants. He befriends Yuval, an Israeli journalist who helps him in his struggle. They form an unexpected bond, but their friendship is challenged by the huge gap between their living conditions: Basel faces constant oppression and violence, while Yuval enjoys freedom and security.
Death Threats to Film Makers:
Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham received death threats after a 30-second clip from his speech accepting the Berlinale Documentary Film Award was aired in Israel and dubbed “anti-Semitic”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Abraham said:
“Our film No Other Land on occupied Masafer Yatta’s brutal expulsion won best documentary in Berlinale. Israel’s Channel 11 aired this 30 second segment from my speech, insanely called it ‘anti semitic’ – and I’ve been receiving death threats since”.
During his speech, Abraham said:
“We are standing in front of you — me and Basel are the same age, I am Israeli, Basel is Palestinian. In two days we will go back to a land where we are not equal. I am living under civilian law and Basel is under military law”.
Continuing to highlight the disparity between Palestinians and Israelis, he stated,
“We live 30 minutes from one another but I have voting rights and Basel is not having voting rights [sic]. I’m free to move where I want in this land, Basel is — like millions of Palestinians — locked in the West Bank.This situation of apartheid between us, this inequality, it has to end. we ask how we can make a change to end the occupation, to move for a political situation and we don’t really have an answer but I think one answer is for people to really stand up. There are a lot of powerful people in this room. There are a lot of ministers and people whose voices are heard,We need to call for a ceasefire, we need to call for a political solution to end the occupation,” he highlighted.
Adra also took the mic and said:
“I’m here celebrating this award but it’s also very hard for me to celebrate when there are tens of thousands of my people being slaughtered and massacred by Israel in Gaza. Massafer Yatta, my community is also being erased by Israeli bulldozers, I ask one thing for Germany as I am in Berlin here: to respect the UN calls and stop sending weapons to Israel,”
Here is the link of film No Other Land https://youtu.be/GiDP5l27ml0
Have a look at what happened in PSL 9 https://inshort.pk/psl-2024/psl-9-criticism-over-bars-on-gaza-banner/