Protesters calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rally and march in New York City on Sept. 26, just as he arrived to speak to the United Nations General Assembly the next day, triggering a walkout by scores of diplomats.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced in May that he’s seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders, due to sufficient evidence that both sides committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Israel-Hamas war. At least one of those Hamas leaders has since been killed by Israel. Protesters marched through the streets of Manhattan demanding Netanyahu’s arrest, carrying banners and a giant puppet of Netanyahu in handcuffs.
Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus was at the rally and spoke to several participants. One, a Palestinian American medical student who said he hoped to go to Gaza to volunteer when he finished his training, said it “meant the world” to him and other Palestinians to see Americans publicly protesting Israel’s genocide. Another was an Israeli named Halat who said his parents were members of Haganah and Irgun – groups that fought for the creation of Israel, both declared terrorist organizations by Britain and the U.S. He said it took him a long time to separate in his mind that Zionism has nothing to do with Judaism. He said his children helped him to “decolonize” his mind. Tuhus also spoke with Gregory Daly, who said he’d like to see not only Netanyahu, but the U.S. officials enabling Israel’s military actions to be tried for their crimes. She began by asking him to talk about the shirt he was wearing that read, “Stop Denying the Gaza Genocide.”
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