Greta Thunberg appears to fake being handcuffed as she arrives in France after being deported from Israel
Greta Thunberg has been accused of putting on a fake show for the cameras upon landing in France following her deportation from Israel.
Greta Thunberg has been mocked for appearing to fake being handcuffed upon her arrival to France.
The Swedish activist was deported from Israel following a brief spat with local authorities this week. She and 11 others attempted to sail to Gaza to make a statement against Israel’s campaign, but were seized by Israeli authorities and quickly sent on their way.
Of the 12 activists on board the Madleen, which was carrying food and supplies for Gaza, four, including Thunberg, agreed to be deported immediately, while 11 of them have been banned from Israel for 100 years, the rights group that legally represents some of them said in a statement.
The remaining eight were taken into custody after they refused to leave Israel voluntarily, and brought before a detention review tribunal on Tuesday, rights group Adalah said.
“The state asked the tribunal to keep the activists in custody until their deportation”, Adalah said, adding that under Israeli law, individuals under deportation orders can be held for 72 hours before forcible removal.
Israeli forces intercepted the boat, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in international waters on Monday and towed it to the port of Ashdod.
They then transferred them to Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, the foreign ministry said, from where Thunberg flew to France ahead of a scheduled flight to Sweden.
Taking to X, Meghan McCain – the daughter of the late Republican senator and presidential nominee, John McCain – shared footage of Thunberg aboard the plane.
“Putting her in the last seat in coach that doesn’t recline next to the toilet is my favourite thing today,” she captioned the clip.
On arrival at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, 22-year-old Thunberg accused Israel of “kidnapping us in international waters and taking us against our will to Israel”.
“This is yet another intentional violation of rights that is added to the list of countless other violations that Israel is committing,” she said.
Four French activists who were also aboard the Madleen were set to face an Israeli judge, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.
He had earlier posted on X that five would face court action and only one would depart voluntarily.
Barrot told reporters that French diplomats had met with the six French nationals in Israel, and that French-Palestinian European MP Rima Hassan was among those who refused to leave voluntarily.
The activists, from France, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands, aimed to deliver humanitarian aid and break the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.
In what organisers called a “symbolic act”, hundreds of participants in a land convoy crossed the border into Libya from Tunisia with the aim of reaching Gaza, whose entire population the UN has warned is at risk of famine.
Thunberg refuses to watch Israel video
Thunberg and fellow aid activists had refused to view a video showing the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, Israel’s Defence Minister has said.
Israel Katz had said the activists, whose ship was intercepted by the Israeli navy as it attempted to break a blockade on Gaza, would be made to watch the video.
However he said on Tuesday morning that when they found out what the film was about, “they refused to continue watching.”
“Greta [Thunberg] and her flotilla companions were taken into a room upon their arrival for a screening of the horror film of the October 7 massacre, and when they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching,” Mr Katz said in a statement.
“The antisemitic flotilla members are turning a blind eye to the truth and have proven once again that they prefer the murderers to the murdered and continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children,” he added.
Thunberg being held in an Israeli prison for migrants ahead of a court hearing that could see her deported from the country.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry released a picture of Thunberg after soldiers boarded the UK-flagged ship Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, on Monday.
On Tuesday, AEST, the foreign ministry said the vessel officials have mocked as the “selfie yacht” had now docked at Ashdod, in the nation’s south.
“The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health,” it said on X.
Thunberg, 22, was one of a dozen people on board the ship which left from Italy on June 1 bound for Gaza as part of an attempted aid delivery.
Her lawyer Nariman Shehade Zoabi told Swedish news outlet Expressen she was demanding to meet her client.
“Based on previous experiences, Greta Thunberg and the others will be taken to Givon prison near the town of Ramle,” she said.
“There, what are called illegal immigrants are detained and there is a court that can quickly decide on deportation.”
‘Strange person’: Trump’s gibe
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump ridiculed Thunberg in a White House press conference overnight, telling reporters the young woman should seek “anger management”.
“Well she’s a strange person – she’s a young, angry person,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s real anger, it’s hard to believe actually, but I saw what happened.
“She’s certainly different. I think she needs to go to an anger management class, that’s my primary recommendation for her.”
Asked for his response to Thunberg’s claims she was she was “kidnapped” by the Israelis, he replied: “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg.”
Sweden’s blunt reply to plea for help
Sweden earlier rejected Thunberg’s request for help, with Foreign Affairs Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard telling media the activist’s supporters had been flooding consular hotlines.
“A great responsibility rests on those who choose to travel contrary to the advice given to a place,” she said outside the Swedish parliament.
“It is quite dangerous to run a campaign that means that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ consular hotline is called down.
“The consequence is that Swedes in need abroad have to wait in line for far too long.
“If she needs consular support, we will do everything we can, just as we do with all Swedish citizens.”
The detainment of Thunberg and her crewmates sparked demonstrations in her homeland of Sweden and across Europe.
Forced to watch October 7 film
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has instructed the military to screen graphic footage of the October 7 Hamas attacks for Greta Thunberg’s group of activists, who attempted to break the blockade on Gaza this week.
The “Bearing Witness” video is a 43-minute compilation produced by the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson’s unit.
It includes raw, uncensored footage showing massacres and the mutilation of bodies during the attack.
Katz said the screening was intended to confront the activists with the reality of the violence committed by Hamas.
“It’s appropriate that Greta the antisemite and her Hamas-supporting friends should see exactly who is the terror group Hamas that they support and act on behalf of, what atrocious acts they carried out on women, the elderly and kids, and who Israel is fighting for its defence against,” Katz said in the statement.
He said that the video would be shown to the group upon their arrival in the port city of Ashdod, where their boat is being towed after Israeli forces took control as it neared the Gaza coast overnight.
Katz commended the soldiers for quickly securing the ship.
Video taken before the boarding suggests the activists planned to demonstrate passive resistance.
Israel has previously shown Bearing Witness to journalists, diplomats, and public figures in select private screenings around the world as part of its effort to draw international attention to the October 7 attacks.
‘Intercepted and kidnapped’
A prerecorded video has been released of Thunberg, one of the world’s best known climate activists, urging help after being “intercepted and kidnapped”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry has released a statement saying the ship was “safely making its way to the shores of Israel” and that “the passengers are expected to return to their home countries”.
Thunberg was on the ship with other activists, which was carrying food and other supplies for Palestinians in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Israel had warned on Sunday its military would stop the ship before it even made it to shore.
Israel’s defence minister, who described the activists on board as “Hamas propaganda spokespeople”, told Thunberg to “turn back because you will not reach Gaza”.
“I have instructed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to act to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza — and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end,” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement posted to X on Sunday, translated to English.
About 10.40am AEST on Monday, a prerecorded video was shared on Thunberg’s Instagram account by Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
“My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” she said.
“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”
Israel’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released its own statement soon after.
“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the ministry wrote on X.
The ministry accused Thunberg and the other activists of their “sole purpose” being “to gain publicity”, and claimed the ship had “less than a single truckload of aid”.
“More than 1200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza,” the statement said.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies.
The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition shared footage from the ship before Israeli officials boarded.
The group wrote: “Moments ago, drones dropped unidentified chemicals on the Madleen. Immediately after, our peaceful volunteers were rammed and intercepted before Israeli forces boarded the vessel. We lost all contact with them seconds later.”
The UK-flagged ship called aimed to challenge the Israeli blockade, which has been in place for years, even before the Israel-Hamas war since October 2023.
Mr Katz said Israel would “act against any attempt to break the blockade”.
Thunberg had posted on Instagram soon after Mr Katz’s statement on Sunday.
“As we are sailing closer to Gaza with Israel saying they will not allow the boat to arrive with humanitarian aid (which would be a crime by them), it’s very important to keep in mind that this mission is not about us nor the boat,” she wrote.
“This is about the genocide, blockade and systematic oppression of Palestinians.
“People in Gaza don’t need anyone to come and save them, they need us to amplify and support their struggle for justice, that we end our complicity, put pressure and cut ties with those committing human rights violations. Keep all eyes on deck but above all, all eyes on Palestine and all oppressed people.”
Organisers said Saturday the vessel had entered Egyptian waters and was nearing Gaza, where the war has entered its 21st month.
“We are not armed. There is only humanitarian aid,” European parliament member Rima Hassan told AFP from the boat, vowing to “stay mobilised until the last minute”.
The coalition said in a statement on X it expected “interception and an attack from Israel at any moment”, calling for protection from the governments of those on board, who are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.
‘Risked their lives’ for food
In Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine, the civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The GHF has come under criticism from humanitarian agencies and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.
Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that “people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah” in the early morning.
“After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” he said.
The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.
The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents “at any of our three sites” on Sunday.
It said it had distributed more than a million meals, including more than 600,000 through a trial of “direct to community distribution” via “community leaders”.
Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over bloodstained body bags.
“I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body. She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.
Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to the civil defence agency.
At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site “because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families”.
– AFP
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