Swedish activist Greta Thunberg attends a solidarity with Palestine event on December 6, 2024 in Mannheim, Germany. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)
Activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday expressed her contempt for the international community for its continued inaction on ending the mass suffering being inflicted on Gaza by the Israeli government.
Thunberg, who is a passenger on the Global Sumud Flotilla attempting to break through the Israeli blockade of Gaza, told Middle East Eye that her decision to join the voyage was “the bare minimum” she could do as Palestinians are facing mass starvation.
Thunberg then turned her ire to the rest of the world, which she accused of sitting on its hands while Gazans are suffering from a full-blown famine.
“I am absolutely disgusted by how there are so many people who are unable to say anything,” she said. “Who are unable to do the very bare minimum to acknowledge the genocide, to even go to a demonstration, to even attend a protest when people are fighting for their lives to survive and to sustain their families.”
The Swedish-born Thunberg went on to say that “I am ashamed as a human being, especially by my government, who are supposed to represent me,” and she cited a recent quote from Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch, who said last month that Israel was doing the world a “favor” with its military operations in Gaza.
“Our complicity is worsening every day, as this genocide is escalating, that we aren’t able to do more,” Thunberg said. “That politicians aren’t able to do the very bare minimum to uphold international law and prevent even the worst war crimes from happening. This is a textbook example of how our systems have failed.”
The flotilla, which departed from Spain earlier this week, aims to pass through an Israeli military blockade to deliver humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.
Thunberg was also a passenger on a previous flotilla mission that was intercepted by Israeli forces, who detained its passengers and then returned them to their home countries.
In addition to Thunberg, other prominent passengers on the current flotilla include American actress Susan Sarandon, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, Portuguese politician Mariana Mortágua, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, and Mandla Mandela, the grandson of former South African President Nelson Mandela.
