Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Hounded across the world for war crimes, Netanyahu attempts to defend Israel’s genocidal campaign across the region

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained on the defensive throughout his speech to the United Nations today. Taking the stage amid jeers from the assembled delegates, who stormed out in protest, Netanyahu claimed that he had originally decided to skip the General Assembly but after hearing “lies and slander” against Israel, decided to “set the record straight.” 

Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza has resulted in a death toll of over 41,000 people. Israel’s expansion of this genocidal onslaught into Lebanon has resulted in a major escalation, with the Zionist state’s bombs killing more than 700 in Lebanon since Monday. On the same day as Netanyahu’s speech, Israel launched a series of airstrikes in Beirut, and bombed a compound of Al Aqsa Hospital in Gaza, killing at least one person.

“The UN is watching with great alarm,” the airstrikes in Beirut, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“Israel seeks peace, Israel yearns for peace,” Netanyahu proclaimed to the UNGA. 

“We face savage enemies who seek our annihilation, and we must defend ourselves against these savage murderers, [who] seek not only to destroy us but also destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror,” Netanyahu stated in the familiar war-mongering tone that Israeli officials have become known for since October 7. 

Netanyahu is a wanted war criminal. In August, International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan urged ICC judges to rule on his request for arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Khan had applied for arrest warrants back in May for the two top Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. But these warrants, if issued, would not apply in Israel’s biggest ally, the United States, which is not a party to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

As Israel’s aggression continues to isolate it on the world stage, people of conscience in the United States, Israel’s largest military and financial backer, attempt to isolate it in the belly of the beast. 

Thousands of people also marched to the United Nations on September 26 to protest Netanyahu’s visit to the UNGA. The protest was organized by the Shut It Down for Palestine Coalition which includes organizations such as the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition, and Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition. “When a war criminal comes to our city, we don’t stay home, we don’t stay silent. We go out to the streets, every single day that he is in this city, and we make it known, Netanyahu, the people are coming for you,” said Miriam Osman of the Palestinian Youth Movement to an assembled crowd of thousands in Midtown Manhattan.

Later that day, a crowd of thousands protested outside the Loews Regency New York Hotel where Netanyahu was staying ahead of his UN speech. Demonstrators were met with brutality and arrests from New York police. 

Original article by Natalia Marques republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.