A STATEMENT BY the Academy Awards on the alleged attack on an Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker by Israeli settlers has been lambasted by the co-director of the documentary.

Hamdan Ballal has said that he was attacked by Israeli settlers for winning the prestigious award, calling the “brutality” life-threatening. He further alleged that Israeli soldiers assisted in the attack, a claim denied by Israel’s military.

Ballal co-directed “No Other Land”, which documents the destruction of villages in the West Bank, and won Best Documentary at this year’s Academy Awards.

His Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham has spoken out about this week’s incident and contrasted the Academy’s response to a previous “rightfully strong” statement issued over actions by Iran against filmmakers.

On social media, Abraham noted that the statement “didn’t even name Hamdan” as it called for an appreciation of the “unique viewpoints” of its thousands of members, while highlighting the “power” of film to enlighten audiences.

after our criticism, the academy's leaders sent out this email to members explaining their silence on Hamdan's assault: they need to respect "unique viewpoints" pic.twitter.com/69mdp4aE9m

— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) March 27, 2025

The Academy’s statement, signed by its chief executive Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang, did not refer to the specific attack or mention Ballal, or the film.

“The Academy condemns harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints,” the statement said.

“We are living in a time of profound change, marked by conflict and uncertainty – across the globe, in the US and within our own industry.

“Understandably, we are often asked to speak on behalf of the Academy in response to social, political and economic events. In these instances, it is important to note that the Academy represents close to 11,000 global members with many unique viewpoints.”

The Academy had been criticsed by Abraham earlier this week for not speaking out publicly about the incident.

On X, Abraham said: “Sadly, the US Academy, which awarded us an Oscar three weeks ago, declined to publicly support Hamdan Ballal while he was beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers.”

Israeli police released Ballal on Tuesday after detaining him the day before for allegedly “hurling rocks”, following an attack by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Ballal said he had been attacked by settlers while soldiers pointed their weapons at him.

He added that two Israeli soldiers beat him with the butt of their rifles outside his home and threatened to kill him.

“I felt that these were the last moments of my life, that I would lose it due to the severity of the beating,” he said.

Israel’s military has said that “claims that the detainees were beaten during the night at an IDF detention facility were found to be entirely baseless” when asked about the incident.

Activists from the anti-occupation group Center for Jewish Nonviolence said they witnessed the violence in Susya.

Foreign activists regularly stay in Masafer Yatta’s communities to accompany Palestinians as they tend to their crops or shepherd their sheep, and document instances of settler violence.

Rights groups have said that since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, there has been a spike in attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Occupied by Israel since 1967, the West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians, as well as nearly half a million Israelis who live in settlements that are illegal under international law.

With reporting by – © AFP 2025

Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Palestine? Check out our FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.