Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder among about 100 arrested at Netanyahu UN protest

Oscar winner Susan Sarandon and Hacks star Hannah Einbinder were among roughly 100 protesters arrested by the NYPD outside UN headquarters in Manhattan on Thursday, ahead of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the UN General Assembly.

Al Jazeera reported that the two actors were among about 100 people detained as police cleared First Avenue near 39th Street; the New York Post, citing law enforcement sources and organisers, put the figure at an estimated 104, while USA Today reported more than 100 arrests, citing PIX11 and the New York Daily News. Reuters photographers captured Sarandon, 79, in handcuffs sitting on a Manhattan kerb, and video circulating online showed Einbinder, 31, being escorted away by officers.

Others taken into custody included comedian Caleb Hearon, whistleblower Chelsea Manning, New York City council members and congressional nominee Darializa Avila-Chevalier. Cynthia Nixon attended the demonstration but was not detained, her representatives told The Hollywood Reporter.

The protest, organised by Jewish Voice for Peace Action, called for an end to US military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza. “We will not be silent as our government fully funds a genocide in Palestine,” Einbinder told The Guardian ahead of the demonstration.

Inside the General Assembly hall, delegations walked out as Netanyahu began speaking; he called them “moral cowards”. The arrests come days after detentions at a separate protest ahead of Donald Trump’s UN address, and weeks after Sarandon said at the Venice Film Festival that her pro-Palestinian advocacy had cost her film roles.