Israel’s culture minister has condemned the Oscar for Best Documentary awarded to the joint Palestinian-Israeli film No Other Land. Miki Zohar described the award as a “sad moment for the world of cinema.”
Zohar wrote on social media that the film’s success at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood on Sunday “amplifies narratives that distort Israel’s image.” The film addresses the issue of the displacement of Palestinians from their land and the destruction of their communities.
“Instead of presenting the complexity of Israeli reality, the filmmakers chose to amplify narratives that distort Israel’s image vis-à-vis international audiences,” said the minister. “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 7 October massacre and the ongoing war.”
The Times of Israel quoted experts in the field as saying that Zohar’s comments are an attempt by the current right-wing government to silence liberal voices and reduce the space for non-mainstream views.
The film No Other Land was co-produced by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four activists: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. It tells the story of Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from destruction by the occupation state of Israel.
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