• This article digs deeper into the Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham.
• It examines the liberal progressive Zionist.
The “Israeli-Palestinian” film No Other Land recently secured the Best Documentary Film accolade at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Set against the backdrop of Masafar Yatta in the occupied West Bank, the film is produced by Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham in collaboration with Palestinian journalist Basel Adra. Its Oscar shortlisting was disclosed on Thursday despite the absence of any U.S. distribution arrangement. A significant portion of the documentary comprises archival footage from Adra’s childhood, capturing his activist father confronting Israeli soldiers and settlers to thwart the appropriation of Palestinian land. Notably, the film previously received the Documentary Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival—widely known as the Berlinale—in February of the previous year.
Upon receiving that award, Abraham and Adra used their acceptance speech to denounce the occupation of Palestine.
“I am free to move where I want in this land, but Basel, like millions of Palestinians, is locked in the occupied West Bank. This situation of apartheid between us, this inequality, it has to end,” said Abraham.
The statement reverberated throughout the German cultural establishment, prompting political figures to condemn the pair and predictably accuse them of being “antisemitic”. However, it is an incontrovertible truth that critiquing Israel is not synonymous with harbouring antisemitism. In fact, in October of last year, in a display of legal clarity, a UK tribunal found that anti-Zionist beliefs were ‘worthy of respect’. Moreover, the accusation of antisemitism abruptly falls on its head if the filmmaker in question is Jewish himself.
In November, Abraham conveyed that Germany’s stringent crackdown on pro-Palestinian behaviour was rendering life increasingly difficult for Israelis.
“I was surprised by the reaction in Germany,” said Abraham. “I think Germany says that it is supporting Israel and the Israelis, but it’s actually supporting Israelis who believe in continuing the occupation and who, in a way echo the policies of their governments.”
The ensuing controversy surrounding the film’s release only served to heighten interest in its subjects—the residents of Masafer Yatta. For decades, Israeli authorities have endeavoured to evict approximately 1,000 Palestinian inhabitants of the community in order to establish a military “firing zone”—a training ground for Israeli forces. Their homes lie within Area C of the West Bank, which remains under the complete authority of Israel and is interspersed with settlements—deemed illegal under international law—whose residents routinely harass Palestinians, vandalise their property, and engage in violent acts. In the wake of the German uproar, Adra revealed that he organised a major screening of the film in his home village.
“They really wanted to see it after all the news, because of what happened in Berlinale and the attacks on me, and on Yuval by the Israeli media and other media in Germany,” Abraham said.
Since 7 October 2023, there has been a dramatic surge in settler violence in the West Bank, with Masafer Yatta being no exception. In 2024, Israeli settler violence against Palestinians reached record levels, according to United Nations reports. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) registered 1,400 incidents perpetrated by settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including physical assaults, arson, raids on Palestinian communities, and the destruction of fruit trees. These assaults have coincided with extensive movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli military, thereby curtailing Palestinians’ access to cities, towns, and villages. Approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers now reside in roughly 300 illegal settlements across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem—developments constructed since Israel captured the territories in the 1967 conflict. Under international law, settlement construction in an occupied territory is deemed illegal.
“For us, the movie is an act of core resistance and we wanted to we wanted to show it as fast as we could when it was done,” said Adra.
“There is an Israeli left - it’s not represented politically today and it’s very small and it’s more and more persecuted by the government. The space for criticism really shrunk since 7 October,” he explained.
“The Israeli parties are not willing to show even the most basic level of criticism towards the Israeli army, despite the highest court in the world flagging its military operations for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Let’s delve deeper into this collaborative filmmaking venture between a Palestinian and an Israeli. Sounds progressive and cosy right?
Despite Abraham seemingly being a proponent of good and speaking up for the voices of the oppressed Palestinians, during his career, he repeatedly propagated the false atrocity propaganda of Israelis being raped on October 7th. Moreover, like all Zionists, he has asserted that Hamas is the primary obstacle to peace in the holy land.
Abraham is also a contributor to the liberal Zionist publication +972 Magazine, co-founded by Lisa Goldman, who falsely claimed to have personally seen nonexistent photos of beheaded babies—helping to mainstream that genocidal lie among the mainstream media.
Abraham seized the moment of being awarded the Oscar to draw the audience’s attention to Israeli soldier-prisoners in Gaza, grotesquely equating them with the countless Palestinian hostages. In the eyes of the Western media establishment, Palestinian lives only gain value when framed through the lens of genocidal liberal Zionism, as embodied by Yuval Abraham. That is precisely why the liberal Zionist fraction exists.
Palestinian writer and activist Mohammed El-Kurd dissects the film in his book Perfect Victims:
Yuval Abraham the liberal progressive Zionist
….But there is no “good Zionism!”
Zionism is a violent and racist ideology. It must be noted, Israel is a democracy and the Israelis vote in the fascistic regime repeatedly, knowing that when Gaza is being bombed- Tel Aviv can hear it.
A Definitive Case of Israel’s Normalisation
The very existence of this film implies an acceptance of Israel’s legitimacy as a colonial entity. By endorsing the settlers’ right to remain on the land, we contradict the Palestinian cause, which rejects the state of Israel, demands the removal of all settlers, and advocates for the “establishment of a Palestinian state”. Moreover, the fact that this documentary is presented as a Palestinian-Israeli production is a clear indication of its alignment with normalisation efforts.
Abraham’s acceptance speech advocates coexistence as the solution, dismissing governments and embracing the coloniser as an equal partner. In doing so, it equates the coloniser with the colonised, ignoring the fundamental power imbalance. However, true liberation cannot—and will not—come from the coloniser.
