A day after “No Other Land” co-director Hamdan Ballal was released from his brief detainment in the West Bank, his fellow filmmaker Yuval Abraham has called out the Academy for not publicly supporting one of their own.

“Sadly, the U.S. Academy, which awarded us an Oscar three weeks ago, declined to publicly support Hamdan Ballal while he was beaten and tortured by Israeli soldiers and settlers,” Abraham wrote early Wednesday morning.

“The European Academy voiced support, as did countless other award groups and festivals. Several U.S. Academy members — especially in the documentary branch — pushed for a statement, but it was ultimately refused,” he added. “We were told that because other Palestinians were beaten up in the settler attack, it could be considered unrelated to the film, so they felt no need to respond.”

Indeed, Ballal and Abraham were part of the Palestinian and Israeli filmmaking team who won...