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The Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature Film, ôNo Other Land,ö is based on lies, according to an Israeli group that documents illegal Arab
construction in Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank.

ôNo Other Land,ö a documentary co-directed by left-wing Israelis and Arab activists, won the Oscar on Sunday night. Its Palestinian co-director, Basel Adra, took to the stage for his acceptance speech to accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing.

ôæNo Other LandÆ reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian
people,ö Adra said.

His Israeli co-director, left-wing journalist Yuval Abraham, chimed in, claiming that he is free as an Israeli, while Adra is ôunder military law
that destroys his life and he cannot control.ö

But according to the Israeli NGO Regavim, the documentary relies on a ôconcoction of misrepresentations and outright fabrications.ö

ôThis is a propaganda film that serves the false Palestinian narrative, and seeks to undermine the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the international arena in order to cause boycotts and sanctions of IDF fighters,ö Meir
Deutsch, director-general of Regavim, said in a statement.

Throughout the film, Adra documents his struggle to stop the Israeli Defense Forces from demolishing what are described as ôancient villagesö in an area called Masafer Yatta, which is east of the Palestinian Authority town of
Yatta. In reality, Regavim points out, all of the so-called villages of
Masafer Yatta did not exist when Israel declared the area an IDF training
zone for live-fire exercises in the early 1980s.

The name Masafer Yatta is believed to come from the word ôtraveling,ö a reference to its distance from Yatta, or from the Arabic word for ônothingö
or ôzero,ö a reference to the desert wasteland that was not suitable for anything.

Aerial photographs dating as far back as 1945 ù some of which the Arabs submitted themselves to the Israeli Supreme Court ù show no signs of a residential presence before the 1980s. Not until the 2000s does the area have signs of habitation in the images.


The IDF routinely blocked attempts to build illegal structures on the
training ground in the 1980s and 1990s when the Israeli Air Force and IDF
were conducting live-fire exercises. However, Arab farmers and shepherds were allowed to use the zone when there were lulls in training to plant and
harvest crops and graze livestock.

IDF Firing Zone 918, where Masafer Yatta is located, is within ôArea Cö of Judea and Samaria, which is under full Israeli control under the Oslo
Accords. Yatta is located in ôArea A,ö which puts it under the full control
of the Palestinian Authority. ôArea Bö is under dual Israeli and Palestinian Authority control.

In 2000, a group of Arabs petitioned to IsraelÆs High Court of Justice to
block the demolition orders issued against their squatter structures, leading to a temporary injunction that suspended demolitions and prohibited new, permanent construction.

During the 12 years of deliberation over the petition, the group of Arabs continued to rapidly increase construction, which has been funded in part by European countries. Several photos Regavim has taken at the sites of the illegal building have signs attributing funding to the European Union, other European governments, and UK Aid, a foreign aid agency of the United Kingdom. Some of the signs state that the villages are part of ôThe State of
Palestine.ö


According to Naomi Kahn, the director of the international division of
Regavim, the Palestinian Authority encourages and supports the illegal construction as a way of taking over Area C.

ôSince the announcement by the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority in 2009 that the Oslo framework was no longer binding, the Palestinian Authority has poured all of its resources into de facto annexation of Area C.ö

Kahn stresses that more than 60% of Areas A and B ù the territory already
under Palestinian Authority control ù is empty and available for construction and development.

ôThey are putting facts on the ground in strategic points, forming the map of
a Palestinian state in the entirety of Judea and Samaria ù without the bother of negotiation or compromise with Israel.ö

In 2012, the temporary injunction was extended, allowing grazing and seasonal agriculture, as well as year-round residences in the northern section where
the IDF would only carry out ôdryö training maneuvers, which do not involve
the use of live ammunition.

The following year, another petition was filed while the illegal construction continued to grow, preventing the IDF from using the firing zone. The Arab appellants called for all structures to be legalized, arguing that they
resided in the area before it became an IDF firing zone.

In 2022, the court handed down a decision that accused the Arab appellants of abusing the legal process and violating the injunctions against continuing construction. The court also found that many of the appellants owned
permanent residences in Yatta.

Since the failed legal efforts, the international community has pressured Israel to stop the demolition orders, which has led to the elevation of ôNo Other Landö in the world press.

Though the film earned more than 25 times less than Matt WalshÆs 2024 film
ôAm I Racist,ö which was not nominated for an Oscar, Adra and AbrahamÆs film continues to win awards, even in the aftermath of HamasÆs massacre,
kidnapping, and raping of Israeli civilians.

ôNo Other Landö claims it ended filming in 2023 but pays a brief tribute to
the October 7 attack, with the voice of an Arabic-speaking newscaster and the translation, ôNetanyahu promised revenge that will be more painful for the attack Hamas carried out killing Israelis in unprecedented numbers. Israel killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza while hundreds of Israelis are held hostage.ö

ôThe short ætributeÆ to October 7 in the Pallywood Propaganda Film æNo Other LandÆ show precisely how much they actually care about human life or coexistence,ö Kahn said.

IsraelÆs Culture Minister Miki Zohar called the filmÆs Oscar award a ôsad moment for the world of cinema.ö

ôInstead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers
chose to amplify narratives that distort IsraelÆs image vis-α-vis
international audiences,ö Zohar said. ôFreedom of expression is an important value, but turning the defamation of Israel into a tool for international promotion is not art ù it is sabotage against the State of Israel, especially in the wake of the October 7th massacre and the ongoing war.ö

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