Actresses Hannah Einbinder and Susan Sarandon Detained at New York Pro-Palestine Protest During Netanyahu UN Visit

Actresses Hannah Einbinder from Hacks and Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon were detained during a pro-Palestine demonstration outside the United Nations in New York as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly.

The two actresses participated in a mass sit-in on Thursday to protest Benjamin Netanyahu's visit and the ongoing military operations in Gaza. According to the organisers, Jewish Voice for Peace, more than 100 individuals were arrested during the event, though the New York Police Department has not specifically confirmed the detentions of Hannah Einbinder and Susan Sarandon.

Photographs and social media footage captured Susan Sarandon, aged 79, being detained, and Hannah Einbinder, aged 31, being escorted away with her hands restrained. As she was being led away, Hannah Einbinder shouted, “Netanyahu out of New York.”

Later, Hannah Einbinder addressed the incident on Instagram, urging the public to focus on the situation in the Middle East rather than the celebrities involved. She wrote that if the images of her and her friends getting arrested draw attention, it should be to the devastating war in Gaza, emphasising that genocide is the headline and it needs to end. She also shared a donation link for Pal Humanity, a medical and humanitarian organisation founded in Gaza by two Palestinian physician sisters.

Hannah Einbinder, who is Jewish, has frequently spoken out in support of Palestinians, previously using her Emmy acceptance speech for Hacks to criticise US immigration enforcement and support a free Palestine. Susan Sarandon has also been a prominent supporter, noting at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month that she continues to face professional repercussions and lost movie roles due to her political views while promoting her film The Echo Chamber.

Other notable figures present at the Thursday protest included actors Cynthia Nixon, Elliot Page, and Indya Moore, comedians Sarah Sherman, Mary Beth Barone, and Caleb Hearon, and musicians Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. Representatives for Cynthia Nixon and Elliot Page confirmed they attended the demonstration but were not detained.

Protesters carried signs reading “Free Palestine”, “Stop Arming Israel”, and “Fund People Not Bombs”, while chanting slogans against Benjamin Netanyahu. The protest coincided with Benjamin Netanyahu's UN General Assembly address, where numerous delegates walked out. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected allegations of genocide during his speech, calling them “the biggest lie of the century”, while Gaza's Health Ministry reported a rising death toll since the conflict began following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.