‘Stop the Ethnic Cleansing’: Directors of Best Documentary ‘No Other Land’ Call for End to ‘The Atrocious Destruction of Gaza’ in Oscars Speech

After winning the Oscar for Best Documentary at the 97th Annual Academy Awards on ABC Sunday, the creators of the film “No Other Land” spoke out on Israel and Palestine in one of the few politically charged moments of the evening as they called for an end to “ethnic cleansing” and said that the United States “blocks the path” to a peaceful coexistence between Palestine and Israel.

The Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” is a collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers and follows the story of activist and journalist Basel Adra, who directed the film and spoke during the acceptance of the award.

The film “chronicles the resistance of the Palestinian community of Musafer Yatta in the southern West Bank to continuing violence from Israeli settlers and soldiers,” according to DOC NYC, and covers the bond that developed between Adra and Israeli journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham, who also spoke on Sunday.

The two were joined on stage by their co-directors on the film Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor.

Adra, speaking first, said he is a new father and hopes that his daughter will not have to live the way he has in his community, “always fearing settlers’ violence, home demolitions, and forcible displacements.”

“We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” he said.

Abraham then spoke, calling for Israeli hostages “brutally taken in the crime of October 7th” to be freed, and for “the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people” to end.

Abraham said that Basel is his brother but they do not live under the same laws under the current “regime” in Israel.

“We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law, and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control,” he said. “There is a different path. A political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.”

He then said the American government is in the way of that path.

“he foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path,” Abraham said. “And you know: why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living.”

ADRA: Thank you to the Academy for the award. It’s such a big honor for the four of us and everybody who supported us for this documentary. About two months ago, I became a father and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I am living now. Always fearing. Always. Always fearing settlers’ violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements that my community Musafer Yatta is living and facing every day under Israeli occupation.

“No Other Land” reflect the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist, as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.

ABRAHAM: We made this. We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together, our voices are stronger. We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end. The Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7th, which must be freed.

When I look at Basel, I see my brother. But we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law, and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control. There is a different path. A political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.

And I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path. And you know: why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living. There is no other way. Thank you.

Watch the clip above via The 97th Academy Awards | Oscars 2025.