The Israeli director of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land has condemned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its response to a violent attack on his Palestinian co-director Hamdan Ballal, who was beaten by Israeli settlers and detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Monday.
Earlier this week, Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham criticised the Academy for failing to publicly speak out in support of Ballal. Now he has criticised a statement issued by the Academy to its members on Wednesday, in which it appeared to defend its silence.
The statement, signed by the Academy chief executive, Bill Kramer, and president Janet Yang, did not refer to the attack or mention Ballal or his documentary.
This “many unique viewpoints” talking point is one that I’m encountering more and more as I increasingly confront normies in my community on their support for genocide. It’s a dishonest attempt to deflect attention away from responsibility for unspeakable awfulness and violence by appealing to the natural intellectual desire to be open minded and fair.
I feel like I’m surrounded by ghouls, and it’s exhausting.
Palestinians: we want peace
Israelis: we want to kill you all and colonize your land!
Normies: these people are both the problem!