Greta Thunberg and 170 other activists from Israel

With 45 ships, the “Global Sumud Flotilla” opened in September. The goal of the more than 400 crew members, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg: bring relief goods to the Gaza Strip. But the Israeli Navy stopped her and arrested the activists. Now Israel Thunberg and 170 other colleagues have shown, as the Foreign Ministry announced. Among them are Germans too. Previously, Israel had already expelled around 200 of the over 450 arrested activists in the country.

They were “deported from Israel to Greece and Slovakia today”. The ministry also published photos that the Swede Thunberg should show at an airport in Israel. “All legal rights of the participants in this PR campaign have been and will continue to be preserved without restriction.

The “Guardian” had reported that Thunberg spoke to Swedish representatives about harsh treatment in Israeli prison. She got too little water and too little food. She also said that she got rashes that were probably caused by bed bugs. For a long time she sat “on hard surfaces”. The newspaper referred to an email from the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Thunberg. According to the report, other activists said that Thunberg had been dragged on the hair and beaten. They were also forced to kiss an Israeli flag. Similar accusations were also expressed with a view to other propalestinian activists.

The Israeli government rejected the allegations. The statement by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The claims on the abuse of Greta Thunberg and other detainees of Hamas-Sumud-Flottille are brazen lies.” All rights of the detainees were “completely preserved”.

It is the second time that Thunberg has been deported from Israel. In June, Thunberg broke up with the sailing ship “Madleen” with twelve other activists on board towards Gaza Strip. The ship was also intercepted.