“The two participants who were detained were volunteering with Rabbis for Human Rights’ long-standing olive harvest initiative—an act of nonviolent solidarity that supports Palestinian farmers facing settler/military violence and access restrictions to their own lands. They joined the harvest as part of their regular volunteer placements through Achvat,” says Oltersdorf.

The charges? “Violating IDF Orders,” according to the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority.

The principles and actions of these […] groups might seem soft compared to the ardent anti-Zionist Jewish groups popping up around the world. They were not arrested engaging in insurgent direct action, did not call for an end to Israel, they simply went to go pick olives.

Yet the targeting of these interfaith groups calling for co-existence in Israel/Palestine shows a troubling trend for International solidarity activists seeking to engage in front line activities in Palestine. While groups like International Solidarity Movement, who bring people of all faiths and backgrounds to Palestine have been consistently targeted by Israel for arrest and deportation, the same has rarely applied to Jewish, faith-based groups. The Jewish supremacy that once protected International Jews with Israeli organizations is slowly fading.

Avi Dabush, CEO of Rabbis for Human Rights says: “We are disappointed and outraged by the expulsion of Jewish women from Israel and the delay of volunteers. This is selective enforcement of the most blatant and dangerous kind. We are only two weeks into the harvest season and we have already been given 9 orders declaring the harvest areas a closed military area prohibiting us from entering, but on the other hand, the violent settlers have not been detained or arrested so far in all the attacks that have been recorded. We operate without violence and according to the law, and it is a shame that the police and the army wasted an entire day turning away people who came to stand by people under attack.”

But with this rise in retaliation from Israel against insurgent Jews within their borders, the narrative that Zionism and Israel has been pushing also begins to crack. When Jews become unsafe and unwelcome in Israel because of the Israeli government itself, the hypocrisy of Israel as a means for Jewish safety becomes further exposed. As Israel seeks to determine what Jews are politically aligned enough to engage in apartheid and Jewish supremacy, the world must take note that Jewish safety is not helped by Israel. Indeed at the two activists can attest, Israel makes the world more dangerous for Jews.