Israeli Backlash Against Greta Thunberg’s pro-Palestine Message

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has found herself in a bit of hot water after a Friday post on X in which she expressed support for Palestinians after the savage terrorist attack committed by Hamas on October 7. The post shows Thunberg holding a homemade sign proclaiming “Stand With Gaza.”

Thunberg was with three other activists, who held signs reading “Climate Justice Now,” “This Jew Stands With Palestine” and “Free Palestine.”

“Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected,” the climate activist posted.

The original post included a stuffed blue octopus, which many complained was an antisemitic trope. Thunberg removed the octopus from the photo after complaints, saying, “It has come to my knowledge that the stuffed animal shown in my earlier post can be interpreted as a symbol for antisemitism which I was completely unaware of.”

The Israeli government’s official X page called out Thunberg’s hypocrisy: “@GretaThunberg,
Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets which have BUTCHERED innocent Israelis. The victims of the Hamas massacre could have been your friends.”

The controversy prompted a group of more than 200 environmental activists in Israel to write an open letter to Thunberg, condemning her statement of solidarity with Gaza.

Penned by Rony Bruell, founder of the Israeli Forum of Women in the Environment, and signed by hundreds of others, the letter expressed profound disappointment in Thunberg’s position on the crisis in Gaza.

Bruell told Thunberg that she was “deeply hurt, shocked and disappointed with your tweets and posts regarding Gaza, which are appallingly one-sided, ill-informed, superficial and are in complete contrast to your ability to deep dive into details and get to the bottom of complex issues — at best. But to be more accurate, by expressing them you take sides with terrorists, with the worst and darkest representatives of Humans, and plainly — with the wrong side of history.”

The letter continued with some hard facts for Thunberg to consider: “Do you think Hamas represents human rights and freedom? Think again! On Saturday, October 7th a brutal massacre took place in Israel. So far, we have counted 1,400 bodies of babies, children, women and men. All brutally murdered, shot, burned alive, molested before their deaths, raided by terrorists in their homes, in a music festival and randomly on the streets.”

To end, the signatories asked Thunberg to reconsider her position.

“We urge you to look again at the atrocities conducted by Hamas, to read the stories of those who are no longer with us, to look at the pictures of those held in captivity and learn more about the conflicts in our region,” the letter continued. “We expect you and your family will never have to run for your lives and lose sleep worrying for your loved ones, but if this ever happens, we promise not to side with your abusers.”

Besides the environmentalist group, others took note of Thunberg’s cheerleading for Hamas. The Israeli Ministry of Education has announced that it will remove any reference to Thunberg or her climate activism from school materials.

“Hamas is a terrorist organization responsible for the murder of 1,400 innocent Israelis, including children, women, and the elderly, and it has abducted over 200 people to Gaza,” said a statement from the Ministry of Education. “This stance disqualifies her from being an educational and moral role model, and she is no longer eligible to serve as an inspiration and educator for Israeli students.”

Thunberg would later clarify that the original post was intended as a clarion call for peace — not an attack on Israel.

“It goes without saying — or so I thought — that I’m against the horrific attacks by hamas. As I said, ‘the world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected,’” Thunberg said.

Unfortunately for Thunberg, her initial X post certainly sounded as if she was siding against Israel. Signs proclaiming “Free Gaza” would seem to give the impression that Gaza is somehow imprisoned. It may be, but Israel is not the jailer — Hamas is.