In Reply to: What really happened in Bahrain? The untold story posted by mh on October 21, 2026 at 08:45:09
Brad Lander, a US Democratic Party candidate for Congress, was detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, along with other Americans, Israelis and Palestinians taking part in the annual olive harvest, rights groups said.
The incident took place in Nahalin, a village south of Bethlehem, as Palestinians were gathering olives accompanied by around 80 volunteers, according to Israeli organisation Rabbis for Human Rights and Jewish North American organisation T'ruah.
Lander, a Jewish American and former New York City comptroller and mayoral candidate, wrote on X that he had been detained along with a group of rabbis and volunteers.
"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."
Lander, who is an ally of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and has been critical of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza, was later released, according to Rabbis for Human Rights and T'ruah.
Lander, who is running for New York's 10th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives in the November 3 midterm elections, was not immediately available for comment.
Israeli police said it had detained Palestinian olive harvesters and dozens of Israeli and foreign activists gathering olives near the fence of an Israeli settlement, saying it was prohibited. One of the foreign nationals was later released once it became known he was a congressional candidate, police said.
The military said harvesting in that area required prior coordination, which had not happened, and that those present had been detained. It did not say harvesting there was prohibited.
Lander is the only one released so far, while the others are expected to be interrogated, according to Rabbis for Human Rights Acting Director Anton Goodman.
"I would suggest to all activists go out there and get yourself elected," he said.