Version imprimablePresident Trump, speaking to the UN General Assembly, said that he could “make a deal” with Iran or “Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?” Such a statement by a head of government, threatening civilian populations, is itself a crime against humanity. Outside the UN building hundreds marched against Trump saying, “Trump Doesn’t Speak for Us.” They declared that he was a “war criminal,” both for his support of Israel’s war on Gaza, that has killed at least 74,000 and war on Iran which has taken the lives of several thousand. They demanded his arrest. When they blocked streets, some were arrested.
Netanyahu’s presence, however, stirred the most controversy. The UN-backed International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on November 21, 2024 for war crime, including attacks on civilians and using starvation as a weapon of war, as well as for crimes against humanity, such as murder. On September 12, 2025, Zohran Mamdani, then campaigning for mayor of New York City, said he would arrest Netanyahu if he set foot in the city. However, once elected Mayor Mamdani conceded that he did not have the legal authority to do so, though he continued to call Netanyahu a war criminal but called upon the federal government to arrest him, which Trump would never consider.
Jewish Voice for Peace issued a statement saying that the UN was “playing host to a war criminal” and organized a demonstration of hundreds of anti-Zionists Jews who showed up at the UN building to protest Netanyahu, with signs that read, “Jews Say Stop Arming Israel,” “War Criminal in Our City,” and “End the Genocide.” Police arrested protestors for blocking the street, among them Oscar winner Susan Sarandon and the star of “Hacks” Hannah Einbinder.
While Mamdani did not join the protest, his allies were there. Darializa Avila Chevalier, a DSA member and candidate for the House of Representative backed by Mamdani, said, “I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged. I refuse to play host to a man who has overseen the slaughter or injury of more than 64,000 children in Gaza with American taxpayer dollars.” She too was arrested for blocking the street.
Iranians and Iranian-Americans also held a “Free Iran” rally at the UN, protesting against Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian whose government is estimated to have murdered 30,000 Iranian citizens who demonstrated for democracy in their country in January 2026. Pezeshkian’s government claimed the protests were organized by Israel and the United States, though no one outside his government buys that. The protestors called for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, and referred to Pezeshkian and other Iranian government officials at the UN as “murderers in suits.” They called upon Mayor Mamdani and the U.S. government to arrest them and not allow them to go freely through New York City streets.
Shirin Nariman, who was arrested and imprisoned in Iran for protesting when she was a teenager, said, “The only way to stop this execution and suppression is for the regime to go away, to fall, to be changed.”
Americans have turned against Trump’s wars, so all of this about Israel, Iran, and the war is bad for Trump and the Republicans as we approach the November 3 midterm election.
27 September 2026
