Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham has found himself at the center of controversy and danger after a 30-second clip from his acceptance speech at the Berlinale Documentary Film Award was aired in Israel, sparking accusations of anti-Semitism. Abraham, along with co-directors Rachel Szor from Israel, and Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal from Palestine, won the award for their documentary “No Other Land,” which delves into the expulsion of Palestinians from occupied Masafer Yatta.
The controversy ignited when Israel’s Channel 11 broadcasted a segment of Abraham’s speech, leading to what he described as “insane” accusations of anti-Semitism and subsequent death threats directed at him. Abraham took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his dismay, stating, “Our film No Other Land on occupied Masafer Yatta’s brutal expulsion won best documentary in Berlinale. Israel’s Channel 11 aired this 30-second segment from my speech, insanely called it ‘anti-Semitic’ – and I’ve been receiving death threats since.”
Undeterred by the threats, Abraham stood by his words during the speech, which highlighted the stark inequalities faced by Palestinians compared to Israelis. “We are standing in front of you — me and Basel are the same age, I am Israeli, Basel is Palestinian,” Abraham stated. “In two days we will go back to a land where we are not equal. I am living under civilian law and Basel is under military law.”
Drawing attention to the disparity, Abraham emphasized, “We live 30 minutes from one another but I have voting rights and Basel is not having voting rights. I’m free to move where I want in this land, Basel is — like millions of Palestinians — locked in the West Bank.”
Calling for action to end the occupation and achieve equality, Abraham urged, “This situation of apartheid between us, this inequality, it has to end. We need to call for a ceasefire, we need to call for a political solution to end the occupation.”
Basel Adra, another director of the documentary, also spoke during the event, shedding light on the plight of his community. “For years, my community, my family has been filming our community being erased by this brutal occupation,” Adra expressed. He went on to make a plea to Germany, where the awards ceremony took place, saying, “I ask one thing for Germany as I am in Berlin here: to respect the UN calls and stop sending weapons to Israel.”
