Statement on the attack on and detainment of Palestinian film director Hamdan Billal

We are horrified to learn that film director Hamdan Billal was violently attacked by settlers in his home in Masafer Yatta on 24 March. Afterwards, he was taken by Israeli military.

We call for his immediate and unconditional release.

Hamdan is one of the four directors behind the Oscar-winning Palestinian-Israeli documentary No Other Land. The film documents settler violence and Israel’s unlawful home demolitions and occupation policies on the West Bank.

We will not stand by while Israel continues to systematically silence Palestinian voices, be it through targeting and killing journalists in Gaza, arresting them on the West Bank or its authorities passively watching while settler gangs act out their violent revenge on a Palestinian filmmaker.

In addition to calling for Hamdan Billal’s release, we demand an end to the pervasive impunity for crimes committed by settlers and Israeli military. Last but not least, we call for the protection of all journalists and filmmakers, who must be allowed to document and report without fearing death and detainment.

UPDATE: Hamdan Billal was released on 25 March.

Statement on the release of Palestinian film director Hamdan Billal:

We are profoundly relieved that Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the Oscar-winning documentary film No Other Land, has been released from Israeli custody.

According to various media, Hamdan left a police station in a West Bank settlement earlier today with bruises on his face and blood on his clothes. He had been attacked by Israeli settlers the previous day in his home in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, then taken into custody by Israeli military.

A barrage of calls for his immediate and unconditional release, including by IMS (International Media Support), may have contributed to Hamdan’s release. Whether or not that’s the case, it is both ironic and sadly unsurprising that he was exposed to the exact kind of violence by settlers that No Other Land documents.

While we join countless others in celebrating Hamdan’s release, we once again condemn Israel’s continuous attempts to violently silence Palestinian voices. And once again, we call on all actors with leverage to put maximum pressure on Israel to stop attacking and killing journalists and to demand that those responsible for crimes against them be held responsible.

Meanwhile, our deep admiration goes out to Hamdan and the entire team behind No Other Land, and indeed to all of the courageous journalists and media workers striving to keep the world informed of the realities of Israel’s warfare against and colonisation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.