Susan Sarandon among celebrities detained at Netanyahu protest in New York

More than 100 people were arrested outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Thursday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly, prompting dozens of UN delegates to walk out in protest.

The demonstration outside the UN, one of several protests against Netanyahu in New York this week, drew hundreds of Jewish, Palestinian, Iranian and Lebanese New Yorkers, as well as elected officials, candidates in the November election and several celebrities. Organisers said more than 100 people were arrested during the protest.

Many protesters wore shirts reading “Fund people not bombs” and chanted slogans including “Let Gaza live” and “the whole world is watching.” Official vehicles heading toward the UN were diverted as demonstrators sat in the middle of the street for more than an hour. They unfurled banners calling to “end the genocide” and flew a kite bearing the words “Free Palestine” — a reference to what organizers described as Israel’s threat earlier this year to target Palestinian children flying kites.

A few hours later, an estimated several thousand people marched from nearby Bryant Park toward the UN to protest Netanyahu’s visit. Draped in keffiyehs and carrying Palestinian flags, protesters marched alongside a brass band and drummers. They carried banners calling on UN member states to sanction Israel, as well as signs featuring illustrations of Netanyahu.

“The US and Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are using the UN as a bully pulpit to basically project their vision of the world, which is one based on brute force and international crimes of aggression and illegal forever wars,” said Nas Issa of the Palestinian Youth Movement, which organized the afternoon protest. “It’s incumbent on member states of the UN to challenge the immunity that America and Israel have enjoyed for decades, but particularly in the past three years since the start of the Gaza genocide.”

On Wednesday, members of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City chapter rallied at John F. Kennedy International Airport to protest weapons and explosive materials destined for the Israeli military being transported from the airport on commercial aircraft.

“We will not be silent as our government fully funds a genocide in Palestine,” actor Hannah Einbinder said ahead of Thursday’s protest. “This moment calls on each and every one of us to speak out and demand the US stop funding genocide.”

Einbinder, who has frequently spoken out in support of Palestinian rights, was among those arrested. She said she felt a moral obligation to join the protests “as a Jew, as an American, and as a human being”.

Actors Susan Sarandon and Debra Winger, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, comedian Caleb Hearon, model and actor Indya Moore, author Glennon Doyle, activist Linda Sarsour, Rabbi Abby Stein and writer David Velasco were also among those detained by the NYPD. Many demonstrators remained at the scene after police ordered them to disperse but did not appear to resist arrest.

The protests presented a challenge for New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had previously pledged to arrest Netanyahu if he came to the city and has repeatedly said his administration supports New Yorkers’ right to protest.

Mamdani has repeatedly described Netanyahu as a “war criminal” who is “not welcome in New York City.” He acknowledged earlier this year, however, that he did not have the legal authority to order Netanyahu’s arrest and instead called on the federal government to enforce any applicable arrest warrant.

At a press conference earlier this week, Mamdani said he had no plans to attend protests outside the UN but made clear that New Yorkers were free to participate.

By Tamilla Hasanova