Israeli authorities released an Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was detained by the army after being attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. He said they beat him in front of his home while filming the assault.
Bank, March 25 — The Oscar-winning director of a documentary on the Israel-Palestinian conflict was arrested late on Monday after being injured during a raid by Israeli settlers on his village in the occupied West Bank, a local official who was present said.
Hamdan Ballal, co-director of the award-winning “No Other Land”, was attending a gathering for Iftar, the end of the daily Ramadan fast, at Susiya village near Hebron, when a group of settlers attacked the gathering, said Jihad Nawajaa, head of the Susiya local council.
“Dozens of settlers attacked the gathering at Iftar,” Nawajaa told Reuters by phone. “The young men came out to prevent them, and there were about eight injuries on our side.”
Israeli police arrested three men, including Ballal, who was injured during the standoff, he said.
“This is not the first time that the settlers attacked our gathering, but in the recent period the attacks have increased,” he said, adding that the settlers had stolen around 10 sheep from the village during the attack.
