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Democrat Brad Lander, a candidate for the US Congress, was detained by Israeli forces on Wednesday while picking olives with Palestinian farmers in the West Bank. AnewZ reported that Lander was released after being warned. He said he believed his public profile had played a role.
Dozens of rabbis and other volunteers in Lander’s group were held for several more hours. “Occupation is a crime under international law. Picking olives is not a crime under any law I know of,” Lander wrote on the “X” platform.
About 80 volunteers detained in Nahalin
The incident took place in the village of Nahalin, south of Bethlehem. According to the Israeli organization Rabbis for Human Rights and the North American Jewish organization T’ruah, about 80 volunteers were supporting Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.
The volunteers included Americans and Israelis, as well as British and Canadian citizens, according to one of the organizers. They were taking part in “protective presence” activities, accompanying farmers who often face violence from Israeli settlers.
The two organizations said Israeli soldiers and police arrived about two hours after the harvest began and told participants the area was a closed military zone. Anton Goodman, deputy director of Rabbis for Human Rights, told Reuters that the volunteers had not known this and agreed to leave, but were detained.
Lander said he was held for about three hours and the others for about nine. Israeli police later said 72 people had been released, with some told to stay away from the harvesting area. A hearing on the possible deportation of four foreign nationals was scheduled for Thursday.
Dispute over coordination of the olive harvest
The Israeli military said prior coordination was required for olive picking in an area near the Beitar Illit settlement, but this had not been done, adding that “uncoordinated harvesting” posed a security risk. Police said one foreign national was released after it emerged that he was a candidate for Congress.
The Times of Israel reported that a map distributed to Palestinian farmers by Israel’s Civil Administration did not mark the area as one requiring prior coordination. The Israeli military later explained that the area was not marked because Palestinians had not previously applied to harvest olives there.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused Lander of “seeking confrontation,” saying: “This was not about picking olives. It was about picking headlines.”
Lander said the Israeli Embassy in Washington had recommended coordinating the harvest in advance but had not said it was mandatory. He added that he had picked olives in the same area during the previous two days without incident.
“We did not pose a security risk to anyone. We did nothing more provocative than picking olives,” Lander said. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T’ruah and among those detained, said the volunteers had been picking olives “very peacefully” until the forces arrived.
Political reactions to the incident
Lander, who is Jewish and a former New York City comptroller, is running in New York’s 10th Congressional District in the midterm elections scheduled for Nov. 3. He is an ally of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and a critic of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza war.
Mamdani wrote on the “X” platform: “Picking olives is not illegal. Occupation is illegal.” He has accused Israel of committing genocide; Israel rejects the accusation. Mamdani also called for the release of other New York residents who were detained.
A representative of the US Embassy in Jerusalem said it was aware of reports that US citizens had been detained.
The importance of the olive harvest to Palestinians
The annual olive harvest is a cultural tradition and an important source of income for Palestinians. However, the activity is often targeted by attacks from Israeli settlers. Following settler attacks in the West Bank over the weekend, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to take action against the violence.
Lander told journalists in Beit Jala in the West Bank: “The fundamental issue here is how hard the Israeli government is working to make it impossible for Palestinian farmers to harvest their olive groves, travel on their roads, live in their homes and remain on their land.”
