Brad Lander

I’ve been released from IDF custody with a “warning,” apparently because of my public profile (I told them I wasn’t even a congressmember yet, just a nominee). But several dozen rabbis & participants harvesting olives with me are still in detention.

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Congratulations to Lula and the people of Brazil on a truly important victory! 🇧🇷 Brazil has once again shown the world what’s possible when working families organize, stand up for democracy, and demand a government that puts people first — not oligarchs & nepo babies & election deniers.

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Bolsonaro’s far-right coalition is aggressively trying to undermine the results, just like what MAGA does in America. Everyone who cares about democracy should acknowledge Lula as the rightful victor.

Have you made a plan to vote? And are you going to vote on the WFP line? I hope the answers are yes and yes! (My kids & I voted today – but maybe the best voting plan answer I heard was the person who said: “Next Saturday, obviously! I want the Halloween “I Voted” sticker"!)

Early voting has started in NYC and runs through next Sunday, November 1. So please find your polling place and make a plan: vote.nyc Vote early. Vote WFP.

The midterm election is finally here. As you know, there’s a lot riding on it. This is our chance to win back House and Senate Democratic majorities — that will fight more fiercely for working families amidst so many storms.

I hope you’ll vote for me, for Governor Hochul (over the embarrassing Trump puppet Bruce Blakeman), and our entire slate of Democrats on the @workingfamilies.org Party @nywfp.bsky.social line. Voting on the WFP line counts the same, and helps build progressive power.

I also voted in favor of the five NYC ballot propositions proposed by the “Commission on Government Efficiency.” So if you haven't already, make a plan to go out and vote either early or on November 3rd! Find your polling place for early voting here: vote.nyc

That’s why Marek, Rosa & I voted early today on the first day of Early Voting — which runs through Sunday, November 1st!

I’m grieving the deaths of the two Israeli soldiers killed in Hebron today, and praying for the full & speedy recovery of those who were injured.

I’ve seen a lot this week and I’ll have more to say about in the coming days (I’m on my way home shortly). There is a path to ending this excruciating cycle of violence. It starts by insisting that every life is sacred, that everyone is created in God’s image.

For now: Shabbat Shalom, to everyone who believes in the hard work of making peace & justice a reality, for everyone.

I’m grieving the deaths of the two Israeli soldiers killed in Hebron today, and praying for the full & speedy recovery of those who were injured.

I’ve spoken out loudly this week against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, which imposes violence on a daily basis, and I will continue to do so. But violence is not the path to ending it — or to achieving safety, freedom, and peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

And neither is collective punishment or ethnic cleansing of an entire neighborhood, or punishing millions of people for the criminal act of two, which Netanyahu has promised to enact in response.

This afternoon, we toured the infrastructure of occupation in the West Bank: Settler outposts that uproot groves full of olive trees & steal Palestinian land. Gates arbitrarily closed by Israeli forces, forcing Palestinian villages to transfer construction supplies and bulk goods by hand.

Separation barriers that divide communities, and sometimes fully surround a single house. Segregated roads for Palestinians and Israelis. Features of apartheid, as B’tselem, Amnesty, Human Rights Watch, Yesh Din and the ICJ rightly identify.

It’s long past time to stop the settlements and end the occupation. Great Britain recently announced a settlement trade ban & sanctions. Congress should pass @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social’s bill to do the same.

Back in the field harvesting olives this morning at the invitation of Palestinian families (near Beit Jala today) with @rabbijilljacobs.bsky.social @truahrabbis.bsky.social and many other new released-from-detention friends. Our harvest today was peaceful & successful.

Sadly, another harvest in Masafer Yatta was not. Settlers attacked Palestinian farmers — but the IDF arrested two of the farmers, and evicted the others from their own land, after declaring it a closed military zone. Sound familiar? It’s happening every single day.

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.

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.

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.

Everyone in our Protect the Harvest delegation has been released. The Israelis who were with us have also received 15-30 day bans from the West Bank, which unfortunately means they will be unable to participate in the olive harvest.

Thank you to everyone for the kind words and support throughout the day. For now, just feeling very grateful that our group is safe.

For harvesting olives. They should all be released immediately. To be clear: Palestinians face far worse consequences every day. These detentions by the IDF are one more attempt to undermine Palestinians’ right to harvest their olive groves, travel on their roads, and live in their homes.

Yet one more element of escalating, and very clearly state-sponsored ethnic cleansing. We’ll update on their status as soon as we hear.

Brad Lander reposted

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

@ayanaeliza.bsky.social

Who should fund the clean energy climate transition? Make polluters pay. Listen to the full episode with @bradlander.bsky.social, NYC congressional candidate, on the What If We Get It Right? podcast: getitright.earth/podcast

Today was our second day in the olive groves with the “Protect the Harvest” coalition.

Listen to Amira Musallam from Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine share a horrific story of a mom and two small kids who were violently attacked by settlers earlier this year — in a house that sits just above the olive grove where we harvested today.

These are the kinds of assaults that Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to constantly. We’ll keep shining a spotlight on what’s happening here – in the pursuit of ending the scourge of state-sanctioned settler terrorism.

Beyond any doubt @aoc.bsky.social is one of the most transformational and effective leaders in our party. She has blazed a trail for a new generation of leaders – propelling a people’s movement from the streets & subways of NYC to the halls of Congress, and all across our country.

It’s an honor to have her endorsement.

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

And, speedily and in our day, to secure human rights, safety, equality & freedom for both Palestinians and Israelis. Thankfully, our corner of today's harvest was peaceful and successful. But violence unfortunately is never far away.

We’ll keep you posted on our efforts this week, especially the stories we hear from Palestinians on the ground. Protect the Harvest.

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

Our goals for the trip are to help protect the olive harvest — and to shed a light on the reality of the occupation.

To ensure that international solidarity goes beyond the harvest, to become a sustained commitment to protecting Palestinian communities from settler violence, forced displacement, and the ongoing threats to their right to remain on their land.

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

The coalition is bringing people together from around the world to help Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the face of state-sanctioned settler terrorism.

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

We’ll keep you posted on our efforts this week, especially the stories we hear from Palestinians on the ground. Protect the Harvest.

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

Our goals for the trip are to help protect the olive harvest — and to shed a light on the reality of the occupation.

I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with Israelis for Peace, Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine & Protect the Harvest.

nybooks.comThe Return of Child Labor | Alice DriverFor years I have been haunted by a grainy video I saw in 2023, when I was interviewing poultry processing workers in Green Forest, Arkansas. In those

The coalition is bringing people together from around the world to help Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the face of state-sanctioned settler terrorism.

Brad Lander reposted

David Roberts

@volts.wtf

"The US conservative movement is engaged in a nationwide effort to reverse child-labor laws and reinstitute child labor" sounds like a crazy leftie conspiracy theory, but ... yeah. It's real.

mobilize.usDemocracy Defense & GOTV Training · New York Working Families PartyEarly Voting is around the corner and here’s the BOTTOM LINE — There’s a lot at stake this Election. We need all hands on deck RIGHT HERE in NY. We need at least 250k votes on the WFP line for Kathy...

Right here in NYC, your vote can help send a message, loud & clear, that you want elected officials who will fight harder for working families. Who don’t kowtow to billionaires or big corporations. Who are laser-focused on making everyday life affordable.