BERLIN: Greta Thun­berg came under fire on Monday over her pro-Palestinian stance in Ger­many, where the local chapter of climate movement Fridays for Future had distanced itself from her views on the Gaza crisis.

Thunberg, wearing the Palestinian black and white scarf, had urged “ceasefire now” at a climate protest on Sunday in Amsterdam.

She was interrupted by a man who sought to snatch the microphone from her, saying he had come for a climate protest, not for her other views. After he was removed by security officers, she began chanting, along with the crowd, “no climate justice on occupied land”.

“Greta Thunberg misused the absolutely necessary and correct concern on climate protection for a one-sided position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, in which she does not name the perpetrators, in which she does not condemn the absolute atrocities by Hamas,” said Ricarda Lang, co-leader of the Greens, which is a junior partner of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition.

“She has in fact discredited herself as the face of the climate movement through these statements,” added Lang.

The statements in Amsterdam marked “the end of Greta Thunberg as a climate activist”, added Volker Becker, the president of the German-Israel Society DIG, adding that “from now: Israel hater is the main job” for the Swedish activist.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2023