At the 97th Academy Awards, the directors of No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary on Israeli occupation in the West Bank, used their acceptance speech to issue a powerful call against the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

“We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” said co-director Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist from Masafer Yatta, whose community has faced forced displacement by Israeli authorities.

The film, a collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers, chronicles the harsh realities of military occupation through the story of a Palestinian family losing their home.

Co-director Yuval Abraham, an Israeli investigative journalist, underscored the deep inequalities that define life under Israeli rule: “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law, and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life,” he said.

The directors also criticized U.S. foreign policy, which they argue has helped sustain the occupation.

Abraham stressed the urgency of finding a political solution free from ethnic supremacy, where both peoples can live with equal rights and security.

Despite its critical acclaim, No Other Land has struggled to secure distribution in the United States, a challenge the filmmakers attribute to political sensitivities surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, the film has been widely screened at international festivals and remains a powerful testament to the struggle against displacement and injustice.