Brad Lander said he and dozens of other activists were “detained” by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday while harvesting olives in the West Bank.
“I was detained by the Israel Defense Forces along with a group of rabbis and volunteers. We were just harvesting olives in a grove near Nihalim in the West Bank,” Land, the Democratic candidate for New York’s 10th Congressional District, said in a post on X.
“Occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives is not a crime under any law I know of,” the post continued, along with a photo of Democrats on a bus full of people.
Earlier this week, Rand said he was in the West Bank to assist local Palestinians during the annual olive harvest.
“You have seen what has happened in the past few weeks, where Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian farmers, of course, but also American journalists and European delegations. Thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from their land and olive groves,” he said in a video detailing his trip to the West Bank.
Rand joined several groups active in the harvest, including the Rabbinic Human Rights Organization, with whom he was allegedly detained on Wednesday.