Before She Was Abducted By Israel, Greta Thunberg Gave Several Powerful Interviews About Why She Supports Gaza
“We are standing up for justice, sustainability, liberation for everyone. There can be no climate justice without social justice.”
Before she was abducted from the aid ship Madleen by Israeli forces, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg gave several powerful interviews with media outlets about why she stands with Gaza.
Thunberg boarded the Madleen alongside 11 other activists as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC) and set sail to Gaza in an attempt to deliver aid to break Israel’s blockade and siege on the Strip on June 1.
Speaking to Middle East Eye from aboard the ship, Thunberg said governments, world leaders and the international community have failed the Palestinian people and are supporting the genocide.
“When our governments are failing us… then it falls on us to step up and be the adults in the room,” she said, adding that sitting and doing nothing is not an option as there is too much at stake.
In another interview, she told Democracy Now! that because she has a platform, she has a moral responsibility to act, and she was willing to take the risk of being on the Madleen if it could raise awareness about the genocide.
She also hit back at her detractors who say her fight has shifted, saying that her pro-Palestine activism is intertwined with the climate movement.
“It's so weird to me that people are separating caring about the environment and the climate from caring about humans,” she said. “We are standing up for justice, sustainability, liberation for everyone. There can be no climate justice without social justice.”
At around 3 am on Monday, June 9, Israeli forces forcibly intercepted and boarded the Madleen in international waters.
The FFC said that the Israeli military abducted the activists and confiscated the aid, and the coalition lost contact with the activists on board.
Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli government intends to bring the activists to Ashdod port, force them to watch a compilation of videos of the Oct. 7 attack and then deport them to their respective countries.
Kassy Cho
Kassy Cho
Cherry Mohamed
