No Other Land: Oscar-nominated West Bank feature director says films ‘can be part of change’

One of the film’s last scenes is from 13 October 2023, when Basel recorded a settler shooting his cousin, whose hands appear empty, in the stomach. In other footage, settlers throw rocks at homes while soldiers watch.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the shooting case was transferred to the state attorney’s office, which the BBC approached for comment.

Currently in Masafer Yatta, Basel said settlers have “unlimited power” and there is a “daily level of harassment”.

He said there were three major settler attacks in January, including on a 72-year-old taken to hospital after he was hit in the head with sticks, and around 15 people arrested in the two days before 30 January while grazing their sheep or chasing away settlers’ sheep. Israel Police did not reply to a BBC request for comment.

The UK has sanctioned three settler outposts and four organisations it says are supporting violence against West Bank communities. Yuval called on the UK to sanction all settlers, believing that would “truly be a deterrent”.

A foreign office spokesperson told the BBC the foreign secretary “has been clear with Israeli ministers that they must clamp down on settler violence and end settlement expansion”.

“We have regularly taken action against settler violence, including through targeted sanctions, and will continue to do all we can to ensure the rights of Palestinians are protected and that those responsible for violence are held to account,” the statement read.

Yuval said: “I really believe there is no other way forward, other than reaching a just, fair political solution where Palestinians can be free, truly free, and our people, both of them, will have security and self-determination.

“It really makes me angry, not only that my government is going in the other way, but that the world is allowing it to happen for so long.”

In the film, Basel recalls a seven-minute visit by Tony Blair to his village – after which Israel cancelled demolition orders there.

“This is a story about power,” he says.

Now, Basel gets “strength and power from the people around me”, making him want to not give up.

“One water drop doesn’t make change,” he says during a protest in the film, “but keep dropping the water and it will make change.”