Democratic nominee for Congress in NY-10. Dad Lander. Love unions, justice, seltzer, and NYC. #FightDontFold
Brooklyn, NY
Joined January 2009
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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. 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.
Count on one more co-sponsor for the Stop the Settlements Act in January, @JoaquinCastrotx
Today, Israeli forces detained dozens of volunteers, including a congressional candidate and rabbis, in the West Bank. Days earlier, settlers attacked European diplomats and a Washington Post journalist.
If American public servants, diplomats, and journalists are targeted, imagine what Palestinian families face every day.
Congress should take up my bill, the Stop the Settlements Act, to impose sanctions on anyone driving settlements in the West Bank or Gaza, including construction companies and banks. It's backed by 59 members of Congress, including the bill's latest co-sponsors, @RepRaskin, @RepRobertGarcia, @RepJasonCrow, @RepDeborahRoss, @RepJasmine, and @RepDavids.
nytimes.com/2026/10/21/nyreg…
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.
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.
Brad Lander retweeted
🚨BREAKING: Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander was detained in the West Bank on Wednesday along with dozens of activists who accompanied Palestinian farmers, an Israeli rights group said. @MatanGolanPhoto
I’ve been detained by the IDF, along with a group of rabbis & volunteers. We were simply harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim in the West Bank.
The occupation is a crime under international law. Harvesting olives isn’t a crime under any law I know.
Brad Lander retweeted
The President of the United States wines + dines white nationalists. He knows what a Shylock is and he doesn’t care.
This won’t be the first or last time that Donald Trump feigns ignorance when spouting antisemitic tropes.
cnn.com/2026/10/20/politics/…
Today was our second day in the olive groves with the “Protect the Harvest” coalition.
Listen to Amira Musallam from @ucpinpalestine 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 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.
ALT Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorses Brad Lander for Congress
I'm in the West Bank this week as part of the “Protect the Harvest” coalition along with @israelispeaceny, @ucpinpalestine & Protect the Harvest, which is bringing people together from around the world to help Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the face of state-sanctioned settler terrorism.
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.
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.
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.
How? If you vote on the Working Families Party line!
Join this training Tuesday night to help mobilize people to vote @NYWFP: mobilize.us/ny-wfp/event/106…
Stephen Miller and his fascist acolytes have devised an entire scheme to deprive kids of their rights, detain them, deny them lawyers, and deport them as quickly as possible. We’ve been watching it for the past few months, and I can assure you: there's no semblance of justice or the rule of law – only cruelty to children.
So I’m very grateful to the immigrant advocacy groups standing up to the Trump administration on behalf of vulnerable children. In their legal filing, they correctly condemn the administration for creating a "deportation assembly line." Props to everyone – in the courts and the streets – who is fighting back to defend the humanity of immigrant kids & families. abcnews.com/US/advocacy-grou…
Thanks to @DTVPAC for the endorsement. Looking forward to teaming up to root out corruption, banish dark money from politics & shore up our ailing democracy.
There’s a lot of work ahead to clean up Washington. But we can start by overturning Citizens United, ending stock trading in Congress & passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. This is the commonsense, pro-democracy agenda that the people of NY-10 demand.
ALT Defend the Vote Action Fund endorses Brad Lander for Congress
Early voting in NYC starts Saturday, October 24!
Check out this contest featuring some very talented student artists on the Lower East Side. They put together fantastic new designs for an “I Voted” sticker. If you're in the area, go vote for your favorite before tomorrow at midnight: form.jotform.com/26234585647…
ALT A poster for the Lower East Side Kids' "I VOTED" Sticker Contest.
In yet another stunning display of ICE cruelty, Oscar Belgal is still being held in solitary confinement (with a bullet still in his neck) at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center.
I joined a group of religious leaders & advocates — who protest there weekly against cruel & inhumane conditions — to demand that he be released immediately & that he & everyone else there receive proper medical care.
Reunite Oscar with his family. Expel ICE from NYC.
ALT Standing with a group of religious leaders & advocates to protest at Metropolitan Detention Center.
Brad Lander retweeted
Bruce Blakeman claims victory for making housing in Nassau County impossible to afford. Unclear whether he actually believes this bullshit or thinks New Yorkers are that easily confused.
Thanks @ActorsEquity for the endorsement! NY-10 is proud to be a place where many local actors & stage managers hang their hats. As these workers dazzle audiences from around the world, they deserve dignity and real protections on the job. That has to include robust collective bargain rights, strong wage guarantees & universal healthcare.
I've long been a strong supporter of our arts industry & the workers who power it. I’ll continue to be in Congress.
ALT Actors' Equity Association endorses Brad Lander for Congress
Right in our backyard is a compelling red-to-blue race. NY-11 is the only district in NYC with a MAGA congressmember who supports Trump’s tariffs, wars, and violent immigration policies — while shielding the criminals in the Epstein files, the administration, and their corporate cronies.
The working families of South Brooklyn and Staten Island deserve better — someone who will serve them, not corrupt, economy-rigging billionaires.
@MikeDeCillis knows all about service — he’s been serving his community his whole life. As a third-generation union member & fourth-generation Staten Islander, he’ll hustle everyday in Congress to deliver for the people of this district.
I canvassed with him in Bay Ridge on Saturday, and I can tell you: he’s the real deal. Help him turn the page on Nicole Malliotakis and usher in a new era of people-powered leadership in the 11th: decillisforcongress.com
In 2018, my friend Ady Barkan — the bravest person I’ve ever known — was traveling across the U.S. Despite his rapidly advancing ALS, he was fighting so fiercely for healthcare for every American.
On that trip, he introduced me to @AbdulElSayed, who was running for governor of Michigan. He told me that Abdul would fight for Medicare for All just as fiercely as he would. Now, Ady was a prankster, and sometimes he tricked me, it’s true — but never about something like this.
ALT Ady Barkan with Abdul El-Sayed
And let’s be clear: that’s not true of Mike Rogers, or of J.D. Vance, into whose hand Rogers’ election could put the Senate gavel. They represent a Far Right, white nationalist vision that is bad for Jews, Muslims, and American democracy.
Some people told me that while they still have questions about Abdul, they’re voting for him out of clarity for how much worse it would be if Rogers wins. Some of these folks feel good about the idea of (Muslim) U.S. Senator Abdul El-Sayed and (Jewish) U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin representing the great state of Michigan together. I really agree.
And while foreign policy matters, and I deeply understand the concerns and questions we talked a lot about, I want to start and end with this: the work that Abdul will do in the Senate, and I will do in the House, will center on putting money in the pockets of working people, getting money out of politics, holding Trump and his cronies accountable for their crime and corruption, restoring trust in our ailing democracy, and — of course — delivering health care to everyone, through Medicare for All.
ALT Standing with a group of canvassers.
So, if like me, you sometimes ask yourself “What Would Ady Do?” the answer right now is very clear. There are just three weeks to canvas, phone-bank, text-bank, call your friends in Michigan, and contribute to elect Abdul El-Sayed to the United States Senate.
seed-the-vote.solidarity.tec…
ALT "All Out for Abdul" flyer encouraging folks to canvass for Abdul in Detroit and Lansing.