The U.S. Congressman detained by Israeli settlers in the West Bank

0:00Support for this podcast and the following message come from Allianz Travel Insurance. Your flight? Booked. Your lungs? Suddenly battling bronchitis. Travel insurance helps protect your travel budget so you can book again once you feel better. Learn more at AllianzTravelInsurance.com. Today on State of the World, the U.S. congressman detained by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories, up close, where they're happening. I'm Greg Dixon. Ro Khanna, the Democratic congressman from California, made a trip to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank last week.

0:47There, he said he was stopped by armed Israeli settlers, and then Israeli soldiers, and not allowed to leave for over an hour. He says he was only allowed to continue after contacting the U.S. Embassy in Israel. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee later called his trip a, quote, stunt and said Kana went to a military-controlled area without prior clearance. Israeli officials have also countered Representative Kana's narrative. We're going to hear about this incident from Congressman Ro Khanna himself. He spoke to Elsa Chang. OK, so you call this visit to the occupied West Bank, in your own words, a, quote, Palestinian led trip.

1:30Why was going on a specifically Palestinian led trip important to you? I've been to Israel three times before. I've met with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Prime Minister Bennett, many Israeli officials. And I had been to Romala, where I met with President Abbas. But I wanted to see firsthand the occupation, the conditions on the ground in the occupied West Bank. And it was important to get the voices of Palestinians. And that's why I went on a trip to the West Bank that was Palestinian-led. Now we informed the American embassy. We informed the Israeli embassy. Oh, well, there's some pushback on that, actually.

2:08Israel's ambassador to the U.S. says, you refuse Israel's offer to coordinate your visit there. and that is why the Israeli military didn't immediately allow you passage. What is your response to that? Well, they're correct that I didn't allow for the coordination, meaning that Israel wanted me to come meet with Israeli government officials and meet with Israeli officials. I said, no, this is a Palestinian-led trip to the West Bank. But they knew I was there. They helped escort me. They were fully aware. Yeah, they helped escort me through the airport. I mean, they knew I was a member of Congress.

2:38They got me through very quickly through the airport when I landed in Ben-Gurion. They knew that I was going to the West Bank. They were fully aware. They just were upset that it's unconventional that a member of Congress doesn't go to Israel and does the Israeli government or APEC itinerary. And I wanted to do a Palestinian-led tour. Well, Israeli officials weren't the only ones upset. I mean, how do you respond to people like Ambassador Huckabee, who says this whole trip was just a political stunt on your part? He's a Donald Trump acolyte who obviously has supported a greater Israel and supports annexation.

3:16So, you know, he obviously doesn't agree. But the interesting thing is the deputy chief of missions, David Brownstein, is the one who helped save our lives. We were on the phone with him when we were on the van and when we were detained. And he's the one who called the Israeli government to finally get the police to let us go 75 to 90 minutes out. So obviously the American embassy was also aware that I was there, and I really appreciate what David Brownstein did. I admire what he did. Can we talk more about your account of what happened originally? So you say that you were stopped by Israeli settlers while traveling in a vehicle to a small village.

3:56Tell me, why were you heading there originally? Well, we wanted to see the Zanuda village. It was destroyed by Yanan Levy, who was an extremist settler, still free. And they had destroyed the village and the elementary school. And we were taking photos of that. By the way, the site we were at three, four months ago, other congresspeople were there. Congressman Castin, Congresswoman Rosa DeLora. And on this part, the person who took us there, Nadav, an Israeli citizen from breaking the silence. A peace activist, yes. Yeah, and it was not a restricted zone. In fact, even the IDF now has admitted that they were wrong.

4:35It was not a restricted zone. Okay, so let me just, I'm just trying to picture what happened. So your vehicle is proceeding towards this village, Zenuda. No, we were parked there. You were parked there. And what happened next once the car was stopped? Then these extremist settlers came, two of them, one of them with a M4 gun, the other one also armed. I was told to get in the van. We all got into the van. They parked their car right in front of our van. So we couldn't exit because it was a single dirt road that went up to the village. And they started brandishing their gun, the N4. And when we went and told them, our interpreter and security guard, that we were with the Americans in the American embassy, they kind of laughed.

5:13They said, that doesn't matter. And this went on for about 20, 20, 30 minutes before the IDF came. And then what happened when the IDF came, the Israeli military? Well, when the IDF came, first of all, the settlers called other settler friends of theirs. So there were other cars that started blockading us in. And then there were about four female officers. We said, OK, clear this so that an American delegation can get through. And they refused to. They said, no, we are here, the IDF officers. And they refused to clear the path. They refused to tell the settlers to leave and let us through. And they parked their vehicle also blocking further our exit and said, we just have to stay there and they're not going to allow us to move.

6:02Well, the Israeli military's statement about this whole incident denied that their soldiers were involved in blocking the road. And they say that they quickly dispersed civilians and reopened the road. What is your response to that statement? They now admit that we're in a zone that we were allowed to be in. They now admit that their soldiers were parked there and did not disperse the settlers and that they were further blocking us. And they're now claiming that they were just waiting for orders from the police, and that's why they had detained us. But it still does not change the facts that there were illegal settlers that detained us and that the IDF sided with the settlers, as the videotape shows.

6:49Right. I just want to point out there is video of this incident and there are witnesses who corroborate your account. Now, you say the goal of this three-day trip was to meet with Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. And, Congressman, after all that has happened to you and your team, what is your overall takeaway from this experience? That the Israelis lie, that this government that lied about genocide has no problem lying about the detention of Americans, that there is an arrogance of power and that they're totally out of touch with the fact that Americans under 50 have totally lost confidence in Israel.

7:24And they're going to be in for a rude awakening when there's a new generation of power in power in America at 26 and 2028. Well, I was going to ask you, I mean, what can be done to invoke that rude awakening, as you put it? Is there a policy solution that would help that that people in Congress can help effectuate? Well, they're going to lose all aid, and we're going to stop military sales. Massey Amendment is a vote on ending aid. It may not pass now, but it certainly will pass in the next administration. They're going to lose military sales. They're going to have an administration call them an apartheid state and call them a state that has committed genocide.

8:05They're going to lose our support in the United Nations, and we shouldn't be giving money to Israel that's using it to detain Americans. That was Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California speaking to Elsa Chang. A note that we've requested comment from the Israel Defense Forces, the Israeli military, for clarification on their statement following this interview. We'll also note Israel strongly denies all allegations of genocide.

8:36And that's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening. This is Tanya Mosley, co-host of Fresh Air. From mail-in ballots to racial gerrymandering, a lot is at stake for America's free and fair elections. I spoke with journalist Ari Berman about what he calls a final blow to the Voting Rights Act. My fear is that we are returning to a politics of Jim Crow in the South. Listen to Fresh Air on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Planet Money Summer School, we're going on a world tour. And first up, we're following the money down under. From Australia's market where people buy and sell water to how New Zealand is changing the way central banks fight inflation.

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