Police Target 14 Foreign Activists for Deportation After West Bank Arrests
Authorities cite media campaign intentions and BDS support as reasons for the moves following Friday's detention of 17 individuals in Kafr Ni'ma.
By Giulia Marshall ·
Israeli police moved to deport 14 foreign nationals on Sunday after their arrest in the central West Bank. The detainees, identified as anti-Israel activists, were taken into custody alongside three Palestinians on suspicion of disturbing public order.
Police interrogations revealed that the foreigners intended to generate media campaigns against Israel. Authorities also noted that some detainees support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The investigation into the three Palestinian detainees continues.
The Palestinian group Faz3a reported that forces detained 17 people on Friday during an olive harvest in Kafr Ni'ma, a village near Ramallah. The group said the detainees included 12 foreign volunteers, two foreign journalists, two Palestinian landowners, and one Faz3a activist. Faz3a claimed settlers attacked the harvesters and held them until soldiers and police arrived to make the arrests.
Footage from settler activists showed detainees boarding a bus operated by the Mateh Binyamin Development Company. The company is the municipal authority for the settler area. The activists said the municipality sent the bus to transport the group to a police station in Modiin Illit. They described the event as a planned provocation near the settlement of Sde Efraim.
This incident follows a pattern of enforcement during the current olive harvest. On November 1, police deported 13 foreign nationals after they allegedly violated a closed military zone order near Lubban al-Gharbiya. Their lawyer, Alon Sapir, stated that the group had come to assist with the harvest. He said soldiers presented the group with a closed zone order issued that same day.
Israel has used legal tools to restrict foreign activists for years. A 2017 law allows authorities to deny entry to foreign nationals who publicly call for a boycott of Israel or work for organizations advocating such boycotts. The law does not apply to Israeli citizens or permanent residents. On October 21, forces detained more than 70 foreign and Israeli activists, including Brad Lander, who was then a congressional candidate and has since been elected to Congress.
