No Other Land

In den südlichen Bergen des Westjordanlands liegt Masafer Yatta, eine Ansammlung von 19 palästinensischen Dörfern. 1977 wurde das Gebiet von der israelischen Armee als Schießübungsplatz deklariert, 2022 erklärte das Oberste Gericht die Zwangsumsiedlung der Bewohner für rechtens. Seither trotzen die Dörfler den Bulldozern und den Angriffen von Siedlern. Das israelisch-palästinensische Kollektiv um den in Yatta aufgewachsenen Basel Adra und den jüdischen Journalisten Yuval Abraham dokumentiert die Ereignisse der letzten Jahre bis kurz nach dem Terrorangriff der Hamas im Oktober 2023 mit aufwühlender Direktheit und aktivistischer Emphase. (Gian-Philip Andreas)  

Ever since he can remember, two of the constants in Basel Adra’s life have been entwined: the video camera always on hand and the presence of the Israeli military. A shot of a seven year-old Basel watching his father thrown to the ground during a protest is interspersed with scenes from Basel’s present-day struggles in a mountain village in Masafer Yatta in the Occupied West Bank. It’s 2020, and little has changed. Now the same age as his father was in that earlier footage, Basel fights alongside his neighbours against the soldiers and settlers who brutally raid and destroy their homes, forcing many families to retreat to cave dwellings. At night, the villagers rebuild in secret; during the day, they face down arrests and state-sanctioned violence. Basel films with a faith that the crimes he records will prompt global outrage and eventually bring about an end to the horror. He befriends Yuval, an Israeli journalist, whose initial naiveté prompts a chuckle from Basel. “You want everything to happen quickly,” Basel chides. “This has been going on for decades.” Weary but undefeated, he continues the fight. Yuval, who, unlike his Palestinian comrade, can freely drive to his Jerusalem home, returns each day to join him. (Genevieve Yue)