On Sunday, Thunberg again took a stand for the Palestinians in a big climate demonstration. A part of the audience went silent.
BERLIN Climate activist Greta Thunberg statements supporting the Palestinians have angered not only Jews and Israelis but also part of the climate movement.
On Sunday, Thunberg again used the climate protest to take the side of the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict. He appeared in Amsterdam with a black and white Palestinian scarf around his neck.
– The climate movement has an obligation to listen to the voice of those who are oppressed and who fight for peace and justice, Thunberg said.
Thunberg then handed the microphone to a woman who was also wearing a Palestinian scarf. This said Israel was committing genocide.
Some of the protesters were outraged. The man jumped on stage in front of the cameras and said into the microphone: “I came here for a climate demonstration, not to hear political views.”
After that, Thunberg urged the participants to remain calm and shouted several times: “An occupied country has no right to climate.” By this he was referring to the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.
At least the German branch will be laid off
Representatives of Jewish communities have already criticized Thunberg for showing her support for Gaza, but has not said a word about the massacre organized by the terrorist organization Hamas and the taking of hostages in Israel.
The rift in the climate movement started to spread especially at the end of October, when the international Fridays for Future climate strike movement accused Israel of genocide on social media. On its Instagram account, the movement also claimed that Western media are spreading false information about the war and brainwashing people.
The German branch of the climate strike movement is resigned for siding with the Palestinians. Its main character Luisa Neubauer said Zeit magazine in an interview that he was already disappointed with Thunberg a couple of weeks ago.
According to Neubauer, the situation between Israel and Palestine caused a rift in the climate community even before Hamas attacked Israel.
– But at that time we decided to let it be so that we could work together.
German Fridays for Future activists have also considered continuing the climate work under another name.
Supporting the Palestinians is politically difficult in Germany, because the country focuses on guaranteeing the safety of the Jews. It’s because of history: Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews. Anti-Semitism, or hatred of Jews, has increased recently.
Sunday’s demonstration in Amsterdam was attended by more than 85,000 people according to the organizers, around 70,000 according to the police.
It was organized by the environmental, climate and charity organizations Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion (August Rebellion), Oxfam and Greenpeace, according to which the march had more people than ever before in the Netherlands. Elections will be held in the country in a week and a half.