Brad Lander, a Democratic congressional candidate and ally of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, was detained by Israeli authorities in the West Bank on Tuesday while accompanying Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, an Israeli human rights organization said.
According to Rabbis for Human Rights, an Israeli organization that advocates for Palestinian rights, the incident took place Wednesday morning near the West Bank village of Nahalin, southwest of Bethlehem, where approximately 80 American volunteers and activists were accompanying Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.
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Activists accompanying Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest were detained by Israeli troops in West Bank
(Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights)
The organization said the farmers had been unable to access their land since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel. The volunteers arrived early in the morning and worked in the fields for about two hours before Israeli troops arrived and presented an order declaring the area a closed military zone for 24 hours. The group said there had been no way to know about the order in advance.
According to the organization, the volunteers told the soldiers they would comply and leave the area, but troops detained everyone present for identification checks and photographed their identity cards and passports, including Lander.
(Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights)
(Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights)
Lander, who was later released with a warning, posted a photograph on X showing himself aboard a bus alongside other activists and Israeli soldiers.
"I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers," he wrote. "We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank. The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know."
Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander's post
Lander, a Jewish American politician, previously served as New York City comptroller and ran for mayor. He is the Democratic nominee for New York's 10th Congressional District in next month's election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
A political ally of Mamdani, Lander has been an outspoken critic of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
There was no immediate comment from Israel Police or the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
Rabbis for Human Rights regularly accompanies Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest in the West Bank, where disputes over access to agricultural land and tensions involving Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents have repeatedly disrupted harvesting activities.