Palestinian film “No Other Land” won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 97th Academy Awards. The film documents the struggles of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron. Following its win, the film’s directors—Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham—were subjected to misleading allegations by the Gazawood page. Kashif highlights the most prominent of these claims:
First Allegation: Fabricated Clashes
Gazawood and Israeli accounts shared a video showing Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham shouting at an Israeli settler who was attacking them alongside Israeli soldiers. The video also shows Palestinian activist and filmmaker Basel Adra documenting the assault with his phone. However, the video was shared with the claim that the scene depicted staged clashes by the filmmakers against the soldiers and that these scenes were omitted from the film. The video was accompanied by the following caption:
“Exclusive – the part they removed from the Oscar-winning Israeli film. The film describes this scene as ‘attacks and threats on villages,’ but in reality, it is staged clashes and harassment against the soldiers. The makers of No Other Land omitted these Hebron council clips – but they tell the whole story.”
Kashif investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. Kashif contacted filmmaker and activist Basel Adra, who clarified that the allegation was false. He provided Kashif with footage from another angle, documenting settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, attacking activists and residents in Khirbet Tuba, Masafer Yatta, in 2023. The video also shows Israeli soldiers assaulting a foreign activist and seizing her camera, as well as a verbal altercation between the settler filming the video and journalist Yuval Abraham.
This was further confirmed by activist Sami Huraini from Masafer Yatta, who was present at the scene. The footage was originally recorded by a settler named Tomer and documents an attack by settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, on Khirbet Tuba in 2023.
Second Allegation:
Gazawood also shared a video originally aired by Israel’s Channel 12, showing filmmaker and Palestinian activist Basel Adra. The post falsely claimed that Adra set fire to Palestinian homes and blamed Israeli soldiers for it. The video was accompanied by the following caption:
“Exclusive: Basel Adra, star of the Oscar-winning No Other Land, was accused in a 2021 article of being among the Palestinians attempting to set fire to Palestinian homes to blame the Jews. But soldiers saw them, and the IDF spokesperson later confirmed this.”
Kashif reached out to Adra, who denied the accusation, stating that the video actually documents settler attacks on Palestinian homes in the village of Al-Mufaqara in 2021. He added that Israeli soldiers threw a tear gas grenade onto a pile of firewood, which led to the fire.
Additionally, +972 Magazine published a video on YouTube on 6 October 2021, in which Adra explained the event in detail, stating:
“I saw the fire spreading through the trees because soldiers fired tear gas, and it landed on them. Two soldiers passed by, and I told them to put out the fire because they had caused it. But they ignored me. I started shouting for people to bring water to extinguish the fire. When the soldiers saw people running towards the fire, two of them came and began stamping it out with their boots while the Palestinians poured water. Later, three or four soldiers started speaking to me in Hebrew. I realized they were accusing me of starting the fire. I told them: ‘No, there’s a tear gas canister here. It was because of the soldiers.’ They continued speaking in Hebrew, which I only understand a few words of. All of this happened while I was using a GoPro camera.”
Furthermore, on 6 October 2021, Adra posted a video on his X account refuting Israeli media claims that he set fire to a Palestinian home during the settler attack on Al-Mufaqara in 2021. He captioned the video:
“I am the target of a widespread media campaign by settlers and soldiers—based on fake news and lies. They claim I ‘set fire to a Palestinian home’ to exaggerate the brutal settler attack that actually happened near my house last week.”
On 28 September 2021, a group of settlers attacked Al-Mufaqara in Masafer Yatta, using sharp tools to vandalize Palestinian vehicles and kill four sheep. Nine residents sustained injuries and bruises, and many others suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Third Allegation:
In another post, Gazawood questioned whether an image of a young man throwing stones depicted Basel Adra, stating:
“I must point out that I’m not sure, but the person in the image throwing stones looks to me like Basel.”
Kashif contacted Basel Adra, who denied that the image in question was of him.
No Other Land is a Palestinian-Norwegian co-produced documentary directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Bilal, Yuval Abraham, and Rahel Tzur. The film highlights the suffering of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, documenting demolitions and forced displacements carried out by Israeli authorities between 2019 and 2023.
The film premiered in the Panorama section of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, where it won two awards. In March 2025, it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Following the Oscar win, Israel’s Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, criticized the film and issued a directive urging Israeli cultural institutions to refrain from screening it domestically, arguing that it distorts Israel’s image on the global stage. Zohar called the film’s win a “sad moment for the world of cinema” and posted on X:
“The Oscar win for No Other Land is a sad moment for the world of cinema. Instead of presenting the complexity of our reality, the filmmakers chose to echo narratives that tarnish Israel’s image globally.”
The film sparked mixed reactions among Palestinians. Some viewed it as a powerful testimony to Israeli crimes, particularly in the West Bank, as it successfully drew global attention to forced displacement and settlement expansion. Others criticized it as a form of normalization that distorts the Palestinian narrative and portrays the occupation in a more favorable light.
Meanwhile, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement issued a statement condemning the film for including an Israeli co-director, calling it an example of artistic normalization that helps whitewash Israel’s image internationally. The movement stressed that the Palestinian narrative should remain independent, asserting that the occupier cannot be a party to documenting the crimes it commits.