Israeli Forces Detain Dozens, Including Americans and NY Candidate Brad Lander, During Olive Harvest Near Nahalin

Israeli security forces detained dozens of volunteers helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, including dozens of Americans, several rabbis and Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 10th Congressional District. Lander later said he was released with a “warning.”

Reported totals varied, and the counts remained provisional late Wednesday. Multiple news outlets reported roughly 80 to 90 people were detained near Nahalin, a village west of Bethlehem near the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit. Organizers and Jewish communal leaders, including Amy Spitalnick, said about 33 U.S. citizens were among those taken in for questioning.

The detentions happened during a “Protect the Harvest” action organized by groups including Rabbis for Human Rights and T’ruah, the rabbinic human rights group led by Rabbi Jill Jacobs. Organizers said volunteers had joined Palestinian farmers for the annual olive harvest to provide a protective presence during a season that has again been marked by attacks on farmers, journalists and foreign observers.

According to organizers, the group had been harvesting for about two hours on private Palestinian land at the invitation of the landowner when a large contingent of Israeli forces arrived, including the military, Border Police and Judea and Samaria district police. They said the area was then declared a closed military zone and those present were detained for ID checks and questioning. Organizers said they had written to Israeli military authorities in advance seeking coordination and received no reply, and that volunteers complied when told to stop harvesting.

The Israeli military gave a different explanation in comments reported by multiple outlets, saying the harvest had not been coordinated with the relevant authorities, that harvesting in that area required prior approval, and that an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community posed a security risk.

“I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers,” Lander wrote in a social media post while being held. “We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nahalin in the West Bank. The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.” After his release, he wrote that he had been freed from custody with a “warning,” “apparently because of my public profile.”

Jacobs, who was also detained, said in a statement that “rather than protecting Palestinian farmers and ensuring their right to work their own land, the Israeli military forcibly removed those who came to provide a protective presence.” Yehoshua Schoffman, a former Israeli deputy attorney general who was among those detained, said in a post that he had been told he was being held “for the crime of olive harvesting.”

Reports said detainees were taken either to a nearby police facility or to the Etzion Regional Brigade headquarters for processing, and that foreign nationals may have been separated from Israeli detainees. Organizers said those held were given water but no food.

The olive harvest, which usually runs through October and November, is both an economic necessity and a cultural touchstone for many Palestinian communities, and it regularly becomes a flashpoint over access to land and security restrictions. U.N. humanitarian monitoring cited in recent reporting documented 199 settler attacks between Sept. 1 and Oct. 12 this year, with one fatality, 124 injuries and damage to more than 2,500 trees and saplings.

By late Wednesday, Lander had been released, while other detainees were still being processed, according to organizers and news reports.