No Other Way: On Academy Awards and Nobel Prizes

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

–Theodore Roosevelt

It’s hardly surprising that this year’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, No Other Land, was criticized by Israeli Culture and Sport Minister, Miki Zohar, as “a sad moment for the world of cinema.”

For people with more integrity and decency, however, the win for the directorial collaboration between Palestinian journalist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham was a triumph for freedom of expression and cinematic multiculturalism. The award, one of many, was shared by filmmakers Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal.

The documentary chronicles the daily struggles of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, particularly the village of Masafer Yatta, in defiance of Israeli military action and violent attacks by Jewish settlers. Ironically, while the Oscar was being handed out, Israel was intensifying their latest round of military incursions in West Bank refugee camps, resulting in many deaths and mass displacement of Palestinians.

As if in retaliation for the utter compounded humiliation being felt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he unilaterally stopped all humanitarian aid going into Gaza, effectively ending the ceasefire while condemning to starvation many Palestinians observing the Islamic fast during Ramadan. It comes as no surprise though that Israel had violated yet another ceasefire pact in a string of such transgressions going back many decades.

Earlier, not to be outdone by Netanyahu’s depravity, Donald Trump, a wannabe dictator in his own right, was entertaining the world with his propensity for boorishness and bluster by ambushing the Ukrainian President on live television in the White House. Strangely it’s not the behaviour one expects from someone desirous of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Yet, Trump is obsessed with joining Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama as recipients of the coveted prize this century.

However, there may be a path for an unpleasant bully like Donald Trump to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Stranger things have happened. Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and notorious warmonger, won the prize jointly with Lê Đức Thọ of Vietnam in 1973 for negotiating a ceasefire. Nelson Mandela, the late ANC resistance leader who was labelled as a terrorist by the West, and F W de Klerk, the last President of the South African apartheid regime won the Peace Prize jointly in 1993 for their roles in ending oppression and ushering in a new democratic order.

In his acceptance speech after winning the Oscar for Best Documentary, Israeli Yuval Abraham pleaded for a political solution that would end Israel’s ethnic supremacy and the end to the injustice:

… when I look at Basel I see my brother but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under miliatry laws that destroy his life and he cannot control.

There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy. With national rights for both of our people and I have to say as I am here, the foreign policy in this county [America] is helping to block this path.

And you know… I… why… can’t you see that we are intertwined. That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It’s not to late for life, for the living. There is no other way. I thank you.

Yuval was clear that there was no other way to resolve the ongoing death and destruction. South Africa tried to maintain a system of apartheid oppression with the support of the Western world. However, that support soon faded, coupled with increasing boycotts and international isolation of South Africa. The ruling regime had no choice but to find a path to freedom and justice for all South Africans. That became a reality after extensive negotiation leading to the 1994 fully inclusive democratic elections.

It is also possible for Israel and Palestine to resolve their differences. Only the continued support of America stands in the path of this outcome. Yuval mentioned it clearly in his acceptance speech. Without America’s diplomatic and military support, Israel will be forced to change course.

This is where Trump comes in. He can end American support for Israeli oppression and create a path to a peaceful settlement. He could enforce the ICC order to arrest war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu because justice must be served in conjunction with a peace settlement. It’s well within his power and means to do so, and in the process, he could very well earn the Nobel Peace Prize he so covets.

I’m not sure if Trump is aware that another American, Ralph Johnson Bunche, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950 for his mediation work in the Israeli – Arab conflict. He conducted the negotiations that led to the 1949 Armistice Agreements being signed between Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, ending the one-year war. Imagine if Donald trumped Bunce by ending a conflict raging for 76 years?

Make it happen Donald. You absolutely must!