OMM Newsroom
Israeli forces detained Democratic US congressional nominee Brad Lander and dozens of activists and Palestinian farmers on Wednesday as they took part in the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian activist said.
Amira Muslim told Anadolu Agency that 45 foreign activists, including Lander, and 25 Israeli activists were held while harvesting olives in Husan, west of Bethlehem. Lander is an ally of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Muslim said the authorities stopped the activists, put them on buses and transferred them to a nearby settlement. Their destination and whereabouts remained unclear.
The group included members of “T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights”, a New York City-based Jewish organization, Muslim added.
It was not immediately clear how many Palestinian farmers had been detained or whether any of those held had been released.
Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their land in the West Bank intensify during the olive harvest season. They include assaults on farmers, preventing them from accessing their land, stealing crops and damaging trees.
Official Palestinian figures indicate that about 750,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, across 194 settlements and approximately 400 outposts.
