About 100 people, including an Oscar-winning actor and politicians, have been arrested at a protest in New York against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu addressed the UN General Assembly on Thursday, and protests were held over his visit to New York and his speech. Protesters called him a war criminal for the killing of more than 72,000 people in Gaza.
According to Reuters, those arrested included Oscar-winning US actor Susan Sarandon, Emmy-winning actor Hannah Einbinder, Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier and New York City Council member Chi Ossé.
Citing police, The New York Times reported that about 100 people were arrested at the anti-Netanyahu protest in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday.
“What is being done in Gaza is wiping out an entire society,” Manijeh Moradian, 50, a university professor who took part in the protest, told Reuters. “It is being done in our name and with our tax money. It is our duty to speak out against it. Netanyahu has no right to use the UN stage to justify these atrocities.”
In his speech to the General Assembly, Netanyahu defended Israel’s actions in the region, trying to push back against its growing international isolation ahead of an election he could lose.
Diplomats and delegates from various countries walked out as soon as Netanyahu took the stage, AFP reported. As he made his way to the podium, some of those in the hall began booing him, while his own delegation stood and applauded.
The protest outside UN headquarters was organised by Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish rights group that supports Palestinians, according to Reuters.
About 200 people gathered outside UN headquarters wearing matching white T-shirts reading “Money for people, not bombs”, “No war” and “Free Palestine”.
The protesters blocked traffic. Police told them over loudspeakers to leave, and some moved onto the pavement, but a group sat in the road chanting against Netanyahu. Officers on bicycles surrounded them.
Police pulled protesters out of the group one by one, tied their hands behind their backs with zip ties and put them on police buses. Protesters outside the buses kept chanting against Netanyahu.
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