New York City, NY — As delegates met in the towering United Nations building that looms over NYC’s East River on September 26 for the 80th Session of the General Assembly (GA), over 10,000 demonstrators gathered in the city’s iconic Times Square, according to organizers. The protestors were demanding an end to Israel’s nearly two year genocide in Gaza, as well as for sanctions on Israel, and the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Ju-Hyun Park from the organization, Nodutdol for Korean Community Development, spoke to the gathered crowd from the back of a U-Haul pickup truck – the makeshift stage for the rally that was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement. The front of the protest was guarded by a line of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews. Hundreds of Palestinian flags fluttered in the early autumn breeze.

“Just now at the UN, the criminal Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage. And the representatives of almost every nation on Earth walked out,” Ju-Hyun said to the cheering crowd. “There is not a shred of authority in that godforsaken building so long as these blood killers walk amongst them. The only authority is here. The only authority is with you,” they shouted into the microphone. 

Netanyahu defended the war and genocide, and called the recognition of a Palestinian state “disgraceful,” in a bellicose speech delivered to a largely empty GA hall, after delegations from over 50 countries walked out in protest. The speech was broadcast live to the besieged population of Gaza through loudspeakers.

Netanyahu faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for allegedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. His plane flew a different route to New York for the UN summit to avoid possible arrest in several European countries. 

“Two years ago our movement made a prediction that is now coming true, that this war would be the end of Zionism,” said Ju-Huyn, later adding, “And that’s thanks to those of you who have clogged the streets. It’s thanks to the students who brought the crisis to their campuses. It’s thanks to the workers who brought the struggle to ports from Italy to Oakland, from Morocco to Spain.”

Ju-Huyn tapped into a sentiment felt by many activists: that the struggle to end the genocide in Gaza and liberate Palestine is intricately connected with other struggles, and that it is grassroots and international in scope. 

Petra Gregory from the group, Staten Island 4 Palestine, spoke to Unicorn Riot at the final stop of the march, in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, a block away from the UN building. 

The movement to free Palestine has been a galvanizing force, said Gregory. “We really started building our own collective community right here in Staten Island in a way that is resilient, very strong, loving, communal … and it’s just kind of been growing and bringing the island together in a way we never saw before,” said Gregory. 

The activists were not alone in their convictions. Earlier in the week, leftwing Colombian president Gustavo Petro gave a fiery speech to the GA where he criticized the UN’s inability to stop the genocide, and denounced both Israel and the US for a spate of injustices.

Colombia plans to utilize the Uniting for Peace resolution, which was passed in the UN in 1950, to stop the genocide. In instances where it is believed that permanent members of the Security Council are not upholding the UN charter, a proposal can be brought to the floor of the GA for a vote. Two thirds of the GA need to vote in support of the measure in order for it to pass, and member states need to commit to send soldiers on a peace keeping mission. Indonesia has already pledged to send 20,000 troops to Palestine.

President Petro called for “a powerful army of the countries that do not accept genocide,” to intervene in occupied Palestine. “That is why I invite nations of the world and their peoples more than anything, as an integral part of humanity, to bring together weapons and armies. We must liberate Palestine,” he said in his speech.

“I invite the armies of Asia, the great Slavic people who defeated Hitler with great heroism and the Latin American armies of Bolivar, of Garibaldi who also had one in Italy, of Marti, of Artigas, of Santa Cruz. Words are unnecessary. It is the hour of Bolivar’s sword of freedom or death. Because they are not only going to bomb Gaza, not only the Caribbean as they already do, but also humanity that cries out for freedom,” said Petro. 

The US delegation stormed out of the GA during his speech. 

Support for Colombia’s proposal was seen in the streets that day in banners, signs, and countless Colombian flags that flew alongside Palestinian ones, and heard in the thunderous applause demonstrators gave the president as he spoke at the rally alongside Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who has long been active in the movement to free Palestine. 

“I ask all the soldiers of the army of the United States not to point their guns at people. Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity,” Petro said to the crowd. 

In an unprecedented move, the US government revoked the president’s visa. The State Department said their action was in response to the “incendiary comments” Petro made at the protest. The US also denied visas for the entire Palestinian delegation to the UN, including Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas.

One supporter of Colombia’s plan was Thom Keppen, a US veteran who fought in Afghanistan. Now, he organizes with About Face Veterans Against the War. A dozen veterans stood beside him, some dressed in their military uniforms as he spoke. “We are here today because, as post 9/11 veterans, we witnessed the devastation that the US war machine released on Iraq and Afghanistan. And we see the same systems in place now in Gaza,” he said.

“We also see the genocide in Gaza as not strictly an Israeli project — it’s American. We fund them, we provide them with military equipment, we provide diplomatic cover, so we are complicit in this genocide,” Keppen added.

“We live in a country that’s the wealthiest one in the world, the wealthiest country that’s ever existed and yet a lot of people are suffering and that’s because hundreds of billions of dollars are funneled to weapons manufacturers and private security firms rather than investing in our communities. So we say divest from these industries in death and invest in life, so invest in healthcare, housing, education, infrastructure.” said Keppen.

The horrors of the genocide weigh heavily on the veteran. Over 66,300 Palestinians, many of them children, have been killed in the genocide. Safe zones, refugee camps, aid delivery sites, and hospitals are routinely bombed and attacked by Israeli forces. Every day, there are new reports of people starving to death, victims of a famine created by Israel.

Doctors in Gaza warn of a “wholesale extermination” of the people of Gaza as society in the strip continues to collapse. Israel has also given final warnings to Gaza City residents to evacuate, saying anyone who refuses to leave “will be considered terrorists and terrorist supporters.”

Keppen also knows veterans and activists who are a part of the Global Sumud Flotilla which was on a mission to bring aid and relief directly to the people of Gaza. On October 1, Israeli forces raided many of the ships, and detained activists in what organizers of the flotilla called “an illegal attack on unarmed humanitarians.” 

“We are all incredibly proud of our comrades who are taking a part in this important initiative. It’s really shedding light on Israel’s complete rejection of international humanitarian law,” said Keppen. 

In response to the attacks on the ships, protests were held around the world, and unions in Italy called for a general strike.

President Trump announced a 20 point plan to end the war that was endorsed by Netenyahu, who also threatened to “finish the job” in Gaza if Hamas does not accept it. The plan has received condemnation from many activists, and human rights experts. Human rights attorney and former advisor to the Palestine Liberation Organization called the plan a “repackaging of genocide” that will only perpetuate the war and occupation. Trump has given Hamas just a few days to respond to the plan. 

As protesters left the plaza, Petra Gregory expressed hope for the future.

“This is a mess that Israel created — Israel created a diaspora and as such spread the seeds of their resistance all over the world, and now those fruits are coming to bear. And we are going to see a transformation here in the US and in parts of the entire international stage that right now seems impossible but will only be seen as inevitable. And we just got to keep fighting, keep showing up, and keep activating our communities.”

Petra Gregory

This article was updated for grammar.

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More media from Palestine and pro-Palestine protests linked in the image below.

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