Hannah Einbinder urges focus on Gaza after arrest at UN protest

Hannah Einbinder has urged people to focus on the war in Gaza rather than images of her arrest, after police detained the Hacks actress at a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu near United Nations headquarters in New York on 24 September. Susan Sarandon was also among those arrested ahead of Netanyahu’s General Assembly address. [3] [4]

In an Instagram statement reproduced by TheWrap on 25 September, Einbinder asked that photographs of her and her friends being arrested draw attention to what she called Israel’s “devastating genocidal war” against people in Palestine and southern Lebanon. TheWrap reported that she had been released before making the statement. [2]

“Let us not mistake the spectacle for the story,” she wrote. Einbinder cited settler attacks, home demolitions and the bombing of people as they slept, and alleged that such events received almost no international press coverage. [2]

She also criticised US political leaders, arguing that Washington had the power to end the killing and land theft she described but instead welcomed Netanyahu. She accused both Republicans and Democrats of enabling and protecting him. [2]

Jewish Voice for Peace organised the demonstration, calling for an end to arms supplies to Israel and to what it described as genocide in Gaza. Protesters blocked traffic at First Avenue and 39th Street, and police ordered them to leave over loudspeakers. PIX11 reported that the first dispersal order came at about 12.30pm local time and that nearly 100 protesters remained. [3] [4] [5]

Reuters reported at least 30 arrests, while PIX11 put the number taken into custody at roughly 100. [3]