The Israeli Foreign Ministry is lying.
No coordination was required, and we were never told that it was. We were not in a restricted security area. We did not pass any checkpoints.
Palestinian farmers do not — and should not — need permits to harvest their own olive fields. But they fear doing so, because the IDF doesn’t protect them from settler violence.
We’re trying to model solidarity & co-existence between Jews and Palestinians, and to call attention to the horrors of the occupation. The Israeli government is trying to foment violence between Jews and Palestinians, and to make it impossible for Palestinians to harvest their olive groves, drive on their roads, or live in their homes.
This was not about harvesting olives.
It was about harvesting headlines.
Brad Lander’s latest stunt is nothing more than a calculated political provocation.
Lander traveled to a foreign country, deliberately entered a restricted security area, and participated in an unauthorized activity without the required coordination.
What makes this stunt even more outrageous is that his own team contacted Israeli representatives in the United States ahead of his visit and was explicitly informed that proper coordination with the relevant authorities was required.
He chose to ignore those instructions.
At a time of heightened security tensions, Israeli security forces have a responsibility to protect lives, prevent dangerous incidents, and maintain public order.
Had anyone been injured as a result of his reckless political theater, Lander would undoubtedly have been among the first to demand that Israeli authorities intervene and provide protection.
Brad Lander came looking for a confrontation. Now he is pretending to be its victim.