Hollow Oscar
Published
by
Richard Kuper
JVL Introduction
A year ago Basel Adra, No Other Land, won an Oscar for a documentary about life under Israeli occupation in Tuwani and the larger region of Masafer Yatta.
As Basel’s brother Adam writes:
“By revealing on the big screen the daily violence, humiliations, and injustices faced by our community, we thought we might have a hand in getting the world to do something. But to our dismay, nothing has changed, and the violence has not disappeared.”
The world knows, and nothing changes…
RK
This article was originally published by Vashti on Mon 30 Mar 2026. Read the original here.
Hollow Oscar
A year after No Other Land won international acclaim, the world remains content to sit back and watch.
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Israeli politician Yitzik Kroizer says killing Palestinian children is normal if it supports the IDF mission and that there are no innocent children in the West Bank.
Just let that, and the fact no Western politicians or media will say anything sink in.
The information war in the west goes on. We are part of it and have to get these stories out. All we can say is – keep going.
Roman emperors showed in a single phrase their attitude to and estimation of the citizens of Rome and their policy for retaining power: “panem et circenses” – “bread and circuses”.
While the Artemis II astronauts were on their recent journey, one of them spoke about what they were engaged in as representing all humanity. The Los Angeles Times, referring to the space-trip, spelled it out in language that a Hollywood film will surely one day repeat: “…it has provided a timely reminder of what a great nation, acting with confidence and clarity of purpose, can still achieve.”
Adam Adra might want to attach his piece here as a footnote to this pronouncement.
The people of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Iran might also have a view regarding what the USA and Israel are demonstrating about who qualifies as “humanity” and how power is maintained in the twenty-first century.