Protesters outside UN's New York headquarters demand Netanyahu face war crimes charges

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.

"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.

Netanyahu 'should not be given a public platform'

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 US social media platform 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."