In their Oscar acceptance speech for Best Documentary Feature, “No Other Land” directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham condemned the destruction of Palestinian lives and homes at the hands of Israeli military, as well as the U.S. foreign policy that they said enables it.
“We call on the world to take serious action to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Adra said from the Oscars stage. “About two months ago, I became a father, and I hope for my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now.”
“No Other Land” recounts the meeting between Adra, a Palestinian activist filming the destruction of homes in the West Bank region Masafer Yatta, and Abraham, an Israeli journalist. As the two work together to expose the injustices being inflicted on Palestinians, they also grapple with the vast differences in the rights and civil liberties granted to Abraham as an Israeli citizen but denied to Adra.
“We see each other in the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end, in the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal,” Abraham said in his acceptance speech. “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law. Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and which he cannot control.”
Abraham said that he believes there is another path to a Middle East “without ethnic supremacy,” but said that the “foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path.” In interviews to promote “No Other Land,” Adra and Abraham condemned former President Joe Biden for not using his leverage to negotiate a ceasefire months before one was called this past January, as well as President Donald Trump for his plan to have the U.S. take control of Gaza and expel Palestinians from the region.
“Why can’t you see that we are intertwined, that my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living,” Abraham said.
Watch the acceptance speech for “No Other Land” in the clip above.
