'No Other Land' directors plead for an end to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

“No Other Land,” a portrait of a West Bank village under Israeli military occupation, won the Oscar for best documentary feature at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday. In their acceptance speech, two of the film’s four directors pleaded for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter [is] she will not have to live the same life I am living now,” said co-director Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist who is from Masafer Yatta, a region of the West Bank. 

Adra went on to describe the issues faced by his village, including home demolitions and displacement. “We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” he said.

Yuval Abraham, an Israeli investigative journalist who co-directed “No Other Land,” described Adra as his “brother” but decried that they are considered “unequal.”

“We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life,” Abraham said.

Abraham called for an end to the violence that has consumed the Middle East for decades and worsened after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli military offensive in Gaza.

“We made this film, Palestinian and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” Abraham said. “We see each other. The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people must end. The Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of Oct. 7 must be freed.”

Abraham urged the world to seek “a different path, a political solution, without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.” He criticized the U.S. government, accusing the “foreign policy in this country” of “helping to block this path.”

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“No Other Land” was one of the best-reviewed documentary features of last year. It did not secure theatrical distribution in the United States — a fact that the filmmakers attributed to political sensitivities around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, “No Other Land” screened at independent cinemas in select cities; digital screeners were made available for academy voters.

Adra and Abraham’s joint acceptance speech was one of the few explicitly political moments of the Oscars ceremony. Conan O’Brien, making his debut as host, largely shied away from jokes about world events or domestic politics.

However, “Conclave” screenwriter Peter Straughan wore a blue and yellow pin in honor of Ukraine. Daryl Hannah, presenting one of the awards, briefly expressed solidarity with Ukraine as it repels Russia’s invasion.

The expressions of support followed a tense meeting at the White House on Friday during which President Trump Donald and Vice President JD Vance clashed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.