A keffiyeh-clad Greta Thunberg gave the stage at a climate rally on Sunday to a Palestinian activist who has previously supported the October 7 massacres.
At one point during the address by Thunberg – who has been criticised for taking an “ill-informed, superficial” stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - one man grabbed the mic from her and told the crowd he had come for “for a climate demonstration, not a political view”.
Despite this, Thunberg went on to hand the stage at the Amsterdam rally to Sara Rachdan, a Palestinian PhD student who has previously posted incendiary comments about Israel and the conflict, to deliver an address.
Rachdan posted a video on social media following the October 7 atrocities saying: “Yes, this attack was initiated by Hamas. This is not just about Hamas, this is about Palestinian resistance, this is finally Palestinians taking action towards the occupation and so… please support the resistance.”
In one clip, she discussed an incident in April this year when Israeli riot police fired stun grenades and tear gas into Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. She claimed that Israeli soldiers “gassed” Palestinians, adding: “I wonder where we’ve seen that before?”
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Rachdan celebrated Palestinian terrorist and plane hijacker Leila Khaled in a post on October 12 (Photo: Facebook)
In another social media post on October 12, Rachdan celebrated Palestinian terrorist and plane hijacker Leila Khaled. “Thank you for continually inspiring us to resist,” she said. Khaled took part in two plane hijackings - in 1969 and 1970 - and has since become a Palestinian icon.
A group of 100 environmental activists in Israel wrote an open letter to Thunberg last month after the climate activist wrote a series of social media posts expressing “solidarity with Palestine and Gaza.”
The signatories wrote that Thunberg’s tweets and posts on the matter were “appallingly one-sided, ill-informed, superficial and are in complete contrast to your ability to deep dive into details and get to the bottom of complex issues.”
“Do you think Hamas represents human rights and freedom? Think again!” the letter read.
There is no suggestion that Thunberg has expressed the views espoused by Rachdan.
Both Thunberg and Rachdan were approached for comment.
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