According to human rights organizations in the United States and Israel, on October 21 local time, about 90 people were detained by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank. Among those detained was Brad Lander, an ally of New York Mayor Zoelem Mamedani and a U.S. Democratic congressional candidate.
Israeli human rights organization ‘Rabbis for Human Rights’ stated in a statement that Rand and other volunteers were at a village near Bethlehem, accompanying Palestinian farmers as they picked olives. Subsequently, Israeli troops arrived at the scene and detained the group of people.
Activists accompanying Palestinian farmers for olive harvest were detained by the Israeli army. “Human Rights Watch”
Rand is a Jewish-American who served as the Auditor of New York City and ran for election to the position of Mayor of New York. As a Democrat nominee for the 10th Congressional District in New York, he will participate in the mid-term elections to the U.S. Congress on November 3rd.
According to the latest news from the Israeli English website Ynetnews, Rand was later released, but he was given a warning. He posted a photo on social media platform X, showing himself on a bus with other activists and Israeli soldiers.
I, along with a group of rabbinical students (Rabbinical students are a specific stratum within the Jewish community who have received formal education in Jewish classics) and volunteers, was detained by the Israeli Defense Forces. We were merely picking olives in an olive grove near Nahal Karin, on the western bank of the Jordan River. According to international law, occupation is a criminal act. And as far as I know, no law states that picking olives is a criminal act. Rand wrote.
Land released photos on platform X, showing herself on the same bus as other activists and Israeli soldiers.
Jill Jacobs, the CEO of the American Jewish human rights organization T’ruah, who was also detained, told Reuters by phone that the volunteers had voluntarily proposed to leave the area, but Israeli soldiers still took them in a bus to the police station.
The 51-year-old Jacobs comes from Manhattan, New York, and is a conservative Jewish rabbi.
"We obviously did not commit any violent acts, but merely picking olives with Palestinian farmers seemed to cause some unease." Jacob said.
Jacobus said that before the arrival of the Israeli army, volunteers had been picking olives in very peaceful manner with Palestinian farmers.
She added that among those detained are 33 American citizens, as well as some British and Canadian citizens. To her knowledge, the police have not filed any formal charges against these individuals. It is also unclear why they were detained, or whether they will face criminal charges.
Israeli police, military, and the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem did not immediately comment on this matter.
Before Rand was detained, there were several incidents where Israeli settlers attacked Western journalists and diplomats on the West Bank.
On October 16th, local time, American journalist Heidi Levin was interviewing Palestinians picking olives on the West Bank when she was attacked by a group of masked Israeli settlers. Video from the scene shows that multiple people beat Levin. The incident resulted in at least two people being injured.
Just one day later, a group of masked settlers armed with metal sticks attacked European diplomats visiting the West Bank. 78-year-old French mayor Bernard Baudu said he “was beaten with metal sticks and kicked on the feet, and then knocked to the ground.”
In July of this year, Congressman R. Connors, an Indian-American Democrat from California, was detained by Jewish settlers and Israeli military forces while visiting the West Bank. He was released only after intervention by the U.S. Embassy in Israel.
