Palestinians rejoice as ‘No Other Land’ wins a historic Oscar

The Oscar win for Israeli-Palestinian documentary film ‘No Other Land‘ at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday has received praise from Palestinians and anger from Israelis, due to its powerful depiction of life under occupation.

The documentary, co-directed by Palestinians Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal, and Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, centres on Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and attempted forced displacement of the residents of the community of Masafer Yatta over a four-year period.

Palestinian writer Mosab Abu Toha congratulated the win on X, writing: “I’m in tears to see the Palestinian art finally being recognized in such a way. This is well-deserved not only because of the brilliance of artists who made this documentary but because our story is just and deserves all the support and recognition there is in this world.”

The X account of Palestine’s mission to the UN posted part of the acceptance speech made by Adra, where he said: “We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people”.

“About two months ago I became a father and my hope to my daughter is that she will not have to live always fearing settlers’ violence, home demolitions, and forced displacements that my community, Masafer Yatta, is living and facing every day under Israeli occupation,” Adra also said.

Moreover, many within the anti-occupation activist community in Israel congratulated the win, including organisation Combatants for Peace, which wrote on X: “We share in their hope that this award will bring the film to millions of people and raise awareness about the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta and the West Bank.”

Co-Director of peace organisation Standing Together, Alon-Lee Green, said on X: “So proud of these Jews and Palestinians working together to expose the reality of occupation. Base, Hamdan, Yuval, Rachel – Thank you and CONGRATULATION”.

Likewise, the Palestinian head of the Israeli political party Hadash, Ayman Odeh, called the win “a powerful and important achievement”, adding that “we need a political solution that guarantees equal rights for both peoples. Because we have no other land”.

Supporters of Israel slammed the Oscar win. The editor of magazine Commentary John Podhoretz saying “congratulations to HAMAS for its Oscar win. Now let’s see them destroyed”.

Miki Zohar, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports, called the win a “sad moment for the world of cinema”, saying that “instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify the narratives that distort Israel’s image vis-à-vis international audiences”.

He added that the film was defamatory and represented “sabotage against the State of Israel”, and called for reforms to cinema funding in Israel.

Some also took to twitter to call out Abraham, with media critic Sana Saeed saying that his speech was “blurring the lines between occupied and occupier”, and “gets to the heart of how Palestinians are dehumanized by the ‘savior’ occupier – who can acknowledge their humanity only insofar as it doesn’t indict the broader colonial project”.

Another user claimed that Abraham “hijacked the moment to whine abut the Israeli rape-soldier prisoners in Gaza, grotesquely equating them with the countless Palestinian Hostages”.

They added that “Palestinian lives can only be valued by the Western media class when filtered through the genocidal liberal Zionist lens as embodied by Yuval Abrahams”.

Following Adra’s speech Abraham took to the stage to condemn Israel’s destruction in Gaza and Hamas’ holding of Israeli captives, while highlighting that in the occupied West Bank Adra, who he called his brother, is governed under military law and not free.

“There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people,” he said. “And I have to say as I’m here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block that path.

“And why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living.”