“The Only Homeland” (No Other Land) is a documentary from last year about the Palestinian issue. The filming period was from 2019 to before the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation in 2023 (though it is mentioned at the end of the film). The material is fresh and highly topical, but it is rarely mentioned domestically. I watched this documentary last year, so I plan to introduce it here. Since some time has passed, this is a brief review of the documentary’s content after I simply fast-forwarded through it.
This film was shot by four co-directors, with the core being Palestinian Basel and his partner Yuvall, an Israeli. The film focuses on Israel’s ongoing demolition activities in the West Bank, targeting Basel’s village Masafer Yatta. Israeli authorities, citing the designation of military training zones, issued eviction orders to the villagers, and later, with armed forces’ cooperation, bulldozers forcibly demolished houses. However, the villagers did not give up their homeland; some lived in caves, others built temporary shelters, protesting against Israel’s actions. Basel has continuously used his camera to record everything happening in his village, and also went to other villages affected by demolitions to document. He reports on the villagers’ resistance activities and Israeli demolitions on social media. Israeli soldiers are armed with guns, while villagers can only protest, throw stones, and aim their phones at them in resistance.
After the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, violence by Israeli mobs intensified, directly shooting at residents. The last footage Basel recorded in his village shows mobs shooting a villager in public. Following this, such incidents continued, and Basel’s brother was also killed by gunfire. Ultimately, all residents of Masafer Yatta moved away.
Villagers and Israeli soldiers confront each other
Israeli demolishing Palestinian houses
I believe the greatest significance of this documentary lies in providing material about Israel’s forced demolitions of Palestinian land, allowing us to have a more complete understanding of Israel’s invasion model. It reveals the fascist brutality of Israeli mobs. At the beginning of the film, during a demolition, villager Harun argued with Israeli soldiers to keep his generator and was shot directly, leaving him paralyzed in bed, living with his family in a cave. The villagers are furious about this naked violence and hold protests against Israeli atrocities.
Protests held by Palestinian people, with portraits of Harun in their hands
The film exposes the reactionary nature and economic destruction behind these demolitions. Israel claims to demolish under the guise of “law,” but as Palestinians point out, this law is that of settlers. The documentary also states that Israel’s purpose in these demolitions is to force Palestinians to leave their land and move into Israeli cities, providing cheap labor for Israeli bourgeoisie.
Basel posts on social media: “If you have issues, go to the colonizer’s court”
Eran, the Israeli leader in charge of demolishing Masafer Yatta, giving orders for the demolition
Invaders entering the village
Israelis filling in Palestinian water wells vital for their survival
Their methods are ruthless. Basel often directly confronts Israeli authorities, which results in targeted harassment. They forcibly evict Basel from his home late at night, and during demolition attacks, they attempt to arrest him. Because his father protected him, Basel’s father was arrested instead. Basel also risks his life at the front lines, recording Israel’s atrocities.
Israeli soldiers try to arrest Basel
Basel’s father is arrested
Israelis attacking villagers with hired thugs during demolitions, then throwing stones at Basel who is filming, trying to beat him
In addition to demolishing residents’ houses, Israel also destroys Palestinian schools, attempting to obliterate their cultural education:
Invaders entering a school
Israel demolishing schools
On the other hand, I think a meaningful aspect of this documentary is the cooperation and support between Yuvall, an Israeli, and Basel, and their joint efforts to report Israeli atrocities. Yuvall himself says that learning Arabic after high school changed his political views, “so when the army wanted me to serve in intelligence, I refused.” His support for villagers’ opposition to demolitions was welcomed by the residents of Masafer Yatta. The documentary includes several conversations between Yuvall and Palestinians; although villagers emphasize his identity, saying “You are Israeli, Arabs built everything for you, yet you betray us and destroy Palestinian homes,” they still treat him kindly. Yuvall’s support for the village also earns him contempt from demolition authorities. When he raises his camera and stands up against the demolitions, they say, “Look, here’s a Jew helping them.” Basel and Yuvall’s friendship further illustrates that the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is essentially a contradiction between the Palestinian people and the Israeli bourgeoisie. Recognizing the true face of the fascist Israeli regime, the Israeli people are capable of supporting Palestinian resistance. Their friendship also refutes the domestic “pink” view that all Jews are devils supporting Hitler’s genocide.
3.
Next, I will discuss some shortcomings of this documentary.
First, its attitude toward Western imperialist countries. Basel and Yuvall often participate in protests, but during their reporting activities, they do not believe that Palestinians can stop Israel’s demolitions through their own struggle. Basel says, “I believe we can stop this eviction,” but he thinks that “if we actively act and record on the ground, it will pressure Israel.” He trusts in imperialist powers to make Israel concede. We know imperialism’s nature doesn’t change, and trusting them to make concessions is naive; only the people’s full-scale struggle can deter Israel. The media’s role is not to embarrass imperialist countries or organize protests, but to show other countries’ people the Palestinian resistance, which can motivate more to oppose these invasions. Only people’s resistance can pressure rulers in other imperialist nations. Basel’s idea is rooted in his own past practice; the film shows old news clips where Basel, as a narrator, says: “Tony Blair (British politician, Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007) visited us, walking around our village for seven minutes… After he returned to the UK, Israel canceled the orders to demolish the schools and houses on the streets he passed.” This “story of power” reveals Basel’s naive faith in the bourgeois “power,” without fully trusting in Palestinian people’s resistance. This ideological flaw leads to the second shortcoming.
As the documentary progresses, Basel’s negative emotions grow stronger, especially after Israel’s harassment, beatings, and attacks. Toward the end, footage of Basel sitting silently beside Yuvall, smoking, eating fast food, increases. The cover of the film also deliberately depicts a bulldozer on a hillside while Basel lies on the grass, symbolizing despair and helplessness. Although Basel still says, “They (Israel) won’t succeed; no matter what they do, they will ultimately fail. They can never make Palestinians leave this land,” both he and Yuvall become increasingly uncertain about how to defend this land, echoing Yuvall’s words: “I think people need to find ways to make change, that’s the problem. Those who see our experience are touched, and then what?” This question remains unanswered. Without revolutionary theory guiding them, they cannot see a true solution.
Basel’s belief that the U.S. imperialist powers will intervene to solve the problem is also invalidated by the final part of the documentary. After the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Israel launched even larger retaliatory actions against Palestinians. The residents of Masafer Yatta were forced to leave amid violence, yet U.S. imperialism did not intervene but instead supplied weapons and funds to destroy Hamas, kill in Gaza, and suppress Palestinians. Only under the guidance of Marxist revolutionary theory, with the unity and resistance of the Palestinian people, can invaders be driven out and land reclaimed.