No Other Land was recorded between 2019 and 2023 by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, and shows the destruction of Masafer Yatta in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers. After their homes are demolished, they have to live in caves. Every time they rebuild their homes, the Israelis demolish them again.
The Masafer Yatta community demonstrated resilience, endurance and determination amidst the attacks by Israeli soldiers, and settler terrorists. It is bad enough when a Palestinian is shot by an Israeli soldier, but when civilians, can shoot someone with complete impunity, that is something I find very difficult to accept. It is on par with lynch mobs.
The Oscar winning film could not find a U.S. distributor after being picked up for distribution in 24 countries, a situation which has been compared to soft censorship.
In February 2025, No Other Land director, Basel Arda was beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
On March 24 2025, co-director Hamdan Ballal was attacked by Israeli settlers at his home in the West Bank, and suffered head injuries. When he was being taken away in an ambulance the IDF invaded it, and detained him for a day.
There have been some criticisms of the film, which is to be expected, but my own opinion is that the film demonstrated the type of people whose company I would gladly share, being oppressed in an intolerable situation by the type of people who I find detestable.
Ronnie's Blog 