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MSc students discuss film “No Other Land”

The sensitivity of this film in the face of the brutality of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank created a safe space for an open and critical discussion with media and international law experts, and for sharing emotions and opinions on the ongoing war in Gaza.

A few weeks ago, IHE Delft Master students discussed the injustices and legal intricacies of the Israeli occupation of Palestine after watching the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” (2024), directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor.

The film tells the story of the Masafer Yatta community on the West Bank, where Israeli forces illegally demolish homes in the villages on a weekly basis. It is the largest single act of forced transfer ever carried out in the occupied West Bank. For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian film director, lawyer, and activist, films the gradual expulsion of his community. He is joined by Israeli investigative journalist and filmmaker Yuval Abraham, and the two young men become close friends as they film together over the course of five years. This despite the inequality between the two, Basel living under occupation and Yuval, being free to travel as he pleases. The film reveals the everyday brutality of military occupation, depicting the non-violent struggle for their rights by this Palestinian community in the face of sometimes deadly violence.

Why we watched this film

The screening took place in the mixed week during which students of the MSc in Water and Sustainable Development learn and practice communication skills. In introducing the documentary, Emanuele Fantini listed three reasons for watching it in class. First, because it is a beautiful film, as testified by the multiple awards it received: besides the Oscar, in 2024 it also won the prize for best documentary at the Berlin Film Festival and the European Film Award, and many other awards in festivals all around the globe. One of the reasons explaining this success is that by following the work of Basel and Yuval, the film tells a much-needed story of friendship and commitment, in the face of a situation on the ground deteriorating every day, with the military escalation and the widespread violation of even basic principles of humanitarian law by the Israeli army moving away any prospects for peace or hope in justice.

The second reason is that it is a very sad story. A story of violence, injustice, loss and death. In other words, it is a war story. Screening this film is an act of solidarity with the victims of war – all the wars that have touched IHE Delft community in different ways – and particularly those forgotten by mainstream media or undocumented because journalists do not get access or are targeted. Since the beginning of the war between Hamas and Israel, in October 2023, about 170 Gazan journalists have been killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, making Gaza the most dangerous place in the world for journalists. One of the film directors himself was attacked in March 2025 by Israeli settlers, then arrested by the Israeli army and released after having been beaten while in prison.

The third reason for screening the film is exactly because it is both beautiful and sad. Such a contrast offers meaningful food for thought to reflect on the role of media and stories in communicating and acting on complex and contested topics in difficult and polarised contexts. Watching the film with a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary audience like that of IHE Delft MSc students and faculty proved as a privileged opportunity to acknowledge, listen to, and engage with different perspectives and emotions on the same story.

Telling the human story of occupation

After the movie, Gabriela Cuadrado Quesada moderated the discussion between students and guest speakers: the filmmaker and former journalist Faten Bushehri, and the international lawyer Gregory Townsend. One student commented that the film shows the human side of the story rather than the facts and figures we are used to seeing from the media. And Faten Bushehri confirmed the power of that perspective: “This is the very reason I switched from journalism to filmmaking to show the human costs and injustice of inequality in the Arab region”.

Faten Bushehri warned the audience to critically reflect on the language used by the media to frame the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For example, when news reports say “Palestinians died”, but “Israelis were killed”. In the film, we witness how the Israeli settlers twist the narrative, accusing the Palestinians of “invading a tank training ground”, whereas it is the Israeli army that is displacing the Palestinians, who own the land and have lived and worked on it since the 1800s. Towards the end of the film, a leaked memo reveals that the use of the area as a tank training ground is a pretext to expel the Palestinians. Litigation against the bulldozing of homes has taken 22 years to get a hearing in Israeli courts, yet warrants to demolish homes are issued regularly, and Israeli violence is meted out without impunity or retribution. Even when one member of the community is paralyzed after being shot. His mother also complains that she is refused permission to build a room for his care, and he is forced to live in poor conditions underground in the village’s caves. There is no compensation despite protests for justice and international media attention.

The power and the limits of international pressure

Gregory Townsend discussed the power and the limits of international pressure to ameliorate the situation. The documentary shows how a five-minute visit to the local school by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair led to a temporary cessation of the demolitions in Masafer Yatta.  He also recalled that on 19 July 2024, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice at the Peace Palace in The Hague about the legality of the Israeli occupation of Gaza. The Court ruled that under International Law, it is not. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crimes against humanity, issuing an international warrant for his arrest.

Townsend explained that Article 49 of the Geneva Convention on humanitarian law states that an occupying power may not transfer populations to occupied areas. To date, half a million Israeli settlers have relocated to the Palestinian Territories. Likewise, the forcible transfer of Palestinians is also illegal.

Nevertheless, Townsend stated that a future Israeli government will eventually have to evacuate its settlers from occupied territory and will have to ultimately pay reparations according to the illegal actions sanctioned in the United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UNRoD). Both speakers agreed that this can only happen with tremendous public pressure against the occupation.

After explaining the role of international humanitarian law, Townsend added: “What gives me some hope is that this is a Palestinian-Israeli co-production.” But he also pointed out that not a single distributor or streaming service in the US has shown the film despite its Oscar.

Emotions and stories from the audience

The tragic scenes and the violence of the occupation shown in the film generate anger and sadness. These emotions filled also the auditorium where we watched the film. Being an audience of water students and teachers, many of us were particularly disturbed by the scene of the Israeli soldiers destroying first the school and later a water well by filling it with concrete and cutting the pipes. One student shared that the film had triggered memories of her experiences in post-apartheid South Africa. Another told about the US occupation of Iraq. Comments by other students from Turkey and Indonesia added a truly international perspective to the debate.

No Other Land also tells a story of commitment and collaboration between a Palestinian and an Israeli journalist. It is a story about the power of the media but also of its limits in the face of violence, oppression, and widespread violation of human rights and humanitarian law. Screening this film was a small act of solidarity with the victims and those who are suffering in the ongoing war in Gaza and the occupation in the West Bank. The minimum we can do is to keep watching, talking, and denouncing the crimes of the war, inspired by the sensitivity, stubbornness, and commitment of the protagonists of this film.  


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Nicola Chadwick (May 26, 2025). MSc students discuss film “No Other Land” FLOWs. Retrieved July 10, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/140gc


Nicola Chadwick

Nicola Chadwick joined IHE Delft in October 2023 as Communications Advisor. She is also communications officer for the Water, Peace and Security partnership. She began her career in publishing, later switching to translation and journalism. Her passion for current affairs led her to Radio Netherlands Worldwide. After that she joined the Dutch government, working for the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. Here she became part of the team which rolled out the new NL Branding. Building on her knowledge of Dutch issues and society, she specialised in the water, maritime, circular economy and energy sectors. At IHE Delft, she works to further her mission to have real impact in water solutions.

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