I don’t think of this as a spoiler, but be aware: Near the end of No Other Land, there’s a title card that gives the audience a desperate, sinking feeling. At this point you’ve already watched ninety minutes of the people of Masafer Yatta, a rural village in the West Bank, fight tooth and nail against settlement and harassment from Israeli military forces. We’ve watched the banal, but meticulous process of the IDF patiently chipping away at their way of life. You’ve the seen the power of hope, the facing of oppression. You’ve watched the bravery of an Israeli journalist, standing eye-to-eye with soldiers to condemn their actions. You’ve mourned for the losses of the residents of Masafer Yatta but also cheered their moments of emotional triumph and moral victory. Then you get to the end, and read the card: “This film was finished in October 2023”.

So No Other Land is not about the vicious and dedicated genocide that Israel has been committing in Palestine for the past year, but it informs the viewer just how persistent Israeli forces have been in eradicating Palestinian life well before the Hamas attacks of October 7th, 2023. This genocide, well documented on social media (if not by mainstream media), feels very much like the most important international news story in my thirty-five years of life. No Other Land is meant to explain that this senseless violence has been going on much longer than just these past twelve months. What is now mass carnage on full display was for much longer a subtler, but no less evil, commitment to mass displacement. For over half a century, there has been a campaign for eradication. But this campaign has birthed a resistance much stronger than expected.

The film is made by a collective of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. Our two main characters are Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, and Yuval Abraham, an Israeli journalist who means to show the world the level of injustice being committed in his name. Basel and the fellow residents of Masafer Yatta are skeptical of Yuval, having little reason to trust Israelis throughout their lives, but Yuval soon proves his mettle, attending protests and confronting IDF soldiers as they demolish villages over and over again. Basel has gained notoriety for his videos, documenting the IDF’s relentless crusade to displace villages like Masafer Yatta in hopes to kettle Palestinians into the more heavily policed cities. Once Yuval proves himself a real ally, his journalistic contacts combined with Basel’s footage proves to be a real opportunity to share their story of oppression with the world.

The two men, separated by culture but bonded by resistance, are the film’s stars, each displaying a different form of courage. The other two credited directors are Hamdan Balal, another Palestinian activist, and Rachel Szor, an Israeli cinematographer. Together they accumulated footage over five years, focusing mostly on the Israeli effort to destroy Masafer Yatta, and the villagers efforts to stop it. Their land, held for centuries, is frequently challenged by IDF military figures. Notices of eviction abound. Large excavators come in and ram themselves into homes while Palestinian families watch helplessly, devastated. They retread to caves, where they live on generator power. At night, the men secretly return to their land and rebuild their destroyed homes. This action is seen by Israeli forces as unchecked rebellion, illegal seizing of military land. The hypocrisy is maddening in its transparency.

Yuval and Rachel also had the benefit of footage from Basel’s parents, also activists, who have themselves filmed decades of injustice. The story is always the same, the military comes with their eviction notice, forces them off the land, and the families of Masafer Yatta find a way to return. It’s a portrait of incredible spirit, but time moves on, and spirit is wearing thin. In the thick of COVID in 2020-21, Basel tries to latch onto a worldwide movement of protest, arranging demonstrations in his village. They’re met with IDF violence, gunshots, arrests. When Yuval faces down the Israeli forces, whether on the scene or in newsrooms, he’s charged as anti-Jewish, vaguely but menacingly threatened. The evictions become more forceful. Schools are torn down, water wells drained. It’s obvious that the campaign against Masafer Yatta and the West Bank villages will never end until all are forced from their homes.

So you seen how heartbreaking it is to learn that all filming was done before the  October 7th attack. To watch such unrestrained cruelty and know that it will only get worse. Like all great stories, No Other Land weaves a universal tale in its specificity. At its heart, it’s the story of a friendship strained by sociopolitical circumstance. As much as Yuval empathizes with his friend and wishes to earn his trust, there is a permanent rift, as Yuval’s Israeli status allows him to travel freely, while Basel’s Palestinian heritage locks him into an existence that is constantly being undermined. The documentary shows us a genuine, personal connection, struggling to meet outside circumstance, but like Masafer Yatta, it perseveres. If nothing else, No Other Land is proof of real cultural communion, and undeniable evidence that not all resistance to Israeli force is irrevocably tied to the terror of Hamas.

There is a lot in No Other Land that is hard to watch. Seeing these families so rigorously ground down with no consequence can make one feel truly helpless. The four directors make sure that the imagery is matched nearly 1:1 with footage of the Masafer Yatta residents continuing on, laughing and playing, living their lives, despite it all. This is probably the most infuriating part to the leaders of this apartheid state that keeps them oppressed: their spirit cannot be killed. And perhaps that’s why No Other Land still has no official distributor, despite a lauded festival run. This is not merely another tale of Palestinian tragedy, but a testament to their everlasting strength (and inversely, to their enemy’s everlasting weakness). Calling films courageous feels pat, but this movie earns that superlative. It’s a film that demands to be seen – and one hopes that many get the chance to.

 

Directed by Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor