Protesters Outside UN Demand Netanyahu Face War Crimes Charges

New York, MINA – A large crowd of protesters gathered in New York to denounce Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his Thursday address to the UN General Assembly, demanding he face prosecution for his war crimes, Anadolu Agency reports.

“I’m so shocked and disgusted that the United Nations even allows the war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before it,” Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of US-based anti-war group Code Pink, told Anadolu.

Saying his hands are “dripping in blood,” she added: “We’re here to say we’re the ones who represent the global community that says Netanyahu should not be here. He should be in The Hague facing war crimes (charges).”

In November 2024, the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes. Demanding the US government also be tried at The Hague for more than one crime, she said: “The US government is complicit in this genocide and now an unprovoked illegal war in Iran.” She added that the crowd represents “the majority of people around the world who just want to live in peace.”

More than 100 people took part in the protest, including Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon. Some demonstrators wore T-shirts saying “Fund people not bombs,” and several were seen handcuffed by the New York police, including Sarandon, as shown in a social media video.

Banners reading “Stop bombing Iran, Lebanon, Palestine” and “Stop arming Israel” were waved throughout the demonstration. New York congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who was also among the protesters, was also arrested by the police. “Our government has unlimited funds to arm a genocide against Palestinians but tells us there’s nothing left to feed and house our own people,” Chevalier wrote on X. She added: “Stop arming Israel!”

At a separate, smaller protest near UN headquarters, Tamara Gayer of the group Israelis for Peace told Anadolu: “We’re here because Netanyahu is speaking in front of the UN, and he should not be given this public platform. While we don’t think that he is the only cause of everything that’s going on in Israel-Palestine, he is a major actor.” She urged action so that the land between the Jordan River and the sea “can thrive, which is the future that we all want to see.”

Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly took place before a largely empty hall after delegations from several countries walked out in protest of Israel’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.

The protests outside the UN headquarters, including by Jewish groups opposed to Zionism and the Israeli government’s policies, underscore the deep divisions within the Jewish community and the broader international community over Israel’s conduct.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The warrants obligate all 124 states parties to the Rome Statute to arrest and surrender the suspects if they enter their territory. The US, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, has rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction over Israel and has imposed sanctions on the court.

Since October 8, 2023, the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 73,000 and injured over 175,000 Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has also destroyed 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, while the UN has estimated the cost of reconstruction at about $70 billion.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)