LEILA FADEL, HOST:
We're going to speak with the filmmakers behind a documentary that may never be widely released in the U.S. It's called "No Other Land," and it's about rural Palestinian communities in an area called Masafer Yatta in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, being forced out of their homes by the Israeli military. It's also the story of an evolving friendship between Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist and activist Yuval Abraham. When we spoke, Abraham recalled their first conversation.
YUVAL ABRAHAM: Five minutes after we began, a bulldozer entered his village, accompanied by soldiers, and he had to run to film it, and I ran after him. And it was a very difficult and shocking scene for me to see the amount of violence used to push farmers out of their homes.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "NO OTHER LAND")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
ABRAHAM: And I remember standing there with Basel and talking to him afterwards, and I admired the way, you know, his community resisted these policies, and we became good friends over time and allies in this political struggle.
FADEL: Over five years, they kept filming. Israel controls the land and security in this area, and it declared where these Palestinians live a closed military zone. After a 22-year legal battle, Israel's highest court ruled in the military's favor. Abraham says the title of the documentary came from something Adra's neighbor Farisa Abu Aram said. Her son was paralyzed when the Israeli military shot him.
ABRAHAM: We filmed her first in 2020, when her house was destroyed. She slept outside that night, and we filmed her saying this. We have no other land. And the way she said it, we really felt it's, like, a strong symbol. A few months later, her son, Harun, who was my age and Basel's age, attempted to rebuild their house, which was destroyed by the military, and they shot Harun as he was holding a generator.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "NO OTHER LAND")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOT)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Screaming).
ABRAHAM: Eventually, after two years lying paralyzed, he died. His mother is a true hero, I think, and her life story for me is the greatest example of why this occupation is so unjust. And I think it was important for us to take her words - that she has no other land, and it is her land - and to emphasize them.
FADEL: The film ends days after the October 7 attack last year by Hamas-led fighters on Israel, the horrors documented on film and, as Israel's response in Gaza began, those horrors also documented on film. I asked Adra if he still believes in the power of the camera.
BASEL ADRA: It's a very dark moment because I always thought that when the people would see what's happening in the videos that we - I risk my life and other Palestinians risk their lives to film, it would change something. I mean, what happened in Gaza in the last year, I never, ever in my life imagined that we'd live to a day to see these massacres happening, and there's still the international community power backing Israel, giving it weapons. I mean, this is, like, shocking. So I don't have an answer if I believe or I don't believe in the power of the camera.
FADEL: Do you feel the same way, Yuval?
ABRAHAM: Yes, I do, and I think there are people with power who can stop this from going on. And I'm saying this is an Israeli. I think it's shameful that the U.S. has not taken any action to stop the onslaught. Like, we, as young activists who dream of a better future for both of our people, are seeing that dream being crushed by politicians who hold power and are not taking any action. And me and Basel and many others, you know, with the limited abilities that we have and the limited power that we have will continue to try to make a change. And this is why we made this film.
FADEL: Basel, the film opens with your very first memory at 5 years old, and it is your dad's arrest. Your parents are activists. Your father's been arrested. He was arrested again, I think in the film, actually.
ADRA: Yeah.
FADEL: And you carry that torch. Will you always be an activist?
ADRA: I hope not. I hope that the occupation will end. I just dream, like, how nice our life would be in this small village without occupation around us. It's not fun to be activist in this situation. It's not fun to be born in this reality and to grow up under this brutality.
FADEL: Yuval, there's this moment in the film where you're in the car together, and you're kind of lamenting about how you need to write more, how people need to know. And Basel is kind of entertained by your enthusiasm.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "NO OTHER LAND")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Non-English language spoken).
FADEL: And he tells you it takes patience. This is happening over decades. What do you think - you're going to end the occupation in 10 days?
ABRAHAM: Yeah. For me, this is one of the main things that I learned from, you know, meeting Basel. And in a way, when you live a life of privilege, it's very easy to have hope and to imagine that, you know, if you find the right political solution, then things will change. But actually, when you live under so much oppression, then you understand that having hope is dangerous because your heart will be broken.
FADEL: Basel.
ADRA: Yeah, I mean, because I grew up in this situation and I see the facts on the ground and I see how the world acting, and I knew that Israelis have all the power to commit this occupation and to continue, and I didn't see at that time a power that is stopping this, and I don't see it today for sure. This is not going to end soon.
FADEL: I think one of the things about the film is it describes the awfulness of the constant not knowing, right? There are scenes of soldiers coming to demolish a school and kids having to jump out the window because the door has been closed.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHILD CRYING)
FADEL: But there are also moments of laughter and joy between you and your family, Basel.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "NO OTHER LAND")
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: (Non-English language spoken).
(LAUGHTER)
FADEL: Why did you include this part of it? Why was it important to?
ADRA: First of all, we wanted to make the movie about Masafer Yatta. For sure, the main narrative is politically how the community being erased by the occupation and the settlers. But in the same time, we wanted to show the whole elements of the community, that it's a life of human beings that are living there. They are going to school, they have weddings, and as much as they can be away from the occupation, they're looking for, like, a joyful moments. We wanted the audience to feel, with the residents of Masafer Yatta, as human beings, that they deserve to have a life like any other human beings around the world should. Like, everybody should have a home. This is - like, should be basics - basic for everybody, basic rights.
FADEL: Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, two of the filmmakers behind the documentary "No Other Land." Thank you so much for your time.
ADRA: Thank you.
ABRAHAM: Thank you.
FADEL: "No Other Land" is out now across Europe and elsewhere, but the filmmakers are still looking for a distributor in the United States.
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