Climate activist Greta Thunberg shared a post from a pro-Palestinian organization on Instagram. In the past, it had spread a statement that could be understood as a call for the annihilation of Israel.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg shared a pro-Palestinian organization’s post on Instagram calling for a global strike “against the genocide in Gaza.” Thunberg shared the content of the “Palestine Speaks” page via Instagram’s story function, in which content is automatically deleted after 24 hours.
The strike is aimed at “all workers, students, schoolchildren, all businesses and citizens worldwide”. The call criticizes “the repressive state terror of many Western states”, which is directed against all those who show solidarity with the people in the Palestinian territories.
Instagram page calls for a strike
The post by the organization “Palestine Speaks” was published on Instagram four days ago. The organization states in its profile that it is a “political, feminist, democratic, anti-racist movement in Germany for Palestinian rights.” The movement says its mission is to make the “Palestinian voice” heard in Germany.
“Palestine Speaks” regularly shares content on Instagram about the armed conflict and the history of Israel and the Palestinian territories. The site also criticizes the bans on several pro-Palestinian demonstrations and rallies in Germany.
In an older article by “Palestine Speaks” there is the demand “Free Palestine from the river to the sea”. This refers to the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. The demand can therefore be understood as a call for the extinction of the State of Israel.
Thunberg calls for solidarity with Gaza
In the morning, Thunberg shared a photo on the X platform (formerly Twitter) in which she can be seen with other activists. They hold signs expressing their solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world must raise its voice and demand an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all affected civilians,” the post said.
In the meantime, Thunberg deleted the photo again, only to upload it again a short time later in a cropped version. A cuddly toy that was seen next to her shoulder in the original post is now missing – an octopus. She wrote: “I just learned that the animal can be understood as a symbol of anti-Semitism, which was completely unclear to me until now.” Of course, she is against any kind of discrimination and condemns it in any form. “This is non-negotiable. That’s why I deleted the post.”
In fact, National Socialists in the Third Reich used the octopus in caricatures to portray Judaism as an evil that surrounded the world.
Thunberg will be criticized as early as 2021
The climate activist was already criticized in 2021 for a statement about the conflict between Israel and the militant Islamist Hamas. At that time, she shared a post by Canadian author Naomi Klein, who accused Israel of “one war crime after another.” Thunberg himself wrote: “Devastating to follow the developments in Jerusalem and Gaza. #SaveSheikhJarrah.”
She was referring to Israeli air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip in which, according to Hamas, 20 people were killed. She did not address previous rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, in which, according to the Israeli army, Hamas fired around 150 rockets at Israel.