On 24 March, Israeli far-right Zionist settlers in the occupied West Bank attacked and lynched Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed the Oscar-winning No Other Land. Occupation soldiers then abducted him from the ambulance that had come to treat him for his injuries.
Hamdan Ballal: lynched and abducted
At the time of writing, there had been “no sign of him“, and Hamdan Ballal’s lawyer hadn’t received permission to speak to him. The masked settlers also targeted a group of Jewish activists who were at the scene.
No Other Land is a powerful documentary about Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta area in the West Bank. It shows the terrorisation of Palestinian communities by Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers. It was arguably more palatable for Western audiences and award givers because of the joint production by Palestinians and Israelis.
Co-directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham shared information about the settler attack on Ballal:
I'm standing with Karam, Hamdan's 7 year old son, near the blood of Hamdan's in his house, after settlers lynched him. Hamdan, co-director of our film No Other Land, is still missing after soldiers abducted him, injured and bleeding. This is how they erase Masafer Yatta. pic.twitter.com/72pT3UF3kj
— Basel Adra (@basel_adra) March 24, 2025
A group of settlers just lynched Hamdan Ballal, co director of our film no other land. They beat him and he has injuries in his head and stomach, bleeding. Soldiers invaded the ambulance he called, and took him. No sign of him since.
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 24, 2025
The group of armed KKK-like masked settlers that lynched No Other Land director Hamdan Ballal (still missing), caught here on camera. pic.twitter.com/kFGFxSEanY
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 24, 2025
https://twitter.com/yuval_abraham/status/1904250011929768348
A member of Israel’s parliament also struggled to discover details of Ballal’s whereabouts. And he said:
Under the tyrannical occupation, even the Oscar can’t protect you from harm.
Hamdan Ballal, the academy awards winning Palestinian director and journalist was attacked in his home as part of a large scale pogrom by settlers.
Not only was he wounded severely, he was kidnapped directly out of the ambulance during his medical evacuation, and arrested by… pic.twitter.com/IEYfFNgOnR
— Ofer Cassif עופר כסיף عوفر كسيف (@ofercass) March 24, 2025
Israeli state and settler terrorism are one and the same
Since October 2023, there have been roughly four acts of settler violence every day in the West Bank. And as Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem has pointed out, settler violence is the same as state violence:
the Israeli apartheid regime and its representatives actively aid and abet the settlers’ violence as part of a strategy to cement the takeover of Palestinian land.
“Ongoing, comprehensive documentation” of settler violence, meanwhile, “has had almost no effect on settler violence against Palestinians, which has long since become part and parcel of life under the occupation in the West Bank”. The group has stressed:
When the violence occurs with permission and assistance from the Israeli authorities and under its auspices, it is state violence. The settlers are not defying the state; they are doing its bidding.
The independent International Crisis Group has also outlined how settlers “terrorise” Palestinians, “often with state support”. The state itself has pushed for further illegal settlement in the West Bank for decades, it explained. And much settler violence:
aims to dispossess Palestinians, expand settlements and extinguish any hope of Palestinian statehood.
This aggression:
became more systematic after the Oslo accords, primarily due to determination among settlers to prevent the possibility of a Palestinian state.
In late 2024, the organisation said:
settlers have seized thousands of acres of West Bank land from Palestinians over the past year alone.
Featured image via screengrab
