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Greta Thunberg brought millions out onto the world’s streets to protest for a greener future. Demonstrating against companies polluting the planet in a variety of countries, she was arrested multiple times. Since Hamas’ brutal October 7 terrorist attack, the Swedish activist has redirected much of her rage toward Israel.
She wears a keffiyeh, poses with Palestinian flags and accuses Israel of "genocide," while largely ignoring Qatar, which, for years, has been transferring to Hamas funds derived from its oil and natural gas sales profits. Paradoxically, burning these fuels emits greenhouse gases, a contributing factor to global warming - the very issue Thunberg has been protesting for years.
At demonstrations, she calls to "Free Palestine," stop arming Israel and impose a permanent ceasefire on the country. She rarely, if ever, demands the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza or condemns the terrorist attack that triggered the war.
Demonstrating against Israel being her first priority, Thunberg didn’t even bother attending either the 2023 climate conference held in Dubai or that of 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The climate activist has turned her back on her supporters, and alongside her relentless anti-Israel campaigning, has also sparked anger in other arenas.
Thunberg visited Turkey’s Kurdish regions last November, evoking outrage in the country for condemning Erdogan’s government. She criticized the environmental destruction in Kurdish-populated areas. "Destruction and exploitation of nature – such as unlawful forest cutdowns, sacrificing zones for mining companies and fires – is one of the many tools used as part of the continuous attacks against the Kurds. This often leads to devastation of local communities and biodiversity as well as forced displacement."
On an X posting, she then called on Turkey to amend its treatment of the Kurds. "Turkey must clarify its stance on the Kurds and other minority groups by enshrining their rights in the constitution." She went on to write, "The government continues to use ‘terrorism’ as a pretext to silence its political opponents. Tens of thousands of politically active individuals remain imprisoned without fair trials. International organizations such as the ECHR, UN, and Amnesty have condemned this and called for their release. For a sustainable peace and a just future, the Kurds’ right to freedom and autonomy must be respected and the violent attacks against Kurdistan must end."
After causing ire in Turkey, she moved on to voice her support for independence for Western Sahara, provoking fury in Morocco. She posed with the Western Sahara flag, championing the region’s struggle for justice and human rights. She said it was unacceptable for the international community to ignore the situation in Western Sahara and called for global action toward a just resolution.
This too is a political struggle, in no way related to climate issues. She’s also condemned the Azerbaijani government, accusing it of "ethnic cleansing" and further crimes against Armenians, and has protested against Georgia’s government, advocating "Justice, freedom and democracy," amid the country’s political crisis.
And if you’d thought Thunberg had given up on her anti-Israel activism, you’d be wrong. She continues posting images of Palestinian flags and protest signs in support of Gazans from her weekly demonstrations in Stockholm. Last month, she returned to Denmark, where she took part in a violent protest against the Maersk shipping company.
Along with further anti-Israel activists, Thunberg disrupted activity at the company’s headquarters, claiming it was using its ships to transport weapons to Israel. She called on the company to cancel all contracts and investments related to what she termed "Genocide and occupation of Palestine." Thunberg was arrested along with around two dozen more protesters who were all released shortly thereafter.
Meanwhile, she regularly shares anti-Israel messages urging her 14 million Instagram followers, and millions more on other social media platforms, to demonstrate and take action against Israel.
Thunberg is the daughter of actor Svante Thunberg and opera singer Malena Ernman who represented Sweden in Eurovision 2009. At age 15, in the summer of 2018, Greta started a one-woman protest outside the Swedish parliament. She would show up every Friday with a small sign reading, "Skolstrejk för klimatet" (School Strike for Climate) She was slowly but surely joined by more teenagers and, in time, mobilized masses worldwide to take to the streets to protest the climate crisis. She met with numerous world leaders and took part in demonstrations across the globe.
Her protest peaked the following September with millions of young people flooding the streets of major cities worldwide and staging climate marches. Thunberg led hundreds of thousands in a climate demonstration in New York City, making the journey to America by solar-powered boat, averting the greenhouse gas emissions of a transatlantic flight.
That same month, Thunberg even expressed solidarity with Israel, tweeting a photo of climate supporters in Tel Aviv - only to be met with backlash. Despite talk backers angrily asking, "How dare you?”, she left up the posting.
Thunberg was named Time Magazine's 2019 Person of the Year. Then - and current - US President Donald Trump, whom Thunberg had stared down at the UN building in New York, mocked her, tweeting, "Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old-fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill!"
Thunberg has even received several Nobel Peace Prize nominations for her climate activism. The committee went for other candidates.
Israeli social media users also expressed their indignation, arguing that her statements essentially amounted to support for Hamas. One user, "@hasolidit," remarked: "Autistic children were murdered by Hamas and singled out as legitimate military targets solely because they were Israeli Jews. Your failure to even acknowledge that is proof of your rabid antisemitism. Not your stupid stuffed animal," referring to a toy octopus appearing in one of Thunberg’s posts, interpreted by some as an antisemitic symbol.
Thunberg didn’t stop at anti-Israel posts, but rather brought her anti-Israel activism to her weekly protests outside the Swedish parliament. Three weeks following the massacre, the Swedish activist stood alongside anti-Israel placards declaring, "Free Palestine," and, "Stop the Holocaust," and she herself held a sign reading, "Justice for Palestine."
Many argue that Thunberg’s political stance is damaging the crucial fight against climate change
Criticism of Thunberg has also emerged on the global stage with Fridays for Future (FFF) leaders in Germany, Austria, and even in her homeland of Sweden, distancing themselves from her October 20 post featuring signs supporting the Palestinians, while ignoring the Hamas massacre. Israeli teens have also lashed out at Thunberg, turning her from a role model to a resented figure.
Thunberg’s controversial stance has meant the global climate movement, which had enjoyed widespread consensus support, has found itself divided around a conflict many of its advocates don’t understand, and certainly has nothing to do with environmentalism.
Thunberg has become fixated on the Palestinian issue. At rallies, rather than talking about global warming, the climate crisis, pollution killing millions every year, or countries (such as Iran, Iraq, and Qatar) still producing oil, she has repeatedly spoken out against Israel.
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At a rally in Amsterdam November 2023, a man approached her on stage and said that he had come to an environmental, not political, event. The man was forcibly removed from the stage as Thunberg declared to the crowd, "No climate justice on occupied land."
Palestinian flags were waved in the crowd and Thunberg was spotted donning a keffiyeh. In an effort to clarify her stance, she said, “As a climate justice movement, we have to listen to the voices of those who are being oppressed and those who are fighting for freedom and for justice. Otherwise, there can be no climate justice without international solidarity.” She, again, in no way addressed the Hamas terrorist attack that sparked the war. Why? Maybe, it was convenient for her to overlook the murderous attack so as to stand alongside Gazan civilians, some of whom, as it turns out, assisted the terrorists, hiding hostages in their homes or concealing weapons and terrorists.
Amsterdam wasn’t the end of it. Thunberg continued her scathing anti-Israel rhetoric, undoubtedly to the delight of Tehran, Doha, and Hamas leaders in hiding. At a pro-Palestinian in Stockholm in November 2023, she called to "Crush Zionism."
Throughout this time, she carried on wearing a keffiyeh around her neck, posing with anti-Israel protest signs and Palestinian flags and accusing Israel of "genocide" in Gaza. In Malmo, Sweden, last May, she showed up at the Eurovision Song Contest, an event officially defined as non-political. Here, she took part in a protest and was arrested for disturbing the peace. Photos from the scene showed her, with a keffiyeh wrapped around her neck, being dragged away by two police officers. At this demonstration, Palestinian flags were waved and slogans were chanted against Israel and then President Joe Biden. She was arrested once more a few months later, this time in Copenhagen, again at an anti-Israel rally,
Many argue that Thunberg’s political stance is damaging the crucial fight against climate change. The young woman who once drew millions globally against corporations polluting the environment and fought for a better future has now abandoned the cause she spearheaded. Her role has shifted from that of a leader enjoying global consensus to a divisive figure, ignoring the crimes of Hamas terrorists who raped, murdered and kidnapped Israelis on October 7.
The past 18 months have witnessed almost no large-scale demonstrations against climate change, but rather modest protests numbering in the dozens or hundreds. Trump is back in the White House and, unlike during his previous term of office, when climate activists under Thunberg’s leadership were taking to the streets en masse, the U.S. president’s anti-environment measures are passing rather quietly as world leaders are acting slowly if at all. And it looks like no one can lead the global climate protest like the old Greta Thunberg could.