The Palestinian director of the Oscar-winning documentary “Other Landless” was bloodied near his home by Israeli settlers and was detained by Israeli authorities in the West Bank, occupied Monday evening, witnesses said.
Director Hamdan Baral has been appointed to his hometown village, Suja, at least 20 masked people, a teenager armed with rocks, sticks and knives. Weinger is part of a Volunteer Ini initiative that provides protection in areas vulnerable to settler violence.
It was not clear what prompted the attack, but Weinger, a doctoral student at University of California sociology in Los Angeles, said the group descended on Susya, south of Hebron, and attacked residents of the West Bank as they broke the fast during the Holy Muslim Month of Ramadan. As they did, some yelled stupid holiday blessings, he said.
Wenger said he began to ring the horns of his car to try and warn nearby Israeli soldiers of the attack, but Israeli forces prevented him and two of his companions from reaching Baral’s home.
“The soldiers were just standing,” he said. “Later, when we got there, we saw his blood on the ground.”
According to witnesses and Israeli military, Baral, 37, was one of three Palestinians detained. Leah Zemel, a lawyer representing the detainees, said prior to the questioning he was being detained at a military centre for medical care, but had been informed that he had no idea why he was detained.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several terrorists” had thrown rocks at Israeli citizens, causing damage to vehicles nearby Susia, and encouraged “violent conflicts” that included “a mutual rock throw between Palestinians and Israelis.” The military said that when the forces and police arrived, “terrorists” threw rocks at them.
Like Israeli civilians, three Palestinians suspected of throwing rocks were detained “due to further questions by Israeli police,” the statement said. He said the Israelites were injured and were transported for treatment.
The attack on Baral came as Israeli forces carried out a fierce attack on the West Bank. Since January, the operation focused on the West Bank of the Northern Jordan River has forced over 40,000 Palestinians to flee their homes. This is the largest evacuation of civilians on the territory since the Arab-Israel War in 1967.
Mr. Baral was among four directors – the others were Basel Adra, Rachel Zorr and Yuval Abraham – a Palestinian-Israel group who won an Academy Award for Best Documentary of the Month. The film documents the demolition of the house of West Bank residents in or near the village of Masafayatta, where Adora was originally from, by Israeli military, claiming the area of the military training grounds.
The documentary won destruction between 2019 and 2023, and was won in archival footage. It was announced last year as part of the expansion of Israel’s West Bank settlement. This has been encouraged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. The UN Humanitarian Coordination Agency, which tracks violent episodes in the region, has documented violence against Palestinians, along with an expanded documented increase in the violence of Jewish settlers against Palestinians.
WAFA, the official news agency of Palestinian authorities, reported that settlers had attacked Masafayatta hours before the board of directors won the Oscars.
Suja also has been involved in a protracted legal battle with the Israeli government over its plan to destroy, moving to eliminate residents of areas that Israel deems an archaeological site.
Weinger, who spent the past few months in South Hebron Hills, said attacks in the area have become increasingly frequent during Ramadan. “There’s something almost every day,” he said.
Another Palestinian director of the film, Adora, said on social media that he arrived in Susia shortly after the violence broke out Monday evening and saw a masked assailant throwing stones. Israeli soldiers then arrived, but instead of arresting the attacker, he said he pointed at the Palestinians at the rifle and headed towards them.
Mr. Adora said he was scattered with others from the scene and later saw soldiers take Baral away.
Chase Carter, a spokesman for the Centre for Jewish Non-Violence, which connects Palestinians and Jewish activists in the West Bank for documentary and human rights work, said five Jewish activists who went to the scene to document the attack were attacked by settlers. He said settlers use rocks to let activists inside and crush the cars.
On social media, Adora recalled that it was only weeks ago that he, Baral and the film’s Israeli creators had been fettled to Oscars.
“But unfortunately, the world hasn’t helped end the occupation, so we always knew we had to go back to this reality,” he said.
Alyssa Wilkinson, Aaron Boxerman and Nathan Audenheimer contributed the report.
