Greta Thunberg Upsets Her Own Allies with Pro-Palestinian Stance

AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

Last year, Greta Thunberg made a splash when she announced the world needed to abandon capitalism.

Calling for a “system-wide transformation” at her book launch in London, she claimed that the world’s current “normal” – dictated by the people in power – has caused the climate breakdown.

She said: “We are never going back to normal again because ‘normal’ was already a crisis. What we refer to as normal is an extreme system built on the exploitation of people and the planet.

“It is a system defined by colonialism, imperialism, oppression and genocide by the so-called global North to accumulate wealth that still shapes our current world order.”

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Thunberg’s anti-capitalism did cause a bit of a stir in the media but not among her fans who either already guessed where she stood or simply agreed with her. Simply put, there’s nothing very surprising about someone green announcing they are also red, as in communist.

But since the invasion of Israel by Hamas on 10/7, Thunberg has started speaking out on a new issue. In addition to being green and red she’s now also acting in solidarity with the Palestinians, i.e. she’s anti-Israel.

This also shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone as anti-Israel sentiment is extremely common on the far left, especially among the young. But unlike her anti-capitalism, there are apparently some people on the left who feel differently. And so, yesterday, when the climate rally she was speaking to in Amsterdam turned into a pro-Palestinian rally, someone objected.

Thunberg spoke to over 20,000 people at a protest in Amsterdam, when the stage invader interrupted her and accused the 20-year-old of turning the march into a pollical event.

“I came here for a climate demonstration, not a political view,” the man said as he wrestled the microphone from Thunberg.

Moments later, the intruder was hurried off stage, as Thunberg began to shout: “No climate justice on occupied land!”

Shortly before the incident, the 20-year-old’s speech was cut short after the crowd started chanting the controversial “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

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Here’s video of the incident:

The German newspaper Bild pointed out that Thunberg shared the stage with a defender of Hamas.

Pretty sure this is Rachdan speaking at the event and chanting “Israel is terrorist.”

Thunberg’s views are making waves, even among her own supporters.

Greta Thunberg came under fire on Monday over her pro-Palestinian stance in Germany, where the local chapter of climate movement Fridays for Future had distanced itself from her views on the Israel-Hamas war…

“Greta Thunberg misused the absolutely necessary and correct concern on climate protection for a one-sided position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, in which she does not name the perpetrators, in which she does not condemn the absolute atrocities by Hamas,” said Ricarda Lang, co-leader of the Greens, which is a junior partner of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition.

“She has in fact discredited herself as the face of the climate movement through these statements,” added Lang.

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Fridays for Future is the protest group that Thunberg co-founded. It launched her to international fame five years ago. So the fact that at least one chapter is turning on her is a big deal. And this isn’t the first time. Last month, you may remember, Thunberg posted a photo on her Instagram account in which she was holding a sign that said “Stand with Gaza.” Just behind her was a stuffed octopus.

There was some concern at the time whether this was an intentional nod to a famous anti-Semitic trope.

Thunberg claimed ignorance and deleted the image. She reposted it with the octopus cropped out.

In any case, Thunberg has moved to the far left on this issue and seems to be associating herself with people who are justifying Hamas. Not everyone in the climate movement supports that level of extremism and Thunberg is starting to get some pushback.

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