Film stars blast Academy for 'failing to defend' Palestinian filmmaker

Movie stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Penelope Cruz and Richard Gere have blasted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for failing to defend an Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker who said he was attacked by Israeli settlers.

Hamdan Ballal co-directed "No Other Land," which won best documentary at this year's Academy Awards. This week, he said he had been assaulted by settlers and detained at gunpoint by soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Unlike multiple other prominent filmmaker groups...