The Academy’s delayed response to Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal’s assault by Israeli settlers in the West Bank drew sharp criticism from Hollywood figures.
The US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued an apology on Friday for its initial failure to defend Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who was brutally attacked by illegal Israeli Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Almost 700 voting members signed a letter expressing regret for not specifically naming Ballal and his film in their previous statements.
The Academy, which hosts the annual Oscars, initially refrained from issuing a statement, prompting criticism from high-profile Hollywood figures such as Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz, Susan Sarandon, Mark Ruffalo, and Richard Gere, who condemned the Academy’s muted response.
In a letter to its members, the Academy said it “condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world” and that its leaders “abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances”.
Ballal suggested that the violence was linked to his Oscar win. He recounted how soldiers referred to his name in connection with the word “Oscar” during his detention. The filmmaker was released on Tuesday after being detained on charges of allegedly “hurling rocks”.
The Academy’s initial response, which condemned “harming or suppressing artists for their work or their viewpoints” without specifically mentioning Ballal, was met with backlash.
Co-director Yuval Abraham also criticized the Academy’s delayed response, sharing an email from the Academy that explained its silence by citing the need to respect “unique viewpoints”, Agence France Presse reported.
The Academy board convened an emergency meeting on Friday in response to the mounting criticism.
Later in the day, the Academy issued a formal apology, acknowledging its failure to directly mention Ballal by name and apologizing to “all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement”.
“We sincerely apologize to Mr Ballal and all artists who felt unsupported by our previous statement and want to make it clear that the Academy condemns violence of this kind anywhere in the world,” the statement read.
“We abhor the suppression of free speech under any circumstances. It is indefensible for an organization to recognize a film with an award in the first week of March, and then fail to defend its film-makers just a few weeks later.”
The statement also condemned the “brutal assault and unlawful detention” of the Palestinian filmmaker, saying:
“The targeting of Ballal is not just an attack on one filmmaker – it is an attack on all those who dare to bear witness and tell inconvenient truths.”
The Palestinian filmmaker and co-director of No Other Land, which won the Best Documentary Oscar this year, was assaulted by illegal Israeli Jewish settlers and detained at gunpoint by Israeli soldiers last week.
The incident comes amid escalating violence perpetrated by illegal Israeli Jewish settlers and occupation forces in the West Bank.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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