Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York's 13th congressional district, was arrested outside the United Nations during a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit. She stated she was arrested alongside hundreds of fellow New Yorkers, refusing to be complicit in genocide.
Reasons for the protest
Chevalier cited the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity. She also referenced the UN's commission of inquiry, which found Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and named Netanyahu as its chief architect. She highlighted that more than 64,000 children in Gaza have been slaughtered or injured with American taxpayer dollars.
Israel has killed more than 73,000 people in Gaza, according to the article. It has bombed hospitals, schools, places of worship, fishing boats, and refugee tents, and has collectively starved an entire population. The article also mentions systematic sexual torture, threats to kill people for flying kites, over 1,000 deaths since the ceasefire, and 335 bullets fired into a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab.
US political response and funding
Chevalier criticized establishment Democrats and Republicans for shielding Netanyahu from prosecution and sending over $21bn in tax dollars in two years to fund Israeli bombs. She noted that the Biden and Trump administrations obscured evidence, funded the carnage, and arrested people who spoke out. Just last week, the Trump administration proposed a $2.8bn weapons sale to Israel, including 2,000lb bombs.
The protest, led by Jewish Voice for Peace, NYC-DSA, Sunrise Movement, CAAAV, Palestinian Youth Movement, Adalah Justice Project, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, had 400 participants, with more than 100 arrested.
Local context and mandate
Chevalier noted that NY-13 and New York City are with the protesters. This summer, Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and the West Bronx unseated a five-term, Aipac-backed incumbent. She said her mandate includes passing legislation like the Block the Bombs Act and fighting the war machine. She emphasized that families in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran are not enemies, but the system where billionaires profit from war is.
She mentioned that shelters across uptown and the Bronx will be full, and more than 100,000 children in NYC public schools have experienced homelessness. Families are feeling the toll of cuts to Snap and Medicaid, and NYCHA residents are forced into inadequate housing.
Historical and moral call
Chevalier referenced Dr Martin Luther King Jr's 1967 warning at Riverside church about spending on war over social uplift. She said members of Congress have a responsibility to act with courage, but nearly 60 years later, not much has changed. Palestinians face unthinkable conditions under Israeli apartheid, and families in her district endure cuts to schools, clinics, and food assistance while nearly 40% of babies in her district grow up in poverty.
She concluded that all children and people deserve safety and resources to live dignified lives. She is headed to Congress to stop sending tax dollars to arm genocide, end senseless wars, and build a government accountable to working people. She said, "If that requires my arrest, so be it."
