‘That is not story’: Greta Thunberg turns focus to Gaza genocide after release from Israeli detention
October 6, 2025
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Monday spoke publicly for the first time after being released from an Israeli prison, where she said she was beaten and forced to kiss the Israeli flag, Anadolu reports.
Thunberg was among 171 people deported by Israeli authorities after being detained for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. The group was flown to Greece and Slovakia following their release.
There were cheers as Thunberg and other activists arrived in Greece, greeted by supporters after their ordeal.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg spoke at Eleftherios Venizelos Airport in Athens, Greece’s capital, emphasizing that her personal experience was not what mattered most. “I can talk for a very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me,” she said.
“But that is not the story. Let me be very clear, there is a genocide going on in front of our very eyes, a live-streamed genocide,” Thunberg said.
“No one has the privilege to say we are not aware of what’s happening. No one in the future will be able to say we did not know.”
Thunberg accused Israel of “continuing to worsen and escalate their genocide and mass destruction with genocide of intent, attempting to erase an entire population, an entire nation in front of you.”
“We cannot take our eyes away from Gaza, from all the places of the world that are suffering, living on the forefront of this business-as-usual system: Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan, Gaza, and many, many more,” she added. “What we are doing is the bare minimum.
“I will never comprehend how humans can be so evil. That you would deliberately starve millions of people living trapped under an illegal siege as a continuation of decades of oppression and apartheid.”
Sweden: Reports of Israel mistreating climate activist Thunberg would be very serious if true
Sweden’s newly appointed foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard in Stockholm, Sweden on September 10, 2024 [Atila Altuntaş/Anadolu Agency]
Sweden’s Foreign Minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said on Sunday that if reports of Israel mistreating Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg following her detention from the Gaza Aid Flotilla are true, the situation would be “very serious.”
In an interview with the Swedish news agency TT, Stenergard referred to reports claiming that Thunberg was mistreated following her detention by Israeli authorities.
Commenting on the reports, she said: “I have taken note of the reports of allegations of abusive treatment. If the reports are true, this is very serious.”
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the embassy are working to bring the Swedish citizens home as soon as possible,” she added.
The Foreign Minister also confirmed that, even before the detention, Sweden had already informed Israel of the importance of respecting the security and consular rights of the Swedish activists.
On Saturday, Turkish activist and journalist Ersin Çelik, who was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, claimed that Israeli forces had “severely tortured Greta before our eyes,” according to Anadolu Agency.
Israel Droned Flotilla Activists and then Abused Greta Thunberg
Who would have imagined five years ago when we were seeing Greta Thunberg amplified by every mainstream western liberal institution that we would one day hear reports that she has been captured and tormented by the Israeli military for trying to bring formula to starving babies?
The Guardian reports the following:
“In an email sent by the Swedish foreign ministry to people close to Thunberg, and seen by the Guardian, an official who has visited the activist in prison said she claimed she was detained in a cell infested with bedbugs, with too little food and water.
“ ‘The embassy has been able to meet with Greta,’ reads the email. ‘She informed of dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food. She also stated that she had developed rashes which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.’
“ ‘Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her [Thunberg] being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken. She wondered whether images of her had been distributed,’ the Swedish ministry’s official added.
“The allegation was corroborated by at least two other members of the flotilla who had been detained by Israeli forces and released on Saturday.
“ ‘They dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,’ the Turkish activist Ersin Çelik, a participant in the Sumud flotilla, told Anadolu news agency.
“Lorenzo D’Agostino, a journalist and another flotilla participant, said after returning to Istanbul that Thunberg was ‘wrapped in the Israeli flag and paraded like a trophy’ — a scene described with disbelief and anger by those who witnessed it.”
https://x.com/mehdirhasan/
These reports, as shocking as they are, also happen to more or less reflect exactly what the Israeli regime said it intended to do to Global Sumud Flotilla activists when they were captured.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said last month that Sumud activists must be treated as terrorists in order to “create a clear deterrent” from future flotilla activism, declaring that “Anyone who chooses to collaborate with Hamas and support terrorism will meet a firm and unyielding response from Israel.”
“We will not allow individuals who support terrorism to live in comfort. They will face the full consequences of their actions,” Ben-Gvir said at the time.
After the flotilla activists were abducted by the IDF, Ben-Gvir filmed himself taunting them and calling them “terrorists”.
Israel, needless to say, has an extensively documented record of torturing and abusing individuals who’ve been given the “terrorist” label by the regime.
So it would appear that they singled out the most high-profile activist on the flotilla for abuse in order to send a message and deter future efforts to break the siege on Gaza.
https://x.com/MiddleEastEye/
This comes as CBS News publishes a report confirming what we’ve been saying since last month: that Israel launched multiple drone attacks against the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Citing two US intelligence officials, CBS reports that Benjamin Netanyahu personally authorized attacks in which drones were deployed from an Israeli submarine to drop incendiary devices onto the boats to set them on fire.
Israel has been documented using quadcopter drones to drop incendiary firebombs on tents and buildings in Gaza. Last month Trump’s middle east envoy Tom Barrack casually admitted during an interview that “Israel is attacking Tunisia,” which was where the boat carrying Greta Thunberg was docked during the first drone attack.
Like the reported mistreatment of Thunberg, these drone attacks would also fit in perfectly with the Israeli government’s depraved and cynical decision to treat the flotilla activists as terrorists.
https://x.com/DecampDave/
After the initial claims of a drone attack on the flotilla, the information ecosystem was flooded with hasbarists claiming it was ridiculous to blame Israel for the attacks, and that the fire hadn’t come from a drone at all.
Odious genocide propagandist Eyal Yakoby got nearly ten million views on a tweet where he falsely claimed to have video evidence showing that the fire was actually the result of a misfired flare from one of the boat’s crew members. Anyone who’d actually watched the video would have seen that it showed nothing of the sort, but because Yakoby inserted a narrative above the video claiming it shows that, I had people in my Twitter notifications telling me for days that it had been conclusively proven the fire was started by a flare.
I encountered even some solid Palestine supporters expressing doubt about the drone attacks when the reports first emerged, because it seemed too heinous to be believed. But this just goes to show that there really is nothing you can put past these freaks.
Israel and its apologists lie about everything. Everything, everything, everything. We are far past the point where it is reasonable to give Israel the benefit of the doubt when we hear reports that it has done something evil. If you’ll launch drone attacks on activists trying to bring aid to starving civilians, there’s nothing you won’t do.
Israel and the Global Sumud Flotilla
Estranged Realities
Showing that cloddishness that we have come to expect from them, Israel’s detention of the activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) was a coarse and violent affair. Having been intercepted in international waters on route to Gaza to break the Israeli-imposed blockade, the 470 or so activists, hailing from some fifty countries travelling on 40 boats, were duly taken to the Ketziot prison complex in the Negev desert in southern Israel. According to GSF, the endeavour was intended to “break the illegal siege on Gaza by sea, open a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”
US activist David Adler, who was released and deported to Jordan on October 7, issued an audio message shared with Al Jazeera through the advocacy group Progressive International describing the events: “We were kidnapped, stripped, zip-tied, blindfolded and sent to an internment camp on a police van without any access to food, to water, to legal support.” His Jewishness, along with that of a fellow activist, had been noted by the captors. “After interception, we were violently forced onto our knees into positions of submission, where the two Jews of the flotilla were taken by the ear and ripped from the group for a photo-op with [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir, staring at the flag of the State of Israel, taunted by his goons.”
Over the course of five days, Adler endured “serial and systematic violations” of basic human rights. At night, riot police accompanied by attack dogs would raid the prison to strike fear into the interned activists.
Adler’s accounts received solid corroboration from other members of the flotilla. Spanish lawyer Rafael Borrego, after arriving in Madrid, spoke of “repeated physical and mental abuse”. The authorities “beat us, dragged us along the ground, blindfolded us, tied our hands and feet, put us in cases and insulted us.” A statement to Reuters from nine Swiss nationals referred to “inhumane detention conditions and the humiliating and degrading treatment”.
Australians on the GSF referred to instances of kicking and slapping of detainees by prison guards, the use of sleep deprivation techniques, the confiscation of medication and instances of humiliation by being caged and bellowed at by “an Israeli government minister” (Ben-Gvir could hardly resist the opportunity). Surya McEwen recalls being “slapped, having his arm dislocated and having his head slammed into the ground.”
Much attention was also focused on the celebrity activist, Greta Thunberg, who was on her second outing. “I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me, but that is not the story.” A report from The Guardian noted her dehydration, the provision of “insufficient amounts of both food and water”, the outbreak of rashes caused by bed bugs. She had also been forced to hold and kiss the Israeli flag as images of her were taken.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement to Swedish news agency TT that she had “taken note of the reports of allegations of abusive treatment. If the reports are true, this is very serious.”
The reaction from other countries has not been quite so explicit. Australian activists on the GSF were less than impressed by the efforts of their diplomats, given the relative lateness of their release and complaints of mistreatment. US activists also received a cold response from their consular officials. Adler recalls being told by the US general consul that, “We are not your babysitters. You’d have no food, no water, no money, no phones, no planes.” US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who gleefully accepts the distorted offerings of information from the Israeli foreign affairs ministry, had a personal observation on Adler’s conduct, calling him a “self-absorbed tool of Hamas”.
Israel, for its part, aggressively sought to denude and denigrate the merits of the flotilla, both in terms of its mission and the integrity of its participants. Customary libels were offered: Thunberg and her fellow activists were useful idiots, and various organisers behind the effort to break the blockade were terrorist sympathisers with links to Hamas. No mention needed of the humanitarian crisis taking place in the hellish enclave of Gaza as, apparently, there is nothing to mention.
As for allegations of mistreatment, the Israeli foreign ministry was brusque and dismissive: “The lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign.” Ben-Gvir, however, spoke on October 5 of how “proud” he was of the harsh conditions that the detainees were being kept in. “These are the terrorists of the flotilla,” he declared. “Supporters of murderers.” On his visit to Ketziot prison, he reasoned that the flotilla members, being “terror supporters”, deserved “the conditions of terrorists”.
Israeli authorities also claimed that the flotilla carried little humanitarian aid to speak of. In a sharp statement, the GSF called such accusations by Ben-Gvir and other officials “verifiably false” and “obscene. The boats were meticulously documented, loaded with medical supplies, food, and other life-saving goods for people in Gaza being systematically starved by Israel.”
On arriving in Athens after being deported, Thunberg praised the “global, international solidarity” of the GSF where hypocritical, mealymouthed governments had failed. “This is a last resort. That this mission has to exist is a shame.” At this writing, negotiations on the US proposed peace plan continues, as does slaughter and starvation in the Strip. As, it would seem, the estranged reality that permits mendacity to flourish.
Brazil: The Global Sumud Flotilla set an example of courage! We will continue to denounce the genocide in Palestine!
First published at Revista Movimento.
We have just received photos of the Brazilian delegation in the Flotilla, with clenched fists, newly arrived in Jordan and preparing their return. And even though dozens of delegations have already left the dungeons of the genocidal state between yesterday and today, six activists of multiple nationalities remain imprisoned.
Yesterday we welcomed the first member of the Brazilian delegation, Nico Calabrese, an Argentine with an Italian passport and a member of Rede Emancipa, at a combative event at Galeão airport. Nico, along with Campinas councilwoman Mariana Conti and PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party) Rio Grande do Sul president Gabi Tolotti, are members of MES (Socialist Left Movement) and part of the Brazilian delegation that set an example of struggle, maintaining morale in prison despite the taunts of fascists like Ben Gvir and the mistreatment they were subjected to. MES as a whole highlights the importance and strength of these comrades and so many others in our country’s delegation.
Thiago Ávila and Greta Thunberg led the mission, symbolizing this struggle for the whole world. Greta’s speech yesterday was a manifesto of resistance, worthy of a giant: “We are not heroes, we are here to support the Palestinian people.” And it’s true.
Also present were activists from around the world, members of the European left, South African Mandla Mandela, grandson of the historic leader; Portuguese Left Bloc MP Mariana Mortágua, as well as Argentine MP Celeste Fierro, from the MST (Socialist Workers' Movement) and FITU (Left and Workers' Front-Unity).
The Flotilla was a very important humanitarian and internationalist mission, celebrated with festivities by Palestinian children and fishermen, as we saw in the beautiful images that moved us in recent weeks. It was a catalyst that boosted solidarity with the Palestinian people, a strong point of support amid strikes and mass demonstrations in many European countries (with Italy at the forefront), but also in countries in Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It was an important battle that gathered more strength and determination in the face of the ongoing massacre in Gaza.
And on this date, two years after October 7, peace negotiations are dragging on due to the policy of Netanyahu and Trump, which is to seek a “peace of the graveyards” or a peace of the colonizers. Their proposed agreement was, in fact, an ultimatum to the Palestinian people, worn down by military defeat imposed through genocide.
The resistance of the Palestinian people is incredible. The demoralization of the state of Israel has reached extremely high levels, even in the imperialist countries that most support it, such as the United States and England.
The demonstrations will continue. In Brazil, solidarity with the Flotilla led to significant pressure on the Foreign Ministry and the Lula government, which, albeit belatedly, ended up denouncing the policy of the genocidal state.
The struggle in defense of Palestine will continue to be the dividing line of humanity. The activists returning to Brazil become committed references — such as Greta and Thiago — to continue denouncing the Palestinian holocaust. The families and the impressive support network that has been set up do justice to the bravery of those who spent more than thirty days sailing and almost a week detained in Israeli dungeons.
We hold back our cries, wave our flags more strongly, and feel proud of our people and the members of the Flotilla who broke through the siege and inertia, setting an example of a new internationalism, alive and active, that is just beginning.
Long live the resistance around the world in defense of Palestine! We celebrate the release of our people, but there will only be freedom when Palestine is free. Humanity will only be free when the Palestinians have the right to their land.
We also acknowledge the efforts of all the other members of the Brazilian delegation. Free Palestine from the River to the Sea!
Luizianne Lins – Teacher, federal deputy for the PT (Workers' Party) Ceará and twice mayor of Fortaleza;
Mohamad El Kadri – Brazilian, son of Lebanese immigrants, president of the Latin American-Palestinian Forum, coordinator of the Palestinian Front of São Paulo, and PT activist;
Bruno Gilga Rocha – USP (University of Sao Paulo) worker, active in the University Workers’ Union, MRT activist, and part of the Brazilian coordination of the Global Sumud Flotilla;
Magno Carvalho – Activist with the USP Workers’ Union and CSP-Conlutas. Veteran of international solidarity initiatives with the Palestinian people;
Lucas Farias Gusmão – Activist and internationalist from Bahia;
João Aguiar – Activist with the Global Movement for Gaza and the Palestine Nucleus of the PT/SP;
Ariadne Telles – Human rights lawyer from the Amazon and activist for the Bem Viver Movement;
Lisiane Proença – Popular communicator, traveler, and cultural agitator;
Victor Nascimento Peixoto – Professor and researcher of Islamic history. Activist and popular communicator;
Miguel Viveiros de Castro – One of the founders of the Indymedia Brazil network and the Calafou Cooperative in Catalonia (Spain). He directed the documentaries “Brad, uma noite mais nas barricadas” (Brad, one more night on the barricades) and “Mundurukania, na beira da história” (Mundurukania, on the edge of history).
Touch one, touch all: Brazil must protect its citizens on the Global Sumud Flotilla
First published in Portuguese at Movimento Revista. Translation by LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal.
The next 24 hours will be decisive. As the genocide of the Palestinian people continues to spark outrage across the globe, the Global Sumud Flotilla — the largest humanitarian initiative of its kind — continues moving towards the waters of Gaza.
After departing from Barcelona, passing through Tunisia, and arriving in Greece to set sail to its final destination, and enduring all manner of sabotage, international harassment and drone attacks, the flotilla has now become a global phenomenon.
The flotilla, led by Greta Thunberg from Sweden, Thiago Ávila from Brazil, and other Palestinian activists, is carrying food, medicine and other humanitarian aid supplies, with the clear aim of breaking the Zionist siege on Gaza.
Onboard are parliamentarians from Europe and Latin America, such as Mariana Mortágua of Portugal’s Left Bloc and Celeste Fierro of the Socialist Workers’ Movement (MST) of Argentina. There are also 16 Brazilian activists on board: three comrades from the Socialist Left Movement/Socialism and Liberty Party (MES/PSOL), Mariana Conti (PSOL Campinas City Councilor), Gabi Tolloti (PSOL president in Rio Grande do Sul), and Nico Calabrese (Emancipa Network coordinator and crew member); as well as Luizianne Lins (Workers’ Party parliamentarian), Mohamed Kadri (Palestinian Forum leader), Bruno Gilga and Magno Carvalho (of the University of Sao Paulo Workers Union, Sintusp), and other activists.
The Zionist State of Israel has promised to intercept the flotilla in the coming days and hours, accusing it of terrorism. It has used all kinds of psychological torture and threats against it. It wants to prevent outrage over the worst genocide in the 21st century spilling over into international solidarity and support.
Demonstrations that have swept the world have brought down governments and ensured popular pressure prevailed: when Spain rose up, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was forced to send the Furor and announced several trade embargoes against the State of Israel; after a general strike over Gaza paralysed Italy, the far-right government was also forced to send a ship to the Greek coast to accompany the flotilla. Other countries, such as Turkey and Greece, are talking about doing the same. The world’s eyes are on Gaza.
The United Nations assembly was a stark illustration of the current political tensions: Brazilian President Lula da Silva’s speech, an example of how to criticise US President Donald Trump, denouncing the live-streamed genocide in Gaza; the withdrawal by delegations in protest at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s intervention; and, finally, Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s heroic intervention, defending the need for the world to stop the genocide and even calling for a volunteer army to fight in defence of Palestine. For this statement and his subsequent participation in a demonstration in support of Gaza, Petro had his visa suspended and is now barred from returning to the United States. The UN was a portrait of the global situation.
Yesterday afternoon, after several hours of meeting, Trump and Netanyahu held a media conference announcing an “agreement” and urging Hamas to accept it or face the consequences of a “final solution.”
The agreement was met with outrage from Palestinian activists and resistance fighters, as well as from the English left, who denounced former British PM Tony Blair’s stance, pointing to him as politically responsible for the new phase of the occupation.
For now, we must continue to mobilise in Brazil, supporting the flotilla members whose lives are at grave risk. The Italian and Spanish military boats did not cross into the red zone (150 miles from the final destination), which the flotilla vessels must pass through to reach Gaza with its humanitarian aid. We need to continue to demand that Brazil’s foreign ministry protects them, in line with the open letters being promoted by parliamentarians and the Global Sumud Flotilla. Let us follow the example of the Italian dockworkers and students who have already stated: if you touch the Flotilla, we will blockade everything.
The Brazilian student movement has called for vigils and actions on October 2. The Palestinian Front has called for large-scale events this weekend, particularly October 5.
Brazilian universities are mobilised. Following student sit-ins, Unicamp and the Fluminense Federal University cut commercial and academic relations with the State of Israel.
The world’s eyes are on Gaza. And the eyes of Brazil are on the flotilla. Brazil must take responsibility for its citizens, ensuring their safety, repatriation and physical integrity.
We will continue to support the Palestinian-led and organised fight for a free Palestine — from the river to the sea!
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