Hamdan Ballal's co-director recounts attack on Oscar winner's home

Three weeks ago, Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal stood under the world's spotlight in Hollywood, winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary. This honor was a recognition of his and his team's hard work, and also symbolized the achievements of Palestinian cinema.

On Tuesday, the spotlight focused on him again, but this time, he covered his injured face, tattered clothes, and staggered away, after being detained by Israel for nearly 24 hours. His experience was in stark contrast to his previous glory, raising concerns about the events he experienced during his detention.

The night before, he told reporters gathered outside that "settlers and soldiers attacked my house." According to the Associated Press, he added that they began "beating me and threatening me with guns." He also mentioned that soldiers fired three shots into the air. During his detention, he said he was blindfolded and placed under cold air conditioning, and the soldiers also mocked him as an Oscar winner.

Not long ago, outside the hilltop farmhouse where he lived with his wife and children, the tires of a gray family car were slashed, the windows were smashed, and the wipers were torn off. This is a sign of the severity of the violence that occurred on Monday night on the edge of Susya, in the occupied southern West Bank. Ballal's co-director, Basel Adra, was outside on the phone, anxiously inquiring about the detention of a friend. He told me he heard about the trouble starting last night and came to help.

Adra described the scene: "I saw about 15 settlers destroying one of the houses, smashing cars, puncturing water tanks, and throwing stones at anyone who moved. The situation was very dangerous, and I feared for my life. I started telling people to run away, and we started running in different directions." He said Ballal locked himself inside, trying to protect his family, but realized he was bleeding and needed urgent medical attention. Then he was arrested.

Hamdan is a well-known journalist and activist. His colleagues said he had been attacked by settlers in the past. The Israel Defense Forces said that Monday's violence began when "terrorists threw stones at Israeli citizens, damaging their vehicles." "Subsequently, a fierce conflict broke out, with Palestinians and Israelis throwing stones at each other."

Josh Kinerman also came to help. He is a 28-year-old American who has lived at the Jewish Nonviolence Center in the West Bank for three months. He disputed the IDF's account of how the violence began. "All I know is that Palestinian shepherds were harassed by settlers, and then a group of settlers started attacking the houses here." Josh from New Jersey described how their car was attacked when he and his colleagues arrived.

"Three of our friends got out of the car and were immediately attacked by settlers," he said. "One person punched first, and then a group of about 15 to 20 masked settlers followed. They punched one of my friends in the face and neck, hit another friend with a stick, and pushed her. They started throwing stones at our car." Josh believes the violence was deliberately initiated. "It is very likely that this attack was planned, it was definitely coordinated. You can't see a group of 20 settlers attacking in their way without prior planning, so they have specific people in mind."

Basel Adra said that settler violence has increased here in recent months. "Since the beginning of this year, there have been 45 attacks - just in this small village, not the entire Masafer Yatta area. This means that there have been hundreds of attacks, and something happens around the community every day, making us live in fear and panic. We are innocent, living in our own homes, surrounded by these terrorist settlers with guns and cars, and the army and police do not support us."

Basel just heard that Hamdan will be released after paying bail, but he will go to the hospital for further treatment before going home. Basel showed me the Oscar trophy they won in Los Angeles earlier this month. He had high hopes that this global recognition might help improve the lives of people here. "It's disappointing," he said. "The film was on the biggest stage in the world, and the name of Masafer Yatta became known, but it didn't help our situation here."