A still from “No Other Land,” the award-winning documentary about Israeli demolitions in the West Bank. (Antipode Films)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
PACBI defines anti-normalization as the refusal to work with Israelis, unless they call for an \u201cend to the occupation, end to apartheid, and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.\u201d The project in question, in addition, must be one of \u201cco-resistance against the Israeli regime.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, anti-normalization is generally understood as the Palestinian refusal to work with nearly all Israelis. The idea has gained currency in anti-Israel activist circles in recent years. It\u2019s the ideological foundation undergirding pro-Palestinian groups\u2019 refusal to interact with pro-Israel groups, on the argument that they support Israel\u2019s existence and, therefore, are out of bounds.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also why PACBI called last year for a boycott of Standing Together, one of the most visible Israeli-Palestinian anti-occupation groups (which is also organizing Israeli screenings of \u201cNo Other Land.\u201d)<\/p>\n
Now, PACBI claims that \u201cNo Other Land\u201d and its creators run afoul of its anti-normalization standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BDS movement has always fought against normalization as a powerful weapon employed by oppressors to whitewash their crimes, to colonize the minds of the oppressed, and to undermine global solidarity with the struggle to end oppression,\u201d PACBI said, referring to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.<\/p>\n
It added, \u201cNow, given its growing profile and in particular following its Oscar win, we find it important to explain how the film is in violation of BDS guidelines for people to enhance the collective understanding of normalization and its dangers, and to protect our struggle from the heightened risk of using normalization to whitewash genocide. The ends never justify the unethical means.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other hardline pro-Palestinian activists supported PACBI\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Other Land serves a soft Zionist function\u2014exposing certain injustices while still legitimizing Zionist presence as part of the narrative, rather than centering decolonization and Palestinian liberation on our own terms,\u201d tweeted Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of Within Our Lifetime, a New York City-based group that praises Hamas and routinely calls for Israel\u2019s destruction.<\/p>\n
Predictably, the backlash has sparked its own backlash. Prominent pro-Israel voices, as well as critics of Israel, defended the movie \u2014 or at least called on their allies to tone down the criticism.<\/p>\n
More than 100 Israeli filmmakers, including some prominent names, signed a letter in defense of the film this week. And Israel advocates are countering the criticism on social media as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have Jewish influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers calling No Other Land \u2018terrorist propaganda,\u2019\u201d tweeted pro-Israel influencer Blake Flayton. \u201cI am critical of the film as well, but COME ON people. Labeling *everything* as the work of \u2018terrorists\u2019 is why we keep losing arguments. Engage with the issue that the film addresses directly. Do not be afraid to criticize Israel, it strengthens our credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
SImilar pushback came from pro-Israel influencer Hen Mazzig, who said the film\u2019s creators \u201cdid not call for ethnic cleansing. They did not downplay the violence of October 7th.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere they harsh when they talked about the Israeli government? It depends who you\u2019re asking. Empathy isn\u2019t a zero-sum game,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that not every disagreement or hard conversation is hate speech. We get more done when we listen and learn from each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among Palestinians, Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, congratulated Adra on his win. So did Mo Amer, a Palestinian-American comedian who stars in a self-titled Netflix show.<\/p>\n
Political commentator Mehdi Hasan, one of the most prominent pro-Palestinian voices on X, called the film \u201cpowerful. Infuriating. Heartbreaking. Revealing.\u201d and thanked Abraham and Adra.<\/p>\n
And in a lengthy thread, Monica Marks \u2014 who teaches Middle East politics at New York University\u2019s Abu Dhabi campus and has posted tweets critical of Israel \u2014 puzzled at the logic of the PACBI statement rejecting the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe takeaway I come away with here is that an Israeli person can essentially dedicate their life to fighting Israel\u2019s crimes, can denounce those crimes in the harshest terms available, can publish some of the greatest journalism exposing crimes of genocide\u2026 And *still* not be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
She continued, \u201cIf that\u2019s not a project of joint resistance, what is? If that\u2019s not a magnum opus driven by the conviction that Palestinians\u2019 rights are inalienable & they deserve full justice & equality, what is? If Yuval Abraham is not enough, what Israeli is?\u201d<\/p>\n
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