Palestinian director Hamdan Ballal believes he was attacked by Israeli settlers because he won an Oscar for his documentary ‘No Other Land,’ which provides a powerful testimony about the occupied West Bank.
The Oscar-winning film director was attacked outside his home in Susiya, a village in the occupied territory. On Wednesday, he described the incident as a “brutal attack.”
“I thought my last hour had come due to the severity of the blows… I think it happened because I won the Oscar,” he told French news agency AFP in Susiya.
Ballal sustained injuries during the attack, and was detained by the Israeli army. He was released on Tuesday.
The Israeli army said that three people had been arrested “for throwing stones.” However, members of an NGO who witnessed the incident reported the attack on Ballal by Israeli settlers, a frequent occurrence in the occupied West Bank.
Ballal’s detention attracted significant international media attention.
The Israeli co-director of ‘No Other Land,’ Yuval Abraham, criticised the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, for not reacting to the incident.
Abraham, too, believes Ballal was targeted because of the documentary and because he is Palestinian.
