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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.

https://www.thecanary.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/WhatsApp-Video-2025-10-04-at-18.03.37_22b0064d.mp4

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

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[-] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 117 points 4 months ago

Yeah tell me more about how I'll be beaten for being a woman in Palestine.

[-] Tommasi@hexbear.net 83 points 4 months ago
[-] axont@hexbear.net 82 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

If I only get one request from God it would be for Israel and its scum apologists to be removed from existence

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[-] sewer_rat_420@hexbear.net 82 points 4 months ago

Weeks of calling her and the flotilla Hamas (but they have specifically focused on Greta a ton) in the Israeli Media have built consent for these thugs to treat her like they do the palestinians.

This will shoot her back into popularity — those who may have been lukewarm on her before, or forgotten about her since she was just the "autistic climate girl" will see her as nobly standing up to Israel.

[-] jackmaoist@hexbear.net 81 points 4 months ago

At this point, Israel must be destroyed. There is no other option for these pigs.

[-] PoY@lemmygrad.ml 49 points 4 months ago

well before this point really, but yeah every further act demands their end

[-] Carl@hexbear.net 75 points 4 months ago

death to israel

[-] mickey@hexbear.net 72 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I mentioned on here the other day how it feels like GWOT-era Islamophobia is back on the surface (it didn't go away it was just overshadowed), but this also brings to mind the we don't torture-our methods don't count as torture-we need to torture these people to keep us safe mentality of the time. Coupled with the expanding naked use of military force we see used against Venezuela and the use of ICE as a paramilitary shock force against immigrant populations, the Chicago apartment they kidnapped people from and ransacked recently a prime example, and the attempt to expand the enemy within to include queer activists and leftists, it all points in a very troubling direction. I don't say this to be doomer, and honestly in some way it's helpful for me to write it out so I don't become complacent.

Edit: To make this more directly relevant to this article, I say that Greta has more integrity in her pinky toe than every Zionist combined in the world, Death to the IDF, Free Palestine.

[-] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 54 points 4 months ago

When I was her age I was too busy being a stupid kid playing video games and partying with my friends. She has more conviction in her than most adults do and she's willing to put her life on the line to back it up. It makes me feel like an absolute coward behind a keyboard in comparsion.

[-] wetbeardhairs@lemmy.dbzer0.com 72 points 4 months ago

Honestly I'm surprised they haven't shot her on camera with an israeli flag as the backdrop.

[-] Pentacat@hexbear.net 65 points 4 months ago

If they did, it would instantly become illegal to talk positively about her in the US.

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[-] Conselheiro@lemmygrad.ml 27 points 4 months ago

They might test the waters "disappearing" a lesser known activist first. The flotilla fleets are going to keep coming, and executing some activists "by accident" will probably be a tactic used for intimidation.

[-] Moidialectica@hexbear.net 67 points 4 months ago

Death to Israel, nothing short of an occupation and a purge of Zionism will be enough

[-] Awoo@hexbear.net 66 points 4 months ago

Israel has done more to improve Greta's image and credibility than anyone else.

[-] DragonBallZinn@hexbear.net 64 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Hey wait a minute. Anyone find it strange that us, a bunch of anti-white godless commies are the ones sticking up for Greta Thunberg: a white nordic woman (the literal aryan)

And the greatest champions of the white race are all on Twitter supporting the IDF beating one of their own “aryans”? Do they even know who makes up the IDF that they’re rooting for?

(Of course they do. But for any lurkers. Nazis are misanthropes first way before they ever care about helping white people.)

[-] WhatDoYouMeanPodcast@hexbear.net 37 points 4 months ago

One has to imagine that gender comes before race. The for loop checks gender, runs it's subroutine, and hits return before they ever get to her race.

[-] Riffraffintheroom@hexbear.net 32 points 4 months ago

Neurodivergence cancels out the white.

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[-] redchert@lemmygrad.ml 21 points 4 months ago

OG nazis killed aryan german/dutch/french/norwegian/austrian/belgian communists & resistance fighters as well. Whiteness wont protect you forever or from all

[-] Lemmygradwontallowme@hexbear.net 64 points 4 months ago
[-] tactical_trans_karen@hexbear.net 63 points 4 months ago

They're going to keep pressing her, and she's going to keep growing more powerful and radical. I hope she becomes the Lenin of our times.

[-] Edamamebean@hexbear.net 38 points 4 months ago

Uphold the immortal science of MLG, Marxism-Leninism-Gretaism

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[-] Cowbee@hexbear.net 50 points 4 months ago

Israel seems to be lashing out more now that they know their support is crumbling to dust. May the entity crumble with it.

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[-] acab_means_cop_Dva@hexbear.net 35 points 4 months ago

Julius Caesar was also kidnapped off the Mediterranean(Aegean Sea) in his 20s and ransomed. He then returned and crucified his captors. Greta could be our Caesar.

[-] SerLava@hexbear.net 31 points 4 months ago

She'll be back in the next flotilla

and the next

[-] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 4 months ago

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.

[-] Ram_The_Manparts@hexbear.net 68 points 4 months ago

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.

[-] corgiwithalaptop@hexbear.net 36 points 4 months ago

Libertarian moment I guess

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[-] corgiwithalaptop@hexbear.net 43 points 4 months ago
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[-] NephewAlphaBravo@hexbear.net 40 points 4 months ago

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

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 34 points 4 months ago

Have you considered that we are all boomers and anyone under 30 is a kid?

[-] BatsAreRats@hexbear.net 24 points 4 months ago
[-] booty@hexbear.net 23 points 4 months ago
[-] CrookedSerpent@hexbear.net 24 points 4 months ago

I disagree... I think CerebralHawks is being pedantic for no reason, like yeah who cares, but 22 year olds definitely aren't kids right?

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[-] MolotovHalfEmpty@hexbear.net 22 points 4 months ago

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.

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this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2025
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