No Other Land

Palestinian lawyer and journalist Basel Adra's entire life has been lived under an occupation that denies him the right to practice the profession he earned a degree in or travel outside of the West Bank. The twenty-something son of activist parents remembers his father being arrested for the first time when he was only five years old. At the age of seven he was protesting with his mother in a field, trying to save the homes in the twenty villages of Masafer Yatta, an area settled by Palestinian farmers in the 19th century, now decreed Army training grounds by the Israeli Government. After meeting and forming a friendship with like-minded Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham, Basel's documentation of cruelty, devastation and even murder begins to see the light for people who have "No Other Land."

Laura's Review: A-

It says a lot about the state of the world and a failure of courage that this Oscar nominated documentary critical of Israel still has no distributor. The good news is it is still being released in theaters across the country and it is an important, necessary piece of docu-journaling, one which often refutes official statements. Any lack of polish in the filmmaking is counteracted by the dangerous conditions the filmmakers faced in achieving it, evinced by not one but two instances of Israelis shooting peaceful and unarmed Palestinians in their presence.

We meet Basel driving towards his home as darkness settles, panicked phone calls urging him to hurry as Israelis vehicles gather. His humble home still stands above the gas station that supplies the community and is his father Nasser's livelihood. Nasser is currently jailed again in an Israeli military prison (we are not told why, although his activism is obviously the reason).

The film, written, directed, edited and produced by the Palestinian/Israeli collaborative of Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor, is really about two things - a horrifying look at the inhumanity shown the Palestinians by the Israelis and the burgeoning relationship between two men from opposite sides of the conflict. The latter is not entirely a lovefest because while Yuval frequently is harassed along with the Palestinians he is supporting by Israeli troops, he also comes under fire from many who tell him his own relatives may be tearing down their homes (it is pointed out more than once that while Palestinians may only get construction jobs in Israel, building their homes, Israelis turn around and demolish theirs). And while Basel and Yuval are often seen in comfortable companionship, there is also some strain when Yuval leaves, his ability to travel at will in sharp contrast to Basel's situation ('Are we OK?' he asks pulling away one night as a glum looking Basel scrolls through his phone, refusing to look up.)

But what Basel and Yuval have documented is outrageous no matter how you slice it, a torrent of malevolent cruelty. A man named Ilan comes in issuing demolition orders and everyone from children to elderly parents watch as their homes, playgrounds and schools are razed, often with little or no warning and often purposefully destroying personal goods in the process (one woman recounts how all her kitchen wares were simply plowed into the ground). Electricity is cut and when Israelis try to drag a generator away (for what reason???), they shoot the man trying to defend it. Harun Abu Aram is paralyzed and left with no roof over his head, his mother later lamenting that although he has received much media attention, no one has even provided him a clean room - she prays for God to take him (he does). Sheep pens are destroyed, wells cemented over, water lines cut, building tools seized. When illegal settlers begin to attack, they are joined by Israeli soldiers. The people who have refused to leave their land, living in caves, finally begin to give up when settlers shoot them in cold blood.

Of course the Trumpian claims of 'military training' are revealed a sham, a secret government document admitting 'all firing zones were created to reserve the land for Israeli settlers' ("The Bibi Files" is highly recommended for a cause and effect double bill). "No Other Land" demands condemnation for these acts, but who is willing to stand up in today's global climate?

"No Other Land" is being released in theaters on 2/7/2025.