Screenshot via Brad Lander on X
Progressive House candidate Brad Lander posted to social media on Wednesday that he was “detained” by Israel Defense Forces while attempting to participate in an olive harvest in the West Bank.
“I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank,” Lander wrote, posting a photo of himself on a tour bus.
“The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know,” added the Zohran Mamdani-backed candidate.
Lander was quickly released by the IDF, which put out a statement about the incident.
“Earlier today, a number of harvesters, accompanied by dozens of individuals, arrived to conduct an uncoordinated olive harvest in an area near Beitar Illit. Harvesting in this area requires a request to be submitted to the relevant authorities in advance of the start of the olive harvest season. This coordination is necessary to ensure the security of the area and maintain public order,” the IDF said, adding:
Due to the security risk posed by conducting an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community, IDF soldiers, Border Police forces in Judea and Samaria, and officers from the Judea and Samaria District Police arrived at the scene and detained those present.
Olive harvests in the West Bank often become flashpoints of violence and in recent days, Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and foreign observers at the harvest have resulted in dozens of injuries. Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was injured when she was assaulted by a settler. A group of European diplomats targeted by settlers also grabbed headlines, and both incidents resulted in some 10 arrests of settlers by Israeli authorities.
Lander put out a clip on Monday hyping his trip to the West Bank and another “peaceful” olive harvest he participated in.
“I’m in the West Bank this week as part of the ‘Protect the Harvest’ coalition along with @israelispeaceny, @ucpinpalestine & Protect the Harvest, which is bringing people together from around the world to help Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the face of state-sanctioned settler terrorism,” Lander wrote, adding:
Our goals for the trip are to help protect the olive harvest — and to shed a light on the reality of the occupation. To ensure that international solidarity goes beyond the harvest, to become a sustained commitment to protecting Palestinian communities from settler violence, forced displacement, and the ongoing threats to their right to remain on their land.
And, speedily and in our day, to secure human rights, safety, equality & freedom for both Palestinians and Israelis.
Thankfully, our corner of today’s harvest was peaceful and successful. But violence unfortunately is never far away.
We’ll keep you posted on our efforts this week, especially the stories we hear from Palestinians on the ground. Protect the Harvest.
Lander stirred controversy last month when he used a Yom Kippur event in Brooklyn to accuse Israel of “genocide.”
“As someone who feels the connection to Israel, who care about it, I feel today so deeply that my vidui, my confession, must center on my, on our, complicity in what I view as genocide in Gaza,” Lander told a crowd at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn.
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The post Congressional Candidate Says He Was Detained By Israeli Troops For Trying to Harvest Olives In West Bank first appeared on Mediaite.
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