This is either the worst time or the best time for releasing the documentary No Other Land. It's the worst time if you're sympathetic to Israel's attempts to push Hamas out of Gaza, and the best, if you view Israel as an oppressive power dedicated to keeping Palestinians under control.
Filmed over three years beginning in 2019, No Other Land doesn't take place in Gaza and most of the movie was filmed before October 7 when Israel suffered a brutal terrorist attack, but it likely will feed the already widespread outrage about the ensuing war.
No Other Land deals with Israeli attempts to clear Masafer Yatta, a community consisting of 20 villages that are home to about 1,000 Palestinians. The battle over Masafer Yatta and its inhabitants has been raging for years with Israel claiming the area as an IDF training ground.
The Israeli decision, supported by Israeli courts after decades of wrangling, has led to the eviction of Masafer Yatta's residents from their homes and the destruction of many of those same dwellings.
The disturbing sight of bulldozers destroying the modest homes of Palestinians makes you think that there must be a better way to resolve a land dispute than forcing the newly homeless to take up residence in caves.
The film, it should be noted, is the work of a collective composed of two Palestinians and two Israelis.
The movie focuses on Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist who opposes Israeli attempts to clear an area the Palestinians view as their long-standing home. Israeli operations include the demolition of houses and, late in the documentary, the even more disturbing destruction of a school built by Palestinians.
During the movie, we also meet Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist trying to draw attention to the Palestinian story. He hasn't had much success.
The movie involves provocative discussions about the divisions that separate the two men despite their shared convictions. Abraham, who speaks Arabic and whose politics are clear, is free to move around Israel and the West Bank while Adra's movements are restricted.
Questions arise about whether the imbalance ever can be overcome.
Violence, of course, proves terrifying and costly. A Palestinian man is paralyzed after being shot while trying to prevent IDF soldiers from seizing the generator that powers his home.
Equally unsettling are scenes of Israeli settlers -- civilians not IDF soldiers -- attacking Palestinians in what looks like wanton vigilantism.
For the record: Masafer Yatta is part of Area C which came under Israeli military and civil control as part of the Oslo Accords of 1993. Israel, however, has been in the territory since the six-day war of 1967. Palestinians argue that their families have lived in Masafer Yatta for generations.
Some would argue that the onscreen events speak for themselves and that no further elaboration was needed. I'd say that some broader context would have helped, as would have the addition of a few more Israeli voices.
A cautionary note: I wouldn't take the film as a blanket explanation for what's happening in Israel today or for the long-standing enmity between Palestinians and Israelis, but there’s no denying the movie's power.
No Other Land, by the way, has been nominated for an Academy Award in the best-documentary category. For the record: The film has been available for free viewing in Israel. No American distributor has acquired the film, which is being self-distributed and thus far, has been seen in film festivals and in smaller venues.
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