The refusal of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) leadership to come to the immediate and unconditional defense of award-winning Hamdan Ballal (Palestinian co-director of No Other Land), savagely attacked by Israeli settlers and soldiers Monday, has provoked a significant crisis in the filmmaking world.
A full two days after the beating and arrest, and only in response to criticisms from No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham, the Academy leadership broke its silence on the brutal episode and issued a perfunctory comment. That elicited an angry international reaction.
The size and character of the angry opposition to the Academy management’s kowtowing to the Zionist lobby and the Trump administration demonstrate the depth of the worldwide opposition to the mass murder and accompanying criminality going on in Gaza and the West Bank.