Italy demands release of five activists detained in West Bank during olive harvest

Detention and Italian response

Five Italian activists were detained on Thursday, 29 October, near the village of Al Lubban al-Gharbiyye in the West Bank while standing beside Palestinian farmers who were picking olives. The Italian Foreign Ministry, known as the Farnesina, has demanded their immediate release, and the group was being held at a police station.

The Italian embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate general in Jerusalem have approached Israeli authorities to clarify the circumstances of the detention and to secure consular assistance. Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has called the detention of an earlier group unacceptable, saying those activists had done nothing wrong. Tajani has also reiterated Italy's support for a two-state solution and an end to attacks on Palestinian villages in the West Bank.

Operation inside a village house

Fanpage reports that the arrests took place inside a house in the village, away from the olive groves, after the group had been followed there by settlers from the nearby Avichai Farm outpost. Soldiers entered the house together with the settlers and arrested 14 international volunteers, including the five Italians. The volunteers came from Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Ireland and Sweden.

The International Solidarity Movement, the organisation the volunteers were working with, said no formal military order closing the farmland had been served. Fanpage reports that the 14 were accused of entering a closed military zone. Israel has accused the activists of being in an area where security forces had issued no prior authorisation for farming activity. Fanpage also reports that the village mayor was arrested and beaten during the same operation and that soldiers damaged his carpentry workshop.

A teacher among the detained

Among the five Italians taken to the police station at the Ni'ilin checkpoint is a 56-year-old woman who teaches history and philosophy at a high school in Rome, according to Fanpage. Originally from Bologna and the author of essays and poetry collections, she had arrived in the West Bank five days before her arrest. La Stampa reports that three of the five Italians are from Imperia.

Earlier detentions this month

Noticias ao Minuto notes that this is the second such incident within a week. Il Fatto Quotidiano reports that earlier, a father and son from Bolzano were held for more than a day by Israeli police on terrorism accusations before being formally expelled. A separate group that included five Italian women was held for hours at a police station, questioned, and expelled the following day.

Il Fatto Quotidiano also reports that the same week, an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) sweep detained about ninety volunteers, including Brad Lander, a Democratic candidate for the US Congress. Lander wrote on social media that he had only been picking olives in the West Bank. He was released under strict movement restrictions along with dozens of others.

Olive harvest tensions

Il Fatto Quotidiano describes the olive harvest as a period of high risk for clashes with settlers, when many foreign activists travel to the territories to support and shield local farmers. AFP reports that several activists are supporting olive farmers amid threats from extremist settlers.