Palestine Activists Celebrate a Win Outside the U.N.

After Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir cancelled his U.N. appearance, 150+ protesters gathered outside and called for him to be prosecuted.

Originally published by The Indypendent.

On May 31, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir marched down Fifth Avenue as a part of New York City’s annual Israel Day Parade. He was joined by many of the state’s most prominent Democratic politicians including Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer and Attorney General Leticia James.

In another sign of collapsing support for Israel, Ben-Gvir cancelled a planned appearance at the UN on Tuesday in the face of a flurry of protests led by the Palestine Youth Movement-coordinated “Stop Ben-Gvir Campaign.” More than 150 protesters celebrated Ben-Gvir’s cancellation at a PYM-led rally also held on Tuesday in a plaza across the street from United Nations Headquarters.

Two recent winners in New York’s Democratic primaries — Darializa Avila Chevalier (New York’s 13th Congressional District) and Aber Kawas (New York’s 12th State Senate District in Queens) — were part of the speaking program, alongside various PYM organizers and an assortment of other speakers.

“Today we see another sign that our movement is winning, because what I was told was that Ben-Gvir was supposed to be here in New York City … but he’s not here because we organize,” Avila Chevalier said in her speech.

“He’s not here because the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Hind Rajab Foundation, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and thousands of youth built legal pressure and organizing pressure so intense that a sitting minister of a genocidal government looked at New York City and decided he cannot show his face here,” she added.

Dr. Husaam Abu Safiya

Speakers also criticized Israel’s ongoing detention of Palestinian political prisoners, frequently referencing the specific case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian doctor who has been arbitrarily detained without charge or trial in Israeli jails since December 2024.

“What Israel is doing to Dr. Abu Safiya is not an isolated case, but it’s part of a systematic targeting of Gaza’s health care workers as part of Israel’s genocide. Specifically, this is a medicide,” said Dr. Salman Khan, a New York-based infectious disease specialist who has completed multiple medical missions in Palestine.

“Meanwhile, these clowns behind me want to cheer on while we’re talking about human beings, healthcare heroes, being tortured and kidnapped and subjected to horrific abuse. Shame!” added Dr. Khan, referring to a small group of counterprotesters.

Ben-Gvir, who has served as the Minister of National Security since 2022, leads Otzma Yehudit (“Jewish Power”), a far-right and anti-Arab party in Israel. Ben-Gvir is also a leader in the settler movement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank — an occupation which is illegal under international law. After having been convicted for inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization by Israeli courts prior to holding public office, Ben-Gvir has played a key role in Israel’s systemic violence against Palestinians as National Security Minister.

The Stop Ben-Gvir campaign included a petition with over 7,000 signatures, calling on Attorney General James to “pursue a full legal indictment against [Ben-Gvir],” “seek accountability for war crimes committed against New York residents in Palestine,” and “halt the illegal sale of occupied Palestinian land within New York State.”

The petition also demanded that the UN “suspend the Israeli delegation’s U.N. credentials ahead of the September General Assembly, including Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

In addition to the petition, the campaign relied on a legal strategy with support of institutions like the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Center for Constitutional Rights, who filed complaints with the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to investigate Ben-Gvir.

Nas Issa, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement’s New York City chapter, said that “the culmination of these pressure efforts was to basically make it reputationally, politically, and legally risky enough that Ben Gvir canceled his intended visit to the UN.”

While Ben-Gvir canceled his planned visit to the UN on Tuesday, PYM and the Stop Ben-Gvir campaign are continuing their pressure campaign, still calling for Attorney General James and the UN to fulfill the full list of demands outlined in their petition.

“What we’re doing here today is not only to keep up the pressure on Attorney General Letitia James, as well as our New York state and local officials, but to also say that the movement doesn’t start and end with Ben-Gvir, and that we will continue to make sure that all war criminals cannot travel freely to our city,” said Ysabella Titi, another member of PYM’s NYC chapter.

The press office for Attorney General James did not respond to a request for comment from The Indypendent.

Declining Support for Israel

The cancellation of Ben-Gvir’s visit comes in the wake of a shifting tide in American public opinion about Israel and Palestine. According to a public poll released by the Pew Research Center this June, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Israel, up 7% from 53% last year.

“It is clear that Americans all over the country and in New York do not want their tax dollars and their money to be aiding and abetting war, and it is clear that people do not want a war criminal in their midst, and that Israel … is not the ally that people in the United States want their government to continue to have a relationship with,” said Kawas who won her Democratic primary by over 20 points.

Organizers from PYM and the Stop Ben-Gvir campaign were pleased that Kawas and Avila Chevalier spoke at the rally.

“It’s not just the two people who are here with us today, but the fact that they represent their constituents who consist of a wide variety of New York populations that are outraged by what they see happening in Palestine … and at the same time that Palestine is no longer this poison pill for congressional elections in the United States,” said Issa.Israel’s notorious National Security Minister Itomar Ben-Gvir stayed away from a U.N. policing summit he was scheduled to attend following a flurry of protests.

The PYM organizer added that “it’s a growing sign of our power as a movement, and I think it’s heartening to see elected officials also come and echo and propagate our demands to bring these people to justice.”

Avila Chevalier hopes that the newly-nominated bloc of progressive elected officials — many of whom, like herself, have backgrounds in grassroots organizing — will more effectively bridge the gap between efforts taking place inside and outside the walls of Congress.

“As an organizer, one of the things that was always hard for me was the way that our leadership wasn’t responsive to our movements and to the organizing work that we were doing,” said Avila Chevalier. “There is a new wave of folks that are coming into office, not just myself … who are really grounded in this work and in this vision … they’re the type of people who will be also responsive to our movements.”