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As Benjamin Netanyahu prepared to take the podium inside the United Nations, a Democratic congressional candidate was being led away in handcuffs outside.
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candidate → see → handcuffs
Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District, was among at least 30 people arrested Thursday during a protest against the Israeli prime minister’s appearance at the UN General Assembly.
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Chevalier → arrest → Assembly
The demonstration, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace amongst other progressive organizations, saw protesters block a roadway near the UN headquarters.
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protesters → organize → headquarters
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon and New York City Council member Chi Ossé were also detained as well as whistleblower Chelsea Manning.
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Sarandon → win → Manning
In an extraordinary first-person account to The Guardian, Chevalier confirmed her arrest outside the UN and framed the demonstration as an act of political resistance towards funding Israel through US taxpayer money.
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Chevalier → confirm → money
As the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th congressional district, I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged.
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criminal → refuse → city
I refuse to play host to a man who has overseen the slaughter or injury of more than 64,000 children with American taxpayer dollars.'
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who → refuse → dollars
She continued, 'That is why I was arrested today outside of the United Nations alongside hundreds of my fellow New Yorkers.'
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I → continue → Yorkers
In her account, she accused Netanyahu and the Israeli government of responsibility for devastating conditions in Gaza using the contentious term 'genocide' and condemned US military support for Israel, additionally blaming the US for 'shielding Netanyahu from prosecution.'
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity connected to the Gaza conflict.
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Court → accuse → conflict
Netanyahu and Israeli officials have rejected the allegations of genocide and say its military campaign is aimed at Hamas.
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campaign → reject → Hamas
Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District, said she was taken into custody on Thursday as hundreds of demonstrators blocked a street near the UN headquarters ahead of Netanyahu’s address to the General Assembly
As Netanyahu prepared to defend Israel’s conduct before the General Assembly, demonstrators outside were chanting against the war and demanding an end to U.S. support for Israel.
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demonstrators → say → Israel
Reuters reported that protesters described the conflict as an issue of American responsibility because US taxpayer money supports Israel
The protest took place at the corner of First Avenue and East 39th Street, only blocks from the UN, where demonstrators staged a sit-in and blocked traffic.
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demonstrators → report → traffic
Police subsequently moved in to make arrests.
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Police → move → arrests
City & State reported that roughly 250 protesters took part in the action, including several elected officials and political candidates
The confrontation outside the UN also comes against the backdrop of a fierce political dispute over whether American officials could or should act on that warrant.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has previously said he would seek to enforce the warrant against Netanyahu if legally empowered to do so, although the issue of municipal authority has remained disputed.
uncertain
issue → report → authority
However, President Donald Trump has declared that Netanyahu will not be arrested on US soil.
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Netanyahu → declare → soil
Chevalier also attacked what she described as the 'establishment' of both major American parties for continuing to support Israel.
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she → attack → Israel
That language goes straight to the heart of the political insurgency that carried her to the Democratic nomination.
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that → go → nomination
A self-described Democratic Socialist and longtime pro-Palestinian activist, Chevalier stunned New York’s Democratic establishment in June when she defeated five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in the Democratic primary for the heavily Democratic 13th District.
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she → describe → District
She has campaigned on Democratic Socialist themes, opposition to US military intervention and a fundamental redistribution of government priorities toward housing, healthcare and other domestic programs.
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She → campaign → housing
Her campaign describes her as a community organizer with more than a decade of activism in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.
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campaign → describe → Manhattan
Her political ascent has already unsettled sections of the Democratic establishment.
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ascent → unsettle → establishment
The Washington Post reported before her primary victory that Republicans were seeking to use her record and controversial past comments to portray her as emblematic of the party’s leftward shift.
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Republicans → report → shift
The socialist, who is backed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has faced scrutiny for some extreme views, including wanting to abolish all prisons and police, get rid of the border, and seizing all properties from landlords and handing them to the government
Actor
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who → back → government
Hannah Einbinder, whistleblower Chelsea Manning and comedian Caleb Hearon were also detained by the New York Police Department
Demonstrators burn an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest his address at the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly
Her past, now-deleted, social media posts included rants about interracial relationships.
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posts → detain → relationships
She wrote that black and Arab men who are with white women 'fetishize ugly colonizer women.'
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who → write → women
She also previously called for 'abolishing the border', and when pressed over that view, she responded: 'Yes literally abolish the border, all deportation is wrong.'
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deportation → call → border
Avila Chevalier also sparked backlash for joking about wiping her dirty hands on the American flag, and she has previously described the US as a 'disgrace.'
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she → spark → disgrace
The arrest gives Avila Chevalier an extraordinary new chapter in a congressional campaign that has already become a symbol of the Democratic Party’s increasingly bitter ideological struggle between its progressive left and its more established political wing.
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that → give → left
As Netanyahu prepared to defend Israel’s conduct before the General Assembly, demonstrators outside were chanting against the war and demanding an end to US support for Israel.
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demonstrators → prepare → Israel
Protesters, however, described the conflict as an issue of American responsibility because US taxpayer money supports Israel.
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money → describe → Israel
She has argued that Washington spends enormous sums supporting overseas military operations while communities in her own district struggle with poverty, housing insecurity and cuts to public assistance.
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communities → argue → assistance
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted his nation's right to wage war against Iran in a defiant speech to world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
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Netanyahu → assert → Assembly
He also defended Israel against criticism over violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, dismissing what he described as exaggerated coverage of the issue, while making clear he did not approve of attacks against Palestinians
For Chevalier, however, the confrontation was about more than one speech.
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confrontation → defend → Chevalier
She has presented her candidacy as part of a broader movement challenging U.S. involvement in overseas conflicts while arguing that government resources should instead be directed toward domestic needs
'
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resources → present → needs
I'm sick and tired of my taxpayer dollars going towards an active genocide,' New York City Council member Chi Ossé told PIX 11, who was also taken into custody with Avila Chevalier
'Our enemy is a system where billionaires get rich from stoking hatred and war while our own communities go without', said Avila Chevalier's account.
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account → go → hatred
In her account of the protest, she invoked Martin Luther King Jr’s opposition to excessive military spending and presented her campaign as a challenge to what she calls the American 'insatiable war machine.'
Avila Chevalier has ensured that her campaign is no longer merely part of the ideological battle consuming New York Democrats.
As of now Mamdani has not weighed in on the arrest of Chevalier, whom he has endorsed.
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he → invoke → whom