By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) – Dozens of protesters were detained by police in New York City on Monday during demonstrations calling for the blocking of arms sales to Israel and an end to U.S. military support for its ally.
Demonstrators included antiwar group Jewish Voice for Peace, which said around 90 people were detained. Among those detained was whistleblower Chelsea Manning https://www.reuters.com/technology/chelsea-manning-tech-more-efficient-than-laws-ensure-privacy-2023-11-14/, a former U.S. Army soldier and WikiLeaks source.
The New York City Police Department said there were “multiple” arrests but did not provide a number.
Clips from the protests showed a crowd gathering near the offices of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and his Democratic colleague, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
Protesters chanted slogans like “stop the bombs,” “end the killings” and “free Palestine” while expressing opposition to the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/, Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and Israel’s assault on Gaza https://www.reuters.com/world/israel-hamas/.
The protesters also chanted “let Gaza live,” “let Iran live” and “let Lebanon live.”
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states that host U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-many-people-have-been-killed-us-israel-war-iran-2026-04-07/.
President Donald Trump’s https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trump/ administration has cracked down on protests by attempting to deport foreign students nL1N405008, threatening to freeze funding for universities nL1N40B11X where protests were held and ordering screening of immigrants’ online comments https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-screen-social-media-immigrants-rights-advocates-raise-concerns-2025-04-09/. The crackdown has faced judicial obstacles.
New York City was at the heart of pro-Palestinian protests in 2024.
U.S. military support for Israel has faced particular scrutiny from rights groups during Israel’s war in Gaza https://www.reuters.com/world/israel-hamas/ that killed tens of thousands https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gaza-deaths-wars-first-15-months-higher-than-reported-study-says-2026-02-19/, caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza’s entire population and led to assessments of genocide from scholars nL1N3UO06Z and a United Nations inquiry nL2N3V306V.
Israel calls its actions self-defense https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-counter-genocide-accusations-world-court-2024-01-12/ after Hamas-led militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages in an October 2023 attack https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-hamas-attack-israel-unfolded-2023-10-07/.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Thomas Derpinghaus)
