Oscar-winning Palestinian film-maker Hamdan Ballal has returned to his home in the occupied West Bank after being beaten by Israeli settlers, detained by Israeli soldiers and hospitalised for treatment of his injuries.
Suffering from bruising and dehydration, the codirector of the acclaimed documentary No Other Land told news agencies that evening “settlers and soldiers [were] attacking my home [and began] beating me and threatening me with guns”.
His Israeli codirector Yuval Abraham posted on X that Mr Ballal had injuries to the head and stomach and was bleeding. “After the assault, Hamdan was handcuffed and blindfolded all night at an army base while two soldiers beat him on the floor, his lawyer Lea Tsemel said,” Mr Abraham added
Ms Tsemel told the Guardian she was not granted access to Mr Ballal and two other detainees for several hours.
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Activists from the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence said a group of 15-20 stone-throwing Israeli settlers targeted Mr Ballal in his home village of Susya, chasing him to his house. He was arrested by the Israeli military, Agence France Presse reported.
The Israeli army said in a statement that when “terrorists” threw rocks at Israelis and the Israeli army and police arrived to end the confrontation “several terrorists began hurling rocks at the security forces”. Three Palestinians were taken for “questioning by the Israeli police” and were released on bail, the army said.
Susya is near Masafer Yatta, a collection of hamlets south of the city of Hebron where No Other Land is set. AFP television quoted Mr Ballal as saying: “After the Oscar I did not expect to be exposed to such attacks. It was a very strong attack, and the goal was to kill.”
Another codirector of No Other Land, Palestinian film-maker Basel Adra, said: “We came back from the Oscars and every day since, there is an attack on us.
“This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like a punishment,” he told the Associated Press.
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Having recorded Israeli home demolitions and settler attacks since childhood, Mr Adra was joined by Abraham to star in the film, which explores the contrasting life experiences of Palestinians and Israelis between 2019-2023.
The European Union castigated the settler attack in Susya and Mr Ballal’s arrest. “This alarming incident is part of a growing pattern of pressure on artists, threatening freedom of expression,” said the Jerusalem office of the EU representative to the Palestinian Authority.
“It also highlights the ongoing issue of settler violence in the West Bank, where perpetrators are consistently not held accountable by Israeli authorities.”
The West Bank is home to three million Palestinians and half a million Israelis who dwell in settlements illegal under international law.
Israel’s government press office did not respond to The Irish Times’s request for a comment on the attacks on and arrest of Mr Ballal.
