Photo taken by Truah - The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights of Israeli forces detaining volunteers in the West Bank.
October 21, 2026 — New Jewish Narrative is outraged by the Israeli military’s detention today of at least 33 American citizens, including Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 10th Congressional District, and Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. They were in the West Bank with the Protect the Harvest coalition, of which NJN is a member, helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives near the village of Nahalin, outside Bethlehem. They are now being taken to a police station for processing.
The volunteers were there to accompany farmers to groves they had been unable to reach for three years. After two hours of peaceful harvesting, Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone and detained the volunteers.
“Harvesting olives is not a security threat, and accompanying farmers is not a crime,” said Hadar Susskind, president and CEO of New Jewish Narrative. “Detaining rabbis and an American congressional nominee for standing with Palestinian farmers makes clear how far the Israeli legal system has been corrupted to serve the occupation.
“The olive harvest has become a focal point of settler attacks and military restrictions that push Palestinian farmers off their land. Today’s detentions follow that pattern. When the response to Jews and Palestinians picking olives together is mass arrest, the problem is not the volunteers. It is the occupation.
“The State Department should demand answers from the Israeli government about the detention of American citizens engaged in nonviolent humanitarian work.”
New Jewish Narrative is a national Jewish organization that champions peace, justice, and human dignity – in Israel, Palestine, and across the United States.
