Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | News | March 25, 2025
As the death toll inflicted by the Israeli military on Palestinians in Gaza continues to mount — it has surpassed 50,000 dead, including 35,000 women and children — the state has turned its attention to one of the few individuals who have successfully documented the Palestinian side of the conflict. Yesterday, approximately 15 Israeli settlers surrounded and beat filmmaker Hamdan Ballal — one of the co-directors of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land — and while he was receiving treatment in an ambulance, Israeli soldiers pursued him into his home and detained him.
The scene was witnessed by five Jewish-American activists, who saw Israeli settlers throw stones at Palestinians and destroy a nearby water tank. The settlers also destroyed Ballal’s car and slashed his tires.
It was not the first attack on the village — its residents have been subjected to near-daily violence.
“Settler violence is increasing here. Maybe it’s revenge for the movie and the Oscar,” said Basel Adra, another of the four co-directors of the Oscar-winning film.
“There were dozens of settlers together with the Israeli soldiers, and they were threatening us with weapons,” Adra continued. “The police were there from the beginning and did not intervene. While the soldiers were pointing their weapons at us, the settlers started attacking the houses of the Palestinians.”
“Hamdan tried to protect his family and the settlers attacked him,” Adra told The Guardian. “Soldiers started shooting in the air to prevent anyone from helping Hamdan. He was shouting for help. They let the settlers attack him and then the army abducted him.”
Adra himself was also attacked by Israeli settlers last year.
It is all beyond inexcusable. The Israeli settlers who committed this brutal assault are not rogue extremists —- they are emboldened bullies operating with impunity, shielded by a government and military that refuses to restrain them. Their violence is deliberate, their cruelty is relentless, and their targeting of civilians, journalists, and filmmakers is cowardly.
Source: The Guardian, AP
