Orrling, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By: TPS Staff
Summary
Israeli military detained about 80 volunteers from the US, UK, and Israel, including New York Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander, while they were helping Palestinians harvest olives near Nahalin in the West Bank. Lander was later released.
Lander, who was with a group of rabbis and activists, posted from a bus en route to a police station that they had been detained by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) despite simply harvesting olives in the area. Several rabbis and Israel’s former deputy attorney general were also among those held.
The group was taken into custody near Bethlehem, and while Lander was subsequently freed, many of others remained in Israeli custody following the incident.
Why it matters
The detention of foreign volunteers, including a US congressional candidate, by Israeli forces during a humanitarian activity highlights the complexities and tensions surrounding civilian presence and activities in the occupied West Bank.
Sources
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