No Other Conversation

Oscar controversies, especially geopolitical ones, are often asinine. Not only are celebrities frequently performative, but they focus on trivialities without understanding the situations at hand. And whenever they know what they’re talking about, as with the late-Sacheen Littlefeather, they strike nerves and rile up those who should care. That’s why I try not thinking about them once the ceremony ends. But occasionally I’ll make exceptions, especially when it involves something near-and-dear.

Take the Gaza situation, which has been happening for almost a year and a half at this point. In 2024, a group called Artists4Ceasefire made headlines over their red pins with hands on them. The group had plenty of Hollywood celebrities show up with the pins to The Oscars. Despite their intentions, critics weren’t happy that these pins evoked, whether intentional or not, the 2000 lynching of Jewish Israelis in Ramallah. Artists4Ceasefire has yet to clear the air, though they were planning to make the rounds again. Fortunately, the backlash put out that fire, though it didn’t stop some celebrities from finding workarounds.

That’s not my focus here, though. Instead, I’d like to discuss this year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary, “No Other Land”, and the controversy it’s stirred. Specifically, I’d like to focus on the Jewish response. I know the gentile response has been disappointing, but I’ve come to terms with “allies” tokenizing and lionizing our voices. If Jonathan Glazer’s indicative of anything, it’s that having Holocaust survivors as relatives makes you the “de-facto expert” on Israel even if you don’t live there. To paraphrase someone on Bluesky, I eat from that bowl with a long spoon.

Anyway, moving on.

I didn’t watch this documentary. I didn’t even know it existed until right before The Oscars, and I was anticipating massive backlash when it received the trophy. In the days since, I’ve heard nothing but harsh criticism over it, with many Jews calling it “anti-Israel propaganda” and claiming it “was thoroughly-debunked”. People were calling The Oscars a “disgrace” for featuring it following the murders of the Bibases, despite one of its co-directors, an Israeli, mentioning October 7th in his speech. There were additional claims that one of the creators was murdered by Hamas on October 7th, but that’s been refuted by his mother. 

That said, I wonder if the critics of this documentary have seen it. Going by the synopsis on IMDB, it follows the demolition of homes and displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta. It’s a joint venture by Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli activist Yuval Avraham, both of whom want co-existence. It’s heavy, but also necessary. Because, contrary to some, Israel’s done plenty of unfortunate stuff, like any other country.

I ask what’s so blatantly-offensive about this. We criticize Palestinians constantly, as well as Israel’s neighbouring countries, and with due cause. People are people, and countries are run by people. And like other people, Israel’s leaders have also made bad decisions while in power. It’s not a crime to call these out. That’s not only our responsibility, it’s something The Torah itself does regularly. Even Moses was rebuked by God!

By stifling these critiques, or even censoring them, we rob Israel of its ability to be respected as a nation. It might be hard to hear this criticism. It might even be painful! But it’s necessary. That’s something I’ve had to relearn following October 7th, something many gentiles still don’t consider tragic.

Besides, are we denying that homes were destroyed in Masafer Yatta? Because they were. We can argue about and rationalize their destruction, but they were destroyed. And their residents were displaced. This is undeniable, semantics aside.

The tensions surrounding Israelis and Palestinians are palpable. I’ve felt them as an outsider too. I also know the non-Jewish world comes to absurd conclusions about the situation constantly, and they’re unafraid to voice them to people who don’t know better. But the former’s real. It’s real, and it needs discussing.

By not doing that, we’re disrespecting the memories of the October 7th victims. These were civilians trying to build bridges and foster peace. Many of them suffered, and many more are continuing to suffer. But the survivors haven’t been deterred, and the dead’s legacies are dishonoured by not standing by them. We pray for peace, but they lived and breathed peace.

Many of the survivors and relatives of the deceased want peace. Even the released hostages, who’ll be experiencing PTSD symptoms for years, wish to believe that peace is possible. Because that’s the Jewish spirit. As is tackling injustices, of which Masafer Yatta qualifies.

I also think it’s a disservice to not highlight the harmful decisions the Israeli government sometimes makes. Returning to The Torah, there’s a passage about helping to ease the burden of your rival’s donkey. Notice how it doesn’t put a set of conditions on that? That’s because it doesn’t matter: the donkey needs help, so you help it. No animal should suffer over petty grudges.

That’s what this is about; after all, the median age of Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, is 18. Most of the inhabitants were either too young to elect Hamas into power themselves, or weren’t born yet. And yes, Hamas is a terrorist group. I get that. But it took a full generation to re-educate Germany post-WWII, and Hitler was in power for 12 years!

I know this is heavy and uncomfortable to hear, I really do. I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it for the longest time, and even now I debate if it’s worth “giving a victory to anti-Zionists”. However, pretending it doesn’t exist won’t make the pain disappear. Confronting it, however, will lessen the impact. That’s also what this is about; after all, how can we build bridges without laying the foundations? They won’t lay themselves!

Regarding the Oscars ceremony specifically, Avraham got the message across in his speech. He was honest, fair and non-judgemental of his colleague. He acknowledged the pain of October 7th, expressed the urgency of releasing the hostages, and all while not diminishing Adra’s pain. Adra, likewise, was respectful and didn’t contradict Avraham. I don’t know how else to appease naysayers than for Avraham to recite The Shema live, and that wouldn’t have gone over well with the time constraints. What was he supposed to do?

Essentially, “No Other Land”’s controversy didn’t need to be one. It also isn’t worth the backlash it’s been receiving, even from non-Jews who don’t understand their vitriol. This war has caused Jews globally plenty of grief, which I’ve witnessed firsthand. But unless we sit down and have a conversation, something many people are refusing to do, nothing will change. Besides, isn’t that a defining trait of Jewish compassion? Isn’t empathizing with others, even in wartime, something we should do more of?

Something to think about.