'No Other Land' creators issue Israel, Gaza warning for the world in Oscars speech

The winners for best documentary film had a stirring message for Oscars viewers Sunday night.

Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist, who collaborated for the film "No Other Land," offered a warning to the world and a message of entangled survival after winning an Academy Award for the movie.

Produced by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, "No Other Land" follows the destruction of Masafer Yatta, Adra's community in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"About two months ago I became a father and my hope (for) my daughter (is) that she will not have to live the same life I am living now," Adra said. "Always fearing surveillance, home demolitions (and) forcefully displacements."

"'No Other Land' reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades," Adra continued. "We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleaning of Palestinian people."

Their win comes as Hamas and Israel teeter on the edge of a fragile ceasefire, pausing fighting for a fraught exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The pause in fighting follows a brutal war, kicked off in 2023 with the capture of thousands of Israeli hostages by Hamas fighters in a multi-pronged attack.

In the aftermath, Israel has carried out an aggressive military campaign in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 60,000 Palestinians, Al Jazeera reports.

The win for "No Other Land" provided a rare moment of unity.

"We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger," Abraham said during his portion of the speech. "When I look at Basel, I see my brother. But we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control. There is a different path. A political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people."

"And I have to say as I am here, the foreign policy of this country is helping to block this path," Abraham said. "Can't you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It's not too late for life for the living. There is no other way."

Abraham's comments take aim at America's ongoing financial and diplomatic support of Israel's military aggression and stand out against the backdrop of President Donald Trump's recent proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza.

Meanwhile in Adra's native West Bank, violence has continued to escalate as Israel launches "large-scale" raids.

Israeli cultural minister, American Muslim organization responds to 'No Other Land' win

While the win for "No Other Land" garnered raucous applause at the Oscars, elsewhere the reactions were mixed.

 Miki Zohar, Israel's cultural minister, called it a "sad moment for the world of cinema," in a post to X Monday.

"Instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify narratives that distort Israel's image," he wrote. "Freedom of expression is an important value, but turning the defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art—it is sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war."

Zohar, a member of Israel's conservative Likud party, headed up by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, went on to reference a recent reform to the country's state-funded cinema program, which he said will help to stop projects like "No Other Land" from being greenlit.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights collective in the United States, celebrated the win and called on American distributors and streamers to pursue rights for the film.

"Any other documentary this highly acclaimed would have been picked up by a major film company long ago. In the wake of "No Other Land's" Oscar win, the unprecedented censorship of this film must end," CAIR's National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement shared with Paste BN Monday.

"Palestinian stories have been ignored amid the far-right Israeli government's campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out with American taxpayer dollars," he continued. "The American people deserve the right to see this film."