Fourteen Activists Face Exit After Olive Pick Dispute

Israeli police announced on Sunday that 14 foreign nationals, identified as anti-Israel activists, will undergo deportation proceedings. The group was detained alongside three Palestinians in the central West Bank on charges of disturbing public order.

Police stated that interrogations revealed the detainees intended to create anti-Israel media content. Authorities noted that some of the arrested individuals support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The investigation into the three Palestinian detainees is still active.

The activist organization Faz3a reported that 17 people were taken into custody on Friday in Kafr Ni'ma, a village near Ramallah. The group listed the detainees as 12 foreign volunteers, two foreign journalists, two Palestinian landowners, and one Palestinian activist. Faz3a asserted that settlers assaulted the harvesters and restrained them until soldiers and police arrived to conduct the arrests.

Video shared by settler activists showed the detainees boarding a bus operated by the Mateh Binyamin Development Company. The group described the transport as a move to the police station in Modiin Illit. They characterized the event as a planned provocation near the Sde Efraim settlement.

A 2017 law allows Israel to deny entry to foreign nationals who advocate for boycotts against the country or its West Bank settlements. The statute excludes Israeli citizens and permanent residents from these entry restrictions. This legal framework has shaped the government's treatment of foreign activists for years.

Alon Sapir, the group's lawyer, told The Times of Israel that the 15 foreign nationals came to assist with the olive harvest. He said soldiers presented the group with a closed military zone order upon arrival. Sapir claimed the order was issued for the specific area on the same day.

This detention is part of a series of incidents during the current olive harvest season. On November 1, police deported 13 foreign nationals who allegedly violated a closed military zone order in Lubban al-Gharbiya. Earlier on October 21, forces detained more than 70 activists in the West Bank, a group that included newly elected US Representative Brad Lander.