cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/72882
Reports are emerging that Israeli authorities have abused activist Greta Thunberg while illegally holding her in detention.
Greta Thunberg beaten by Israeli authorities
On Saturday 4 October, the Israeli occupation authorities deported 137 of the kidnapped international solidarity activists who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the humanitarian siege on Gaza, in the second deportation operation in a matter of days, after returning four Italians to their country on Friday 3 October.
One of the deported activists who arrived at Istanbul airport on Saturday recounted shocking details of what he described as ‘brutal assaults’ on some activists during their detention, telling reporters:
They dragged little Greta (Thunberg) by her hair in front of our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her as a warning to others.
She’s still a little kid. They made her suffer.
BREAKING: Turkish activist and Sumud Flotilla participant Ersin Celik:
“They [Israelis] dragged little Greta [Thunberg] by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag. They did everything imaginable to her, as a warning to others,” pic.twitter.com/gV6SeMZr7U
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws1) October 4, 2025
Separately, the Guardian reported that an email to Swedish authorities said Greta Thunberg was suffering from:
dehydration. She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food. She also stated that she had developed rashes which she suspects were caused by bedbugs. She spoke of harsh treatment and said she had been sitting for long periods on hard surfaces.
Meanwhile, other released activists spoke of similar degrading treatment.
Turkish activist Samanur Sonmaz Yaman, a member of the flotilla, recounts details of the occupation’s oppression and abuse of veiled women from the boats:
Occupation soldiers ripped off our headscarves during our arrest and took them from us, and our non-veiled friends gave us their shirts to cover our heads.
Adalah, the legal centre that monitors the cases of detainees, said that detention conditions at Ketziot prison in the Negev desert are ‘deteriorating alarmingly,’ amid reports of ill-treatment and violence against some detainees.
A spokesperson for the organisation said that it is difficult at this stage to provide a comprehensive assessment, but confirmed that the mistreatment primarily affects non-European detainees, especially those whose countries do not have diplomatic missions in Israel.
Ongoing Israeli violence
This incident is the latest chapter in the confrontation between Israel and the international solidarity flotillas that recently set sail in an attempt to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for more than 18 years, amid growing international warnings about targeting solidarity activists and civil society activists, and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Strip, which is suffering from famine and shortages of medicine and fuel.
Israel intercepted 40 ships in the Global Solidarity Flotilla that set sail to reach Gaza to break the blockade and deliver humanitarian aid amid the ongoing war of extermination on Gaza, which is now entering its third year.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
From Canary via this RSS feed
Looked her up. She’s 22. So we can’t really say she’s a kid. She has been an activist since she was a kid. She’s a grown woman now.
Still despicable that she was mistreated, but calling her a little kid is factually incorrect.
I'm not gonna say you're wrong, but this still feels like a weird thing to care about given the context of what's going on here.
Libertarian moment I guess
Say what you like but the facts are the facts and they don’t need to be twisted around for this situation to still be fucked up.
Make sure you tell the guy who being quoted, and who has to watch this, how incorrect he was.
Jesus christ who cares?
It seemed pretty important to OP. And you.
If facts are a problem, I challenge you to reexamine your position. Or present it better.
who's "we?" the person who said that is currently in an israeli prison for doing cooler shit than you or i have ever done
Have you considered that we are all boomers and anyone under 30 is a kid?
stfu
22 year olds are kids.
I disagree... I think CerebralHawks is being pedantic for no reason, like yeah who cares, but 22 year olds definitely aren't kids right?
they're kids but not children
22 year olds definitely are kids.
The quote calling her a kid is from an (older) fellow activist being horrified at having watched the Israeli military mistreat and torture her (because beating prisoners is absolutely torture at its simplest).
If you think applying smug, semantic pedantry to what is clearly a distressed and emotional quote from a fellow detainee, recounting how helpless she was/is against her military captors, is the important thing here then you need to reassess.
As a bare minimum, make sure you've actually bothered to read and understand the thing you're complaining about.
A 22 year old is someone who just graduated with a 4-year bachelors degree, like that's still a child.
Why is this your response to someone young enough to be an undergrad being beaten and ritually humiliated by armed pigs for the crime of trying to supply food and medicine to victims of an ongoing genocide?
Also, like, do you not have much experience with English? That's fine if not, but then don't go around giving false corrections. Young people generally are often referred to as "kids" by their elders, that's just part of the meaning of the word.
22 is definitely still a kid.
She’s just a kid!
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: