Accusations Against Climate Activist Greta Thunberg for Pro-Palestine Post
Date : 21st October, 2023
THE SOIL – Now that the Israel-Hamas confrontation is in its second week, the conversation on the internet has gone from being’ mostly poor and stupid’ to being ‘astonishingly stupid and almost dangerous.’ An instance of this can be seen in the recent accusations made against climate activist Greta Thunberg, who called for a ceasefire and posted a message saying “Stand with Gaza.” Thunberg was allegedly employing a hidden Nazi signal. Moreover, the conversation was also participated in by the official Israeli government’s X account.
On Friday, Thunberg posted a photo of herself on social media with other activists who were also carrying pro-Palestinian signs, while she was holding a placard expressing her support for Gaza. She stated, “Today, we stand in unity with Palestine and Gaza,” in her post on X. The international community must speak up and call for an immediate end to hostilities, as well as justice and freedom for the Palestinian people and everyone else impacted.” She was shown in the first post holding a stuffed octopus that was light blue on her shoulder.
7th Attack on Israel by the Extremist Group Hamas Claiming Over 1,400 Lives
As was to be expected, a lot of people took exception at her social media post for failing to denounce the unexpected October 7th attack on Israel by the extremist group Hamas. Over 1,400 lives were tragically lost as a result of this incident, many of them were innocent civilians. It’s interesting to note that some individuals, very surprisingly, opted to concentrate on the octopus image in her message, mistaking it for the kraken, a fabled sea monster with many tentacles. Some were troubled by this interpretation because the kraken has occasionally been associated with Nazi symbols in the past.
"Why is there a Kraken Sitting Beside you on the Sofa, @GretaThunberg?" - One Twitter Account Queried
One Twitter account queried, “Why is there a Kraken sitting beside you on the sofa, @GretaThunberg?” and received almost 1,000 retweets. It was brought out that the Kraken was historically connected to the Nazis as a representation of their anti-Semitic views on global money. One of the tweet’s images was taken from a 1938 Nazi propaganda cartoon, showing an octopus with its tentacles wrapped around the world and the Star of David above its head. Notably, Winston Churchill, who was not Jewish, appeared to be the target of the image. It is important to note, nevertheless, that the artist did not express a positive opinion of Jews by placing the Star of David above the head of the octopus.
"I've recently learned that the stuffed toy featured in my prior post might be misconstrued" - Great Thunberg
Thunberg, who is autistic, clarified in a follow-up tweet that the stuffed octopus on her shoulder was a common toy used by people with neurodiverse conditions to express their feelings, not a reference to a (historically obscure) anti-Semitic misconception. She said, “I’ve recently learned that the stuffed toy featured in my prior post might be misconstrued as a symbol of anti-Semitism, which was entirely unintentional on my part.”
Greta Thunberg’s message was criticised by the official state of Israel Twitter account, which said, “@GretaThunberg, it’s important to note that Hamas does not use environmentally-friendly materials for their rockets, which have tragically taken the lives of innocent Israelis.The people that the Hamas attacks targeted might very well have been your friends. We want you to express your worries.” The post featured pictures of young Israelis, including 19-year-olds Agam Berger, Nik Beizer, and Roni Eshel.