Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been filmed laughing and talking to a crowd, shouting at one point, “Fuck Germany! And fuck Israel!” at a pro-Palestinian rally in Germany.
The comment has been widely picked up by German media, even if the reference to the country is not clear from the audio of the recording. The reference to Israel is on the other hand clear.
Thunberg was at the event in the city centre of Mannheim on December 6 hosted by the group Zaytouna Rhein-Neckar, which attracted 700 people.
It included a discussion focused on “solidarity with Palestine and the climate movement”.
Long-time face of the climate movement and student group Fridays For Future (FFF), Thunberg took to the stage to applause and cheers from the crowd.
“From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free” was repeatedly heard chanted by attendees.
Greta Thunberg at a pro-H×mas protest: “F*ck Germany 🇩🇪 and f*ck Israel 🇮🇱” 👇
All those who supported her climate cult must feel like a bunch of idiots now. pic.twitter.com/Z8YzDNuF4U
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) December 7, 2024
Thunberg addressed the gathering, stating: “We cannot wait, not on the subject of Palestine and not on climate change.”
The 21-year-old also spoke of a “genocide” in Gaza and stated she was not an anti-Semite. “If you want a change, you have to stand up,” she added.
In a reaction to her remarks, the Christian Democrats (CDU) in Baden-Württemberg said she was deliberately moving dangerously close to anti-Semitism and that her behaviour had become problematic.
The FFF clarified that it was not involved in the event. “This is not our action,” said a spokesperson for FFF Germany, adding there would be no further comment.
Also at the protest was the activist Hasan Özbay, who became known after burning an artist’s leaflets opposing anti-Semitism last year and who was charged with alleged incitement to hatred. He has made many derogatory comments about Israel following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack on the country, including the oft-repeated claim of Israel poisoning Palestinian groundwater.
Zaytouna Rhein-Neckar claimed on Instagram that it was standing against the “baseless attacks of pro-Israel lobby groups” attempting to “delegitimise” the event, stating that such efforts would not silence members of the group.
Mannheim’s city square was also where in May an alleged Islamist terrorist, who was a long-time illegal immigrant, was alleged to have stabbed a police officer, who subsequently died of his injuries.
This stabbing led the left-wing German Government to alter its open-border policies and start enacting more strict migration laws.
Two weeks before the protest where Thunberg made her remarks, the original target of the alleged Islamist attacker, Michael Stürzenberger, a German activist and critic of political Islam who was also badly injured, was sentenced to pay a €3,600 fine for “incitement of the people” by a court in Hamburg.
Greta Thunberg is facing calls for her to be banned from entering Germany amid a decision by local police to classify her as a “violent participant” in political demonstrations. https://t.co/TUuqYJlXJV
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) October 9, 2024
