Greta Thunberg is accusing Israeli forces of subjecting her to “harsh treatment” and a campaign of humiliation while in custody after the interception of a Gaza-bound aid ship back in June. This news is pretty awful, and it sounds like the whole situation was absolutely chaotic and deliberately designed to break the spirits of the activists who were trying to deliver aid to the war-torn enclave.
Thunberg, the well-known climate activist, was one of more than 450 activists detained when the Israeli military intercepted the so-called Global Sumud Flotilla. The vessel, the Madleen, was attempting to deliver aid, but Israeli naval forces seized it in what Thunberg herself has described as a “kidnapping” in international waters. Upon arrival in Paris after her deportation, she was very clear in her testimony, stating they were “attacked and kidnapped by Israel and taken against our will.”
She claimed this was another intentional violation of rights and that it just added to the already massive list of violations Israel is committing, as reported by Politico. It’s a shocking claim to make, especially when you consider that they were simply trying to get desperately needed aid into Gaza. It doesn’t help that many teens don’t even want to join the service.
Thunberg claims she was abused while in captivity
Once ashore and inside the Israeli prison system, likely Ketziot Prison, the claims of abuse started to pile up, and I honestly can’t believe some of the things that were reported. Swedish officials who met with her reported that Thunberg was suffering from dehydration and had received “insufficient amounts of both water and food.” On top of that, she allegedly developed rashes that she suspects were caused by bed bugs in her cell.
A French doctor who was also on the flotilla, Baptiste André, claimed he witnessed Israeli border agents mock and deliberately deprive passengers of sleep by turning up music as soon as someone dozed off. It sounds less like detention and more like a systematic effort to make the experience as miserable as possible.
On the other hand, an even more intense account from a Turkish activist named Ersin Çelik claimed that they “dragged little Greta by her hair before our eyes, beat her, and forced her to kiss the Israeli flag.” While that claim has not been officially corroborated by Thunberg or the Swedish officials, other accounts have backed up the general theme of a planned campaign of degradation. Several detainees said they were subjected to physical violence and were blindfolded and handcuffed for long periods.
What really drives home the “humiliation” part of the story, though, are the claims that Israeli forces forced her to hold flags while pictures were being taken, and later, the Foreign Ministry actually shared a photo of her being boarded onto a flight for deportation, a pretty clear attempt to score propaganda points against a famous activist who has long shunned air travel. This is definitely giving off “Minority Report”-style vibes, where the state is trying to control the narrative by humiliating the person in the public eye.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has responded to these reports, claiming the accusations of mistreatment were “complete lies” and “brazen lies,” stating that all detained activists were safe and in good health. However, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, publicly declared that he was “proud” of the way the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was handling the activists. More than that, he stated that he himself had instructed that they be subject to the same, severe conditions as received by Palestinian security prisoners.
This is an official, public statement essentially equating humanitarian aid workers to security threats—which, given the context, is practically saying, “You are terrorists.” That kind of endorsement from a top-tier minister demonstrates a deliberate use of repression against peaceful activists and completely undermines the Foreign Ministry’s statement that everything was fine.
Published: Oct 15, 2025 09:00 pm