Many years ago, there was a popular American song that we sang gustily at our camps, picnics, and other get-togethers. Thanks to its very catchy tune, it was always a hit. The chorus went thus:

"This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me."

A remarkable stanza of the song was:
"There was a big, high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said 'Private Property'
But on the backside, it didn't say nothing
This land was made for you and me."

The song is essentially a protest song, first composed by the American folk singer Woody Guthrie in 1940. It was a critical response to Irving Berlin's God Bless America. Its melody is based on a Carter Family tune called When the World's on Fire. The song was a hit then, particularly during World War II; over the years, the lyrics of the song have undergone several changes and adaptations. The essence, however, remains the same, "this land was made for you and me." In 2025, it was listed as No. 11 of "The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time." Given the context of our highly polarised and divided world, this song is all the more relevant today!

On Sunday, March 2, at the 97th Academy Awards, No Other Land won the coveted Oscar for Best Documentary Film. The film was made by four Israeli and Palestinian activists (Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, and Rachel Szor) and is a powerful examination of life under occupation. It is their directorial debut. They describe the film as an act of resistance on the path to justice during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

No Other Land is a portrait of a West Bank village under Israeli military occupation. The title reflects a statement by a long-time resident of Masafer Yatta, a region of the West Bank, who says, "We have no other land. It is our land. That is why we suffer for it." For the ones who have seen this path-breaking documentary, it is a breathtakingly powerful chronicle of what it means to live with the constant threat of eviction. The film captures with heartrending detail the relentlessness of Israel's effort to remove any trace of Palestinian presence in the West Bank. This terrible reality is what the world witnesses today!

The documentary shows the friendship between Basel and Yuval as a background. Their relationship is filled with intense emotions. Basel is very anxious over the fate of his family and village, to the point of exhaustion. Yuval expresses guilt and sorrow over being unable to prevent imminent destruction or to persuade his fellow Israelis to see reason. There is a sad but grim irony when Basel says he has a law degree but can only find work as a construction labourer in Israel. The manner in which the judiciary can be used to redesignate land use and thus enable unfeeling eviction policies points to a familiar playbook predicated on absolute denial of basic human rights.

In their acceptance speech, two of the film's four directors pleaded for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist who is from Masafer Yatta, said, "About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter [is] that she will not have to live the same life I'm living now – always fearing settlers' violence, home demolitions and forceful displacements that my community, Masafer Yatta, is living and facing every day under the Israeli occupation.… We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people." Adra also described the issues faced by his village, including home demolitions and displacement.

Yuval Abraham, an Israeli investigative journalist and co-director of the film, said, "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. Israelis and Palestinians are 'intertwined;' my people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe."

In February 2024, at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, 'No Other Land' won the Berlinale Documentary Award and the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary Film. During his acceptance speech, Abraham criticised Israel, saying, "We are standing in front of you now, me and Basel are the same age. I am Israeli; Basel is Palestinian. In two days, we will return to a land where we are unequal. I am living under civilian law, and Basel is under military law. We live 30 minutes from one another, but I have voting rights. Basel is not having voting rights. I'm free to move where I want in this land. Basel is, like millions of Palestinians, locked in the occupied West Bank. This situation of apartheid between us, this inequality, it has to end.

Adra chipped in, saying, "It's our first movie; since many years my community, my family has been filming our community being erased by this brutal occupation. I am here celebrating the award, but also very hard for me to celebrate when there are tens of thousands of my people being slaughtered and massacred by Israel in Gaza. Masafer Yatta, my community, is being also razed by Israeli bulldozers. I ask one thing: for Germany, as I am in Berlin here, to respect the UN calls and stop sending weapons to Israel."

Since its release in February 2024, the documentary has won numerous awards and accolades worldwide. However, for obvious reasons, it has not been screened in India. Even its entry to certain Film Festivals here has been inexplicably cancelled. The fascist regime which rules the country today will not allow Freedom of Speech and expression to its citizens. A film which shows the Israeli regime in a poor light is a certain 'no-no!' Even in the United States, the film has failed to find a distributor because it reveals truths that Americans should not see! When the film won the Oscar, it was natural that some Israelis were outraged, using every trick in the book to denigrate the directors of the film and the cast.

'No Other Land' is about divisiveness and discrimination, about demonisation and denigration, about demolition and destruction! At the receiving end are the Palestinian people – the 'other!' It is not without reason that Pope Francis has been praying every single day for them and regularly speaking to those affected in Gaza. It is a film which is a powerful manifestation of the terrible reality faced by millions all over the world. Here in India, the Kuki-zo people of Manipur and the minorities (particularly Muslims and Christians) have to face this reality daily!
As the bulldozers continue to go on a rampage, demolishing and destroying the lives and homes of the vulnerable, it is time that the fascist and dictatorial rulers of the world realise that "this land was made for you and me" and wake up to the statement by the Masafer Yatta resident "we have no other land. It is our land. That is why we suffer for it." Yes, there is No Other Land!