Brad Lander, a US Democratic Party candidate for Congress, was detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank yesterday, along with other Americans and Israelis harvesting olives alongside Palestinian farmers, rights groups said.
Lander later wrote on X that he had been released with a warning, which he said was apparently due to his public profile, but said several dozen rabbis and other participants were still detained.
“The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know,” he earlier posted, saying he had been detained by the military.
Lander was among a group of international volunteers, which one organiser said also included British and Canadian citizens, accompanying local Palestinian farmers, who often face the threat of violence from Israeli settlers, as an act of solidarity in what is known as protective presence.
Lander is a former New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate who is running for New York’s 10th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives in the November 3 midterm elections. He is an ally of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and is critical of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza.
The annual olive harvest is a cultural tradition and important source of income for Palestinians. It is also often the target of violent attacks carried out by Israeli militants.
Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians and other civilians in the West Bank over the weekend prompted a call by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to crack down on the violence.
Israel’s foreign ministry accused Lander of ‘looking for a confrontation’ and said that he had ignored advice ahead of his visit that co-ordination with Israeli authorities was required.
The incident took place in Nahalin, a village south of Bethlehem, as Palestinians were gathering olives accompanied by around 80 volunteers, according to Israeli organisation Rabbis for Human Rights and Jewish North American organisation T’ruah.
Israeli police said it had detained Palestinian olive harvesters and dozens of Israeli and foreign activists gathering olives near the fence of an Israeli settlement, saying it was prohibited. One of the foreign nationals was later released once it became known he was a congressional candidate, police said.
The military said harvesting in that area, which is located near the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit, required prior co-ordination, which had not happened, and that those present had been detained. It did not say harvesting there was prohibited.
Mamdani wrote on X that Lander was among New Yorkers, including rabbis, who had been detained by Israel’s government for accompanying Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.
“Harvesting olives is not illegal. The occupation is,” he said, accusing Israel of genocide, and demanding the release of the other New Yorkers and an end to the Israeli occupation.
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