<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/04/greta-thunberg-israel-gaza-sweden>
"The environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg has told Swedish officials she is
being subjected to harsh treatment in Israeli custody after her detention and
removal from a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza, according to correspondence seen
by the
Guardian.
According to the correspondence, Israeli forces are also reported by another
detainee to have taken photographs where Thunberg was allegedly forced to hold
flags. The identity of the flags is unknown.
In an email sent by the Swedish foreign ministry to people close to Thunberg,
and seen by the
Guardian, an official who has visited the activist in prison
said she claimed she was detained in a cell infested with bedbugs, with too
little food and water.
“The embassy has been able to meet with Greta,” reads the email. “She informed
of 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.”
“Another detainee reportedly told another embassy that they had seen her
[Thunberg] being forced to hold flags while pictures were taken. She wondered
whether images of her had been distributed,” the Swedish ministry’s official
added.
The allegation was corroborated by at least two other members of the flotilla
who had been detained by Israeli forces and released on Saturday.
“They 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,” the Turkish activist ErsinÇelik, a participant in the
Sumud flotilla, told
Anadolu news agency.
Lorenzo D’Agostino, a journalist and another flotilla participant, said after
returning to Istanbul that Thunberg was “wrapped in the Israeli flag and
paraded like a trophy” – a scene described with disbelief and anger by those
who witnessed it.
Thunberg is among 437 activists, parliamentarians and lawyers who were part of
the Global Sumud flotilla, a coalition of more than 40 vessels carrying
humanitarian aid whose goal was to breach Israel’s 16-year maritime blockade of
Gaza.
Between Thursday and Friday, Israeli forces intercepted all the boats and
arrested every crew member onboard. Most of them are being held at Ketziot,
also known as Ansar III, a high-security prison in the Negev desert used
primarily to detain Palestinian security prisoners, many of whom Israel accuses
of involvement in militant or terrorist activities.
In the past, activists detained by Israel were not criminally prosecuted and
instead their presence was treated as an immigration matter."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
