NYC’s Chevalier, Susan Sarandon arrested at anti-Israel protest outside UN

NEW YORK — A far-left Congressional primary winner and several celebrities were among the 104 activists arrested during a protest led by the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the UN General Assembly.

The protesters blocked First Avenue, just south of UN Headquarters, in an act of civil disobedience, and were arrested after refusing to clear the roadway.

The House primary winners expected to enter Congress and who were at the protest were Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander of New York, Melat Kiros of Colorado, Adam Hamawy of New Jersey, and Chris Rabb of Pennsylvania.

Chevalier and several local New York elected officials were arrested, Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement.

“Benjamin Netanyahu belongs at the Hague; not in the streets of New York City, and certainly not addressing the United Nations General Assembly,” Chevalier said. “I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged.”

Celebrities in attendance included actors Hannah Einbinder, Elliot Page, Cynthia Nixon and Susan Sarandon, and the far-left streamer Hasan Piker.

Einbinder and Sarandon were arrested, along with the prominent activists Linda Sarsour and Rabbi Abby Stein.

“As a Jew, as an American, and as a human it is my moral responsibility to stand against the genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli government,” Einbinder said.

The protesters wore white t-shirts that said, “Fund people not bombs,” and chanted, “Let Gaza live.”

They carried a large white kite that said, “Free Palestine,” a reference to Israel’s threats to target Palestinians flying kites. Palestinians have attached explosives and incendiary devices to kites, then flown them over the border into Israel, igniting massive fires.

As the detained activists were led, handcuffed, onto a police bus, demonstrators on the sidelines chanted, “None of us are free until all of us are free,” and “Free Palestine.”

Jewish Voice for Peace said protest co-sponsors included the Palestinian Youth Movement, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and the far-left Jewish groups Jews for Economic and Racial Justice and IfNotNow.

Chevalier won the primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District earlier this year.

She attended a celebratory rally in Times Square on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas invasion of Israel, refused to condemn Hamas and the attack during the campaign, and has made anti-Zionist activism central to her politics.