Starring:
Distributor: Higloss
Runtime: 95 mins. Reviewed in Nov 2024
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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This film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective shows the destruction of the occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta by Israeli soldiers and the alliance which develops between the Palestinian activist Basel and Israeli journalist Yuval.
Palestinian law student, Basel Adra remembers his upbringing on the West Bank, the protests during the 2000s and conflict with the Israeli military. With his camera and his phone, Basel begins filming the arrival of Israeli military, into the villages of Masafer Yatta, in the hills near Hebron. The tanks and heavy machinery are sent in to demolish houses and homes, sometimes schools, often with little time for locals to remove their possessions. And there were other photographers who joined over the years.
Basel became friendly with an Israeli journalist, Yuval Abraham, who took the side of the evicted Palestinians, writing articles, witnessing the incursions, empathising with the people. Yuval forms a bond with Basel. They are much the same age, living only 30km from each other. Yuval is free to move, but Basel is not allowed to cross borders. Despite his studies, Basel is not able to practise law. He admires his father who was jailed in past protests, but is now running a small service station. Yuval is impatient for some justice, but Basel reminds him that this struggle has been going on for a very long time.
The film’s perspective is that of the Palestinians Audience empathy is enlisted as we watch the planned destruction of homes over the years, some families having to move and live, literally, in caves. The view of the Israeli military is unsympathetic. The official reason given for the demolition is that Israel wanted this area for a military training ground – but, an indication later in the film states that this was an official pretext for the removal of the Palestinians.
While there are many intense discussions between Basel and Yuval, the cameras spend a great deal of time personalising the issue, especially scenes with playful children, anxious women, roadside protests, the arrest and imprisonment of Basel’s father.
The dire situations shown are reminiscent of the behaviour of colonial powers in the 19th century, with superior attitudes from one group towards another, which is shocking in the 21st century. And for many years, this has been symbolised by the high wall separation between Israel and the West Bank.
There is a postscript to the film with final footage taken at the end of 2023. Then came the brutal Hamas’ attack, the hostages, the bombardment of Gaza. Audiences will look at No Other Land with some dismay at the events 2019-2023 but also in the light of the increasingly vast warfare of 2024, the effect on Israel, the grim experience of Palestinians.
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