Brad Lander first landed on our radar in June 2025, when he was arrested by ICE "for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer" while trying to escort an illegal alien out of the building to prevent his detention. He encouraged others to obstruct ICE after the charges were dropped. He then mounted a losing bid for New York City mayor and in 2026 decided to run for Congress, where he recited a Quran verse at a Queens mosque and said he hoped to partner in Congress with Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. Omar, or should we say Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, repaid the favor on Thursday by standing up for Lander, who was detained by the IDF while picking olives with rabbis. Here's Lander's desperate message from the Holy Land on Wednesday:

Fortunately for him, the IDF released him and his rabbi buddies from "custody."

The post continues:

… 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.

Omar, who has broken her silence with a TikTok video begging for money and a softball interview with Chris Hayes, spoke up in defense of Lander.

"Genocide."

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The post continues:

… 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.

We guess he figured Rep. Ro Khanna got some mileage from a similar stunt … why not go for it? Soon, he'll have realized his dream of serving alongside Omar and Tlaib in Congress.

Again, he stole the idea from Khanna. Unfortunately, Lander is running as a Democrat in New York City, so it's likely he and Khanna will be colleagues pretty soon. 

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