US Activists, Including Congressional Candidate, Detained During Palestinian Olive Harvest

The incident occurred in the village of Nahalin, where approximately 80 to 90 volunteers from Rabbis for Human Rights, alongside American rabbis, were assisting Palestinian farmers. The volunteers were helping the farmers access olive groves that had been out of reach for three years. According to Schoffman, there was no friction with security forces or Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria during the activity.

After about two hours of peaceful harvesting, IDF, police, and Border Police forces arrived and declared the field a closed military zone. Activists reported that although they agreed to leave immediately, security forces detained them for identification and processing, photographing their passports and identity cards. The foreign participants were placed on one bus and the Israelis on minibuses to be taken to a police station.

Lander, a candidate for New York's 10th Congressional District, stated that the trip was intended to protect the harvest and highlight the situation in the area. Separately, two foreign activists detained during an olive harvest near Hebron were deported from Israel on Wednesday evening with a ban on re-entry.