Basel Adra (l) is a Palestinian whose whole village is being demolished by Israeli soldiers apparently to make way for a military training area. Youval Abraham (r), a Jewish Israeli is appalled by what is happening in his name. He returns repeatedly to document the expulsions. In the process, they establish a powerful relationship. Their documentary is opening the eyes of many who have not paid much attention to what Israel is doing in the West Bank. Read more.…

CTIP attended a showing of “No Other Land” at the Bytowne Cinema in Ottawa last week. There was a full house (650 people) as it had also been the case the day before. Two more showings are planned at the Bytowne and it is also being shown by the Mayfair, another Ottawa independent theatre, later in March. In the end, the total probable Ottawa attendance could well exceed 4000 visitors.

Despite being the most awarded and critically-acclaimed documentary film of 2024, winning an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature and picked up for distribution in 24 countries, ‘No Other Land’ has not been able to find a North American distributor. It has been denounced by Israel and its advocates in the west. (The Mayor of Miami Beach even threatened to evict a local theatre for showing it.)

However, the film has been picked up by many independent theaters across Canada. In addition to Ottawa, it has been shown in Edmonton, Montreal, Calgary and Halifax among others. It was even shown by the Yukon Film Society. A showing in London, Ontario is coming up. (This is not an exhaustive list).

Audience reaction

On Saturday evening in Ottawa, when CTIP attended, a few people were wearing the kuffieh (the black and white Palestinian scarf), but most of the audience appeared to be ordinary “white” Canadians, perhaps some Bytowne Cinema film buff regulars.

After the last scene, there was a ripple of muted applause. A few people yelled out “Free Palestine!!” But the hall remained eerily silent.

As I walked up the aisle while the credits were still rolling, many people were still sitting in their places. Not talking. Stunned perhaps?? I noticed one who was wiping away tears. (I was told that on the previous afternoon the reaction was also muted at first, but grew in crescendo as the audience seemed to recover from what they saw. That grew to a standing ovation by a significant number of attendees.)

Judging by audience reaction, it seems probable that a large majority of the people who are seeing this film were not previously aware, or hardly aware at all of the violence Israel is using in the West Bank, nor the destruction it is visiting on Palestinian farmers there.

Who should see it?

“No other land” is suitable for a wide audience. it is well crafted and has won many awards including the Oscar.

It is not an easy film to watch. Brutality and injustice never is. But it is not gory. There are no scenes of killings or “torture”, although we do see some people being “roughed up” by Israeli soldiers or settlers. One unarmed Palestinian who is resisting the soldiers is shot and becomes paralysed. (After several months of inadequate medical attention and agonizing paralysis, he eventually dies of his wounds.)

There is tension throughout the film, as the audience feels the imminent and ever-present threat of attack by settlers and soldiers. They come in waves, often at night, demolishing houses, wells, animal pens and other structures. At one point, we see children cowering inside a school as a Israeli bulldozer approaches. They escape through the window. No child dies. They just are left outside, in the cold, with no school.

Some takeaways

1. This is a film for everyone. You don’t need to be a Palestine “expert” or a human rights activist to see, and appreciate this film. It is about courage and friendship across cultural boundaries in a time of great stress and danger. Bring your mother, your uncle, your imam, priest or rabbi. Encourage your city councillor or member of parliament to come to see it.

2. This is a real time documentary. There is no narrator helping us understand. We don’t need one. The situation in Masafer Yatta remains dire as of March 17, 2025. The Palestinian community of Shi’b Al-Butum is still under imminent threat of expulsion due to increasing state-backed settler attacks, home demolitions, and restrictions on access to land and illegal settlement expansion by Israeli authorities.

2. There is an intimate and remarkable collaboration and tension between Basel the Palestinian whose family is under threat and Yuval, a Jewish Israeli journalist/filmmaker who is appalled by what is being done in his name and expresses his solidarity by making a film about the expulsions. 

3. Religion makes no appearance. The Israel/Palestine conflict is often interpreted as a “religious” fight. We don’t see prayers or calls to the mosque, or rants about “infidels”. This is about land, and who gets to live there. In Masafer Yatta, Israel claims it has to expel the farmers because it needs the area for a military training zone. Israel has employed the same pretext to expel Palestinians from many other places in the West Bank.

4. The film was shot BEFORE OCTOBER 7TH. Israel has promoted the idea that the Hamas breakout on October 7th, 2023 broke a “truce” that had existed between Israel and the Palestinians. This documentary clearly shows there was no such truce. And the situation in Masafer Yatta has deteriorated significantly since that time.

5. It is fundamentally a positive and hopeful film about the possibility of respect and good relations once Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory (illegal according to the International Court of Justice) is ended. None of the Palestinians expressed any hatred of Jews or Judaism – just of what the Israeli settlers and soldiers were doing to them.

Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca