LOS ANGELES, March 3, 2025 (WAFA) – The Palestinian film "No Other Land" won the 97th Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The film documents the suffering of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, due to the ongoing attacks of the Israeli occupation forces.
The film was directed by Palestinian activist Basil Adra, 29, and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, 30.
The film shows Adra resisting the forced displacement of Palestinian families in Masafer Yatta as well as the demolitions of homes and housing carried out by the occupation in Masafer.
"No Other Land" also sheds light on the story of a Palestinian family displaced by the Israeli occupation government from their home in Masafer in favor of colonial expansion in the region.
After receiving the award at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood in Los Angeles, Adra said: "The film (No Other Land) reflects the harsh reality that we have been suffering for decades, and we are still resisting it, and we call on the world to take serious measures to stop the injustice and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."
“Two months ago I became a father and my hope to my daughter is that she will not have to live the same life I am living now, always fearing settler violence, home demolition and forced displacements that my community, Masafer Yatta, is living and facing under the occupation," he said.
“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because our voices are stronger together. We see the destruction of Gaza and its people, and it has to end,” Abraham said.
“When I look at Basil, I see my brother, but we are not equal. We live in a regime where I am free under civil law and Basil is subject to military law that destroys his life, and he cannot control it.”
“There is a different way… a political solution without ethnic supremacy, while ensuring the national rights of both our peoples… and I must say while I am here, the foreign policy of this country [the United States] is helping to block that way,” he said.
He concluded his speech by saying: “Why? Don’t you see that our lives are intertwined? And that my people can be truly safe if the people of Basil are truly free and safe? There is another way… It is not too late.”
K.T
