From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
NY congressional candidate Brad Lander detained in West Bank olive harvest, rights group says
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Jewish US congressional candidate Brad Lander has been detained accompanying Palestinian olive pickers in the West Bank, according to the left-wing Rabbis for Human Rights organization.
Lander was detained in Nahalin, near Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, alongside several other activists and Palestinian olive pickers, according to Palestinian media.
On X, Lander posts a selfie from a bus full of detainees, and writes: “The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.”
MK Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi who has previously collaborated with Rabbis for Human Rights, says the organization brought 80 volunteers to Nahalin.
“After two calm hours IDF and police forces came and announced a closed military zone and demanded the volunteers to get on a bus ordered by the military,” Kariv says on X.
The IDF and police do not immediately comment.
Lander is the former New York City comptroller and an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He won the Democratic primary for a US House seat earlier this year and is expected to win the general election.
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