Basel heard a noise outside his house, took the camera and ran out. I knew something strange was happening when he saw an Israeli settler hide behind a rock and sign up the men who returned from the mosque. After a few seconds, the settler approached a man who hit the chest and He shot him in his stomach, without any reason.
300 meters, Basel continued to record. Later he knew that the person who received the shot was his cousin. “I had never filmed something like that. And I wouldn’t have never wanted to film something like that. Made me tremble, ”explains the filmmaker in An interview a UNRWA Spain.
He Palestinian director, Basel Adrahe has been documenting since he was a teenager the rights violations suffered by his community in Masafer Yatta, to the south of the city of Hebron, in the Occupied West Bank. His intention was never to shoot a documentary, but to have evidence of the injustices to which they were subjected Its inhabitants and denounce them on social networks.
The Violence of Israeli settlers and their settlements, the Housing demolitions and the destruction of Palestinian infrastructure has become a routine in the West Bank.
The magnitude of the facts was such that Basel, together with the rest of co -director, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballalthey launched 95 minutes of footage that catches and unworthy equally. The film, Oscar nominated In the category of Best Documentary, he leaves you breath -to -end and its name, Not Other Land, It reminds us of love and the right to identity, to earth. “We do not want to leave our land to the settlers and the army. We would like to keep it because we have no other. ”
Incidents have multiplied in recent months silently, while Gaza was being razed by bombings. Although the high on the fire in the coastal enclave is being celebrated, “we know that the reality is that Let’s go back to a slow death Because Israel used to kill hundreds of Palestinians before October 7. ”
Palestinian infrastructure demolition In the West Bank is a regular practice by the Israeli authorities that argue that the Palestinian constructions are illegal. However, for the Palestinians, it is practically impossible to obtain a construction permit. “Simply, It is a colonialist project who wants to erase and take our lands. ”
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), 1,768 Palestinian Property Structures were demolished in 2024 and 4,256 people were displaced from their homes throughout the West Bank. It is about year with the highest number of registered demolitions.
In addition, since the early 80s, Israel began to buildYatta Masafer settlerswith the intention of annexing territory. In 2022, after decades of household demolition, reconstruction and a legal battle of more than 20 years, The Supreme Court of Justice of Israel rejected the resources presented by the inhabitants of the Palestinian community that sought to avoid Israeli eviction orders . “It is a state policy that destroy our houses, schools and prevents us from drinking clean waterhave electricity and roads. Everything to force us to leave our houses. They send these settlers and give them weapons to burn our properties and live in our land. ”
The priority of the documentary was to exert political pressure on Israel, at least to save your community. And although he does not believe that the cinema changes the situation in which they live, “because it is just a movie,” he thinks he can change people.
“I advise people who do not agree with what we say, to look. Especially in western countries because their money, Your taxes are being used against us, either in arms, in the construction of settlements or in the demolition of homes. People could imagine that it is their land. I live in this situation. ”
The Oscar nomination has been a surprise considering that in the United States they still do not have a distributor “for the theme of the film”, according to Basel. “We risk documenting the truth And the reality of what is happening and the distributors should not block us in this way. ” Even so, the international recognition of the film that was made with the best documentary in the Berlinale last year is undeniable. “I care these things, but really I feel a bit weird when I travel and wear a suit or when I am in such beautiful places. Because The reality of my community is the opposite. ”
The live broadcast for 15 months of the terrible Israeli offensive on Gaza has put the debate of the Israeli occupation in Palestine again. Although the knowledge of the atrocities they suffer is increasing, Basel feels that they are not getting what they want. “We intend to exert real pressure to save my community and other Palestinian communities in the area (…) We fight to build a school, to connect our houses with electricity or even to build our houses after they destroy them. These should be the basic things that all human beings, worldwide, should have. ”
Not only as a filmmaker, but as an activist and journalist, life is played for telling the truth and remains attentive to the possible implementation of Israeli laws that could prohibit the humanitarian work of the United Nations Agency for the refugee population of Palestine (UNRWA ) in Gaza and the West Bank. “First of all, Israel should not be the one who legitimates Unrwa or not. I think the UN should not accept it and should try to find a way to continue providing services in the Palestinian refugee camps, because they really need the help of Unrwa. ”
Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet, Demi Moore, Jacques Audiard or Brady Cobet, among other artists, will share space and time with Basel next Sunday, March 2 at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, far from Masafer Yata. Thousands of kilometers, the family of the director of Not Other Land The awards ceremony will continue closely because, as Philippe Biberson said when collecting the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, “although we are not very convinced that the word salve, we do know that silence kills.” ANDIn Palestine they are clear that it is necessary to make the greatest possible noise so that, in any case, it is very difficult to let die.
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