by Lilah Boig ‘26

At the Oscars in February, Hamdan Ballal collected his award on the stage for being co-director of the now Oscar winning documentary “No Other land.” As he stood on the same stage following celebrities such as Adiran Brody and Kieran Culkian, his team gave their speech in which they stated that “even if we win an Oscar, I will go back to my cruel reality in the West Bank.” No more then two months later, Ballal was reported missing from Gaza as Basel Adra, another co-director, witnessed him get beaten by two dozen settlers in Israeli Uniforms. Ballal was then taken by Israeli soldiers into a military vehicle and taken away.

Although the news was flooded with the story directly after it happened, there were little to no statements from other Oscar celebrities. The lack of words after the attack of a fellow Oscar winner shows the true faces of many celebrities who would rather save their publicity than stand up for what’s right. By saying nothing, they are letting this story be buried from the public and allowing for the United States to keep funding Israel doing this. If they can stand alongside Ballal as a peer in Hollywood, they can have the moral responsibility to help bring support for not only Ballal, but also for the millions of other Palestinians suffering in Gaza.