Protesters March on UN Headquarters After Netanyahu's UNGA Address

Scores of demonstrators marched towards the United Nations headquarters in New York on Thursday, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his address to the UN General Assembly.

The crowd carried Palestinian flags and signs, and chants against the Israeli leader rang out along the route. Among the slogans heard were "You set Palestine on fire" and "Palestine will live forever."

One protester, identified as Kate from Maine, said she found it unacceptable that Netanyahu was able to appear and speak at the assembly. She said he is wanted by the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity, and argued that he should not have been permitted to attend — or, in her view, should have been arrested. She acknowledged that many countries had spoken out against him and walked out during his address, calling that a statement, but maintained he should not have been there at all.

Rabbi Yitzchok Deutsch, another protester, said he had joined the march as a Jewish person to reject the Prime Minister's claim to speak in the name of his religion. He said Netanyahu does not speak for him or for Judaism, accusing him of using the faith to justify crimes. Judaism, he said, stands for peace and not for genocide.

Deutsch also spoke of a longer history, referring to what he described as 78 years of occupation, and said the bloodshed would not be resolved without addressing it. He said his grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, and compared Netanyahu's denial of genocide at the United Nations to Holocaust denial, describing it as an insult to the blood spilled in the streets. He added that he and other Jewish people were crying with the people of Palestine and Gaza, and blamed Zionism for the cycles of violence.