Disgraceful – Mark
Jerusalem: Israeli settlers assaulted one of the Palestinian co-directors of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land on Monday in the occupied West Bank before he was detained by the Israeli military, according to two of his fellow directors and other witnesses.
Filmmaker Hamdan Ballal was one of three Palestinians detained in the village of Susiya, according to attorney Lea Tsemel. Police told her they were being held at a military base for medical treatment. She said she had not been able to speak with them.
Basel Adra, another co-director, witnessed the detention and said around two dozen settlers – some masked, some carrying guns, some in Israeli uniform – attacked the village. Soldiers who arrived pointed their guns at the Palestinians while settlers continued throwing stones.
“We came back from the Oscars, and every day since, there is an attack on us,” Adra told The Associated Press. “This might be their revenge on us for making the movie. It feels like a punishment.”
The Israeli military said it detained three Palestinians suspected of hurling rocks at forces and one Israeli civilian involved in a “violent confrontation” between Israelis and Palestinians – a claim witnesses interviewed by AP disputed. The military said it had transferred them to Israeli police for questioning and had evacuated an Israeli citizen from the area to receive medical treatment.
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