Brad Lander detained by Israeli military at West Bank olive harvest near Bethlehem
Brad Lander, the New York Democratic congressional nominee, was among about 80 US, Israeli and British volunteers detained by the Israeli military on Wednesday as they helped Palestinians harvest olives near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
Brad Lander detained by Israeli military at West Bank olive harvest near Bethlehem
What happened at the olive grove
According to the organisers, Protect the Harvest, the olive-picking was uneventful until a large contingent of Israeli security forces arrived. The group said all volunteers were peacefully harvesting on the private land of a Palestinian family who had invited them. Soldiers declared the area a closed military zone, separated the detainees by nationality and drove them to a nearby police station - the Israelis in minibuses, the Americans in a larger bus.
Detainees' accounts
Posting from the bus to the police station, Lander wrote that he had been detained along with rabbis and volunteers while harvesting olives in a grove near Nahalin.
"The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn't a crime under any law I know."
Joshua Schoffman, Israel's former deputy attorney general, described the mass detention as a "complete hallucination". "Just now, they told me that I'm being detained for the crime of olive harvesting.", he wrote, adding that everyone complied when asked to stop and that "There was no friction whatsoever with settlers or with the security forces."
Who was held
Lander, who is Jewish and an outspoken critic of the Israeli government, describes himself as a liberal Zionist. He argues Israel cannot be a true democracy while it denies Palestinians their human rights and freedom, condemns the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, supports restricting US military aid to Israel, and calls Israel's Gaza campaign genocide. His stance was a key factor in his primary victory against Dan Goldman, a prominent supporter of Israel, and he is an ally of New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Other detainees included:
- Jill Jacobs, chief executive of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
- 11 other American rabbis from T'ruah
- Several rabbis and Israel's former deputy attorney general
Backdrop of violence and release status
Settler militants have unleashed extreme violence on Palestinians attempting to harvest olives across the occupied West Bank and on people accompanying them. Over the weekend, a US photojournalist was assaulted and European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked, drawing international condemnation.
On Monday, Lander had posted that "Our goals for the trip are to help protect the olive harvest – and to shed a light on the reality of the occupation".
Lander was released with a warning, but according to Protect the Harvest all the others were still being held, given water but no food. The Israeli military and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
