No Other Land

Regardless of your position on the rights and wrongs of this Israeli/Palestinian conflict, there is no other conclusion to draw here but that the ordinary families living on the West Bank are being treated appallingly by the Israeli state. To see little more than adobe one-room houses bulldozed and domestic water pipes sabotaged is little short of outrageous and no wonder the troops were doing their best to stop filming. This documentary focuses on the struggles of Yuval and Basel as they try to prevent the destruction of their community as best they can. Their's is a peaceable fight - they have no guns or rockets, nor do they advocate their use. They just want to get on with their subsistence lives in peace. People can always argue about the legalities of who got there first; who is supposed to have a claim on the land - and whose claim could/should or will take precedent, but for images like this to be seen around the globe is the equivalent of a PR disaster for the Netanyahu government and for it's credentials. Now, of course, this film makes no attempt at balance so what we are shown is very much as intended by the filmmakers, and that's designed to exemplify the attitudes of the settlers - and violent people at times these are too, so yes it can appear a bit one-sided, but when you send a squad of heavily armed troops, tanks and demolition personnel to a village for the sole purpose of destruction - not even of repurposing the buildings - then the moral argument is lost before it's even began. These young guys are sleeping under the stars staring an uncertain future in the face and those who wish to dispossess them clearly couldn't care less about what happens to them, their elderly parents, their young children - even their herds. If you take such an obnoxiously hostile attitude to people, then you cannot be surprised when that transposes itself into sentiment of hatred, rancour and resentment. People have been fighting over this land for millennia, surely it's time for the international community to impose a settlement that respects both communities? Naive? Pipe dream? Well maybe, but so long as the West continues to arm and re-arm the IDF and it's own legal system arbitrarily decides what to do with those of different faiths and heritages, then it isn't hard to wonder just how long these two young men will remain content to try to use social media and public opinion to alter events, and end up taking more direct means themselves. It's simply put together and all the more potent for that.

Regardless of how one views the ongoing volatility between Israelis and Hamas in Gaza, there’s another little-known yet equally explosive crisis in the region that has been going on for far longer. This nearly 30-year-old conflict has been quietly but unsettlingly unfolding on the Palestinian Occupied West Bank involving parties not tied to the better-known current conflict, a confrontation that has not received nearly the same level of attention – that is, until the release of this troubling film. Shot over the course of four years, the writing-directorial team of Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Basel Adra have compiled this shocking documentary about the atrocities that have been relentlessly and mercilessly inflicted upon West Bank Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta region. This collection of approximately 20 small villages was summarily seized by the Israeli government (with the blessing of its courts after a 22-year litigation battle) to develop it as a training ground for tank regiments, an undertaking that has involved the demolition of existing structures and the displacement of the area’s residents, some of whose families had occupied their land for nearly 200 years. Many of those who resisted were forcibly removed, imprisoned or subjected to the heartless, uncompromising wrath of Israeli troops, responses involving bald-faced hatred, severe injury and even death. To make matters worse, the displaced have often had nowhere to go in the wake of these actions, some being forced to live in caves in the adjacent mountains. To be sure, locals have consistently fought back, and some have even attempted to defiantly rebuild the homes and schools they have lost, only to have their hopes dashed by subsequent rounds of sanctioned destruction. It should be noted, as indicated above, that these actions predate the Hamas attacks, so not even retribution can be used as a convenient or “justifiable” excuse for these actions. In light of that, then, can those who profess to be humanitarians realistically call themselves by that name in the wake of an immoral tragedy like this, no matter how much its execution may have been declared legally permissible? Indeed, where is the compassion, the fairness, the justice? This on-the-ground account of events unflinchingly documents this horrific situation, an inexcusable exercise in overreach between the two factions, one that’s impossible to rationalize in the face of vastly uneven odds and especially when the real, previously undisclosed basis behind this land grab is disgracefully revealed. This scathing chronicle, primarily filmed by Palestinian activist Adra and Israeli investigative journalist Abraham, shows the degree of atrocity that has been unleashed in the area, as well as what’s conceivably possible when individuals from two opposing backgrounds begin working cooperatively to expose what’s happening and to concertedly look for a workable solution to stop this inhumane, indefensible madness. “No Other Land” is not an easy watch by any means (sensitive viewers take note), particularly in light of its graphic depictions of violence (some of which, in all honesty, become somewhat repetitive after a while, what some might arguably characterize as overkill). Nevertheless, this Oscar nominee for best documentary feature shines a very bright light on this wholly unacceptable act of barbarity, one that any supposedly civilized society should be completely ashamed of, especially now that the whole world is watching.

A heartwarming portrait in hell. I feel as though this is a cool war movie with likeable characters constructing sweet shelters and surviving in horrible conditions. The unfortunate reality is overwhelming.