Actress Susan Sarandon and “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder were among the demonstrators detained by New York City police on Thursday during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was preparing to address the United Nations General Assembly.
Footage from AFP showed NYPD officers handcuffing Sarandon, the Academy Award-winning star of “Thelma & Louise,” at the demonstration organized by Jewish Voice for Peace. The New York Post reported that Einbinder was also led away from the sit-in, where protesters blocked city streets holding banners reading “Stop Arming Israel” and “End the Genocide.”
The NYPD did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment regarding the detentions.
Inside the General Assembly hall, dozens of diplomats walked out as Netanyahu began a combative speech in which he lashed out at both adversaries and allies — including Britain and France — over their recent moves to recognize Palestinian statehood.
“They accuse Israel, tiny Israel, of colonialism — some colonialism. And who’s accusing us? Among them are people in Britain and in France. For God’s sake, they invented the term,” Netanyahu told the assembly.
Sarandon, whose credits also include “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Dead Man Walking,” and “The Witches of Eastwick,” has been a visible presence at protests opposing Israel’s war in Gaza. Speaking to journalists at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month, she said her activism has cost her professionally.
“I’ve still had movies taken away recently because there are agencies that are telling people not to hire me still. But that’s the power structure,” she said. “I think there has been a change in terms of the understanding of the situation and the general public, but there are still very strongly held positions within my industry that are held by Zionists and who have not relaxed their feelings toward me. But I found my family, I found my people, and I’m okay.”