DoomsdaysCW<p>Israel releases Oscar-winning <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Palestinian" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Palestinian</span></a> director after he was attacked by West Bank settlers</p><p> By JULIA FRANKEL<br />Updated 11:55 AM EDT, March 25, 2025</p><p>HEBRON, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WestBank" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>WestBank</span></a> (AP) — "<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israeli" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Israeli</span></a> authorities released an Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was detained by the army after being attacked by <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/JewishSettlers" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>JewishSettlers</span></a> in the occupied West Bank. He said they beat him in front of his home while they filmed the assault.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HamdanBallal" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>HamdanBallal</span></a> and the other directors of '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NoOtherLand" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>NoOtherLand</span></a>,' which looks at the struggles of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, had mounted the stage at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles earlier this month when it won the award for best documentary film.</p><p>"On Tuesday, with bruises on his face and blood on his clothes, he was released from an Israeli police station in the West Bank settlement of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/KiryatArba" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>KiryatArba</span></a>. He and two other Palestinians who had been attacked and detained were taken to a nearby hospital.</p><p>"Ballal said he was held at an army base, blindfolded for 24 hours and forced to sleep under a freezing air conditioner.</p><p>"'All my body is pain,' he told The Associated Press. “I heard the voices of the soldiers, they were laughing about me … I heard ‘Oscar’ but I didn’t speak Hebrew.'</p><p>"Lea Tsemel, the attorney representing the three men, said they received only minimal care for their injuries from the attack and that she had no access to them for several hours after their arrest."</p><p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-violence-settlers-oscar-hamdan-ballal-beb96478a55f42a7058a60ac5be7bd05" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">apnews.com/article/israel-pale</span><span class="invisible">stinians-violence-settlers-oscar-hamdan-ballal-beb96478a55f42a7058a60ac5be7bd05</span></a><br /><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IDFTerrorism" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>IDFTerrorism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IsraeliWarCrimes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>IsraeliWarCrimes</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BibiIsAWarCriminal" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>BibiIsAWarCriminal</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreePalestine" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>FreePalestine</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeGaza" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>FreeGaza</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IsraeliSettlers" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>IsraeliSettlers</span></a></p>