No Other Land wins Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film
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COURTESY OF A.M.P.A.S 2025/AFP
Israeli journalist and co-director Yuval Abraham, while accepting the award for best documentary for No Other Land, called out the U.S. government specifically for its handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“No Other Land,” the story of Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from demolition by the Israeli military, won the Oscar for best documentary on Sunday.
Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham pose with the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for “No Other Land” at the Governors Ball following the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
The collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown at the southern edge of the West Bank, which Israeli soldiers are tearing down to use as a military training zone. Adra’s pleas fall on deaf ears until he befriends a Jewish Israeli journalist who helps him amplify his story.
“We made this film as Palestinians and Israelis because, together, our voices are stronger,” said Israeli journalist and filmmaker Abraham. He used his acceptance speech to call out his country’s government for what he called “the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people.” And he urged Hamas to release all Israeli hostages.
“When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal,” Abraham said on stage. “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life. There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.”
What Trump said
In a surprise announcement, President Donald Trump had last month said the U.S. “will take over” the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, “own it” and undertake economic development there that will create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing.”
Mr. Trump also suggested that the U.S. develop the land but gave no details on who would be allowed to live there.
He also said that all Palestinians currently living in Gaza — around two million people — should leave and be placed in other countries in the Middle East.
The war
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. The militants currently hold 59 hostages, 35 of them believed to be dead.
United States foreign policy under President Donald Trump is “helping to block this path,” he said.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children. It does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.
(With inputs from AP)
Published – March 03, 2025 11:05 am IST