More than 100 people were arrested outside UN headquarters in New York on Thursday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly. Dozens of UN delegates walked out of the hall as he began speaking. The protests — drawing hundreds of Jewish, Palestinian, Iranian and Lebanese New Yorkers — blocked official vehicles for over an hour, with demonstrators unfurling banners reading "end the genocide" and flying a kite reading "Free Palestine." A second, larger march of several thousand people moved from Bryant Park to the UN that afternoon. The crowd included actors Hannah Einbinder, Susan Sarandon, and Debra Winger, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, comedian Caleb Hearon, model Indya Moore, author Glennon Doyle, activist Linda Sarsour, rabbi Abby Stein, and writer David Valesco. Einbinder, who was arrested, said she felt a moral obligation to join "as a Jew, as an American, and as a human being." The more structurally significant presence was political. Pro-Palestinian candidates who won primaries earlier in 2026 were on the ground and getting arrested: New York's Darializa Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander, Pennsylvania's Chris Rabb, New Jersey's Adam Hamawy, and Colorado's Melat Kiros. At least 10 New York City and state officials and candidates were detained, including city council members Chi Ossé and Tiffany Cabán. This is not fringe activism — these are people on ballots in November. Hamawy, an army doctor who participated in a medical mission in Gaza in 2024, told the Guardian: "We shouldn't have to do that to stop a genocide. It's ridiculous that we have to come out on the streets and protest when we have the body that's supposed to be upholding international law right there in front of us, inviting Netanyahu as a guest rather than trying him as a war criminal in The Hague." The protests placed New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani in a familiar bind. Mamdani, whose historic election was fueled partly by his criticism of Israel, has repeatedly called Netanyahu a "war criminal" who is "not welcome in New York City" but has acknowledged he lacks the legal authority to order an arrest. He declined to attend protests but affirmed New Yorkers' right to demonstrate. Aber Kawas, slated to become the first Palestinian-American elected official in the New York legislature, was also detained and noted that Mamdani's election was itself a message about constituent demands. Beth Miller of Jewish Voice for Peace Action, which organized the protest outside the UN, cited a figure of over 75,000 Palestinians killed — calling it "a severe undercount." Separately, on Wednesday, members of the Democratic Socialists of America's NYC chapter rallied at JFK airport to protest weapons and explosive materials destined for the Israeli military being flown on commercial aircraft, citing a report on United Airlines' role in military cargo shipments. The pattern here is unmistakable. Opposition to Israel's war in Gaza has shifted US public opinion enough that openly pro-Palestinian candidates are winning primaries and then showing up at protests to get arrested alongside their constituents. Reflexive support for Israel — once a prerequisite for anyone running for office — has in some districts become a liability. The question is no longer whether this shift is happening but how far and how fast it penetrates the broader Democratic coalition and general elections.
