Yesterday, Israeli military forces detained approximately 90 Israeli and international activists, among them Canadian volunteers, American rabbis, and prominent Jewish leaders, who had travelled to the occupied West Bank to accompany Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest.

While we are relieved that these activists have been released, they should never have been detained in the first place.

These volunteers travelled to the West Bank for one simple reason: Palestinian farmers increasingly cannot safely access and harvest their own land without the protective presence of Israeli and international activists.

JSpaceCanada is proud to be a coalition partner of Protect the Harvest, an international coalition of activists and allies responding to the invitation of Palestinian communities in the West Bank to support the 2026 olive harvest. The annual olive harvest is not only a vital source of livelihood for Palestinian families, but also an expression of their deep historical, cultural, and generational connection to the land. Increasingly, that connection is being threatened by escalating settler violence, intimidation, and displacement.

In recent days, masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in the village of Abu Falah, setting olive groves on fire, assaulting residents, and severely beating an American journalist. These attacks are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader and increasingly alarming pattern of violence against Palestinian communities throughout the occupied West Bank.

Rather than protecting Palestinian farmers from violent settlers, Israeli security forces detained the very people who had come to help protect them.

This is an unacceptable inversion of responsibility and a profound failure of the Israeli authorities' obligation to protect civilians and uphold the rule of law.

At JSpaceCanada, we believe that Jewish self-determination, Israeli security, and the preservation of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state cannot come at the expense of Palestinian rights, dignity, and self-determination.

We also believe that the actions of violent Jewish extremists, and the failure of the Israeli government to meaningfully confront them, represent a direct threat to Israel's democratic character, its moral foundations, and the possibility of a negotiated two-state solution.

We commend the Israeli, Palestinian, Canadian, American, and other international activists who refuse to look away, and who demonstrate through their actions that solidarity, partnership, and a commitment to human rights must transcend national, religious, and political divisions.

Their courage reflects the values of the Israel we believe in and the Jewish future we are working to preserve.

JSpaceCanada calls on the Government of Israel to immediately end the intimidation and arbitrary detention of peaceful human rights defenders, ensure that Palestinian farmers can safely access and cultivate their land, and hold those responsible for settler violence accountable.

We further call on the Government of Canada to continue using its diplomatic and economic tools, including targeted sanctions against violent settlers and those who facilitate their actions, to demand accountability and help prevent further Palestinian displacement in the occupied West Bank.

The ongoing violence and dispossession of Palestinians are not inevitable. They are the result of political choices, and different choices are possible.

Standing against settler violence is not standing against Israel. It is standing for an Israel that lives up to its democratic values, respects Palestinian rights, and works toward a future of peace, security, and self-determination for both peoples.

We stand with the Palestinian farmers seeking to harvest their land in peace, and with the courageous individuals who refuse to abandon them.