There’s no better sign that the pro-Palestine/Hamas movement has become the latest cause du jour for the permanently aggrieved left than Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg jumping into the fray.
Thunberg tweeted a photo of herself holding a “Stand with Gaza” sign along with several others, adding the caption, “The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.”
The other three in the photo held signs that read, “Free Palestine,” “Climate Justice Now,” and “This Jew Stands With Palestine,” but what prompted a reaction from the state of Israel was a blue octopus sitting on one of the activists’ legs — an octopus is often used as a symbol in anti-Jewish propaganda since being used in a Nazi-era cartoon, according to the New York Post.
“Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets which have BUTCHERED innocent Israelis. The victims of the Hamas massacre could have been your friends. Speak up,” tweeted the official Israel X account, which is managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Thunberg scrambled to delete the original photo and reposted a second version with the octopus removed. She claimed ignorance, tweeting: “It has come to my knowledge that the stuffed animal shown in my earlier post can be interpreted as a symbol for antisemitism, which I was completely unaware of. The toy in the picture is a tool often used by autistic people as a way to communicate feelings.”
.@GretaThunberg, Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets which have BUTCHERED innocent Israelis .
The victims of the Hamas massacre could have been your friends.
Speak up. https://t.co/giHNJxeF6N pic.twitter.com/Z4orsm2UjD
— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) October 20, 2023
Thunberg scrambled to delete the original photo and reposted a second version with the octopus removed. She claimed ignorance, tweeting: “It has come to my knowledge that the stuffed animal shown in my earlier post can be interpreted as a symbol for antisemitism, which I was completely unaware of. The toy in the picture is a tool often used by autistic people as a way to communicate feelings.”
“Whoever identifies with Greta in any way in the future, in my view, is a terror supporter,” Shalicar told Politico. “Because what Greta is doing, that she is now showing solidarity with Gaza while not saying a word about the massacres of Israelis, shows that she is not in favor of the Palestinians, but that she is sweeping the terror of the Palestinians or Hamas and Islamic Jihad under the table as if it did not exist.”
Here’s a sampling of some of the responses to the story, as seen on X:
We are now presented w/ 2 possibilites:
Greta Thunberg is an anti-Semitic asshole using classically racist imagery to justify the murder of Jews
or
Greta Thunberg is a childish idiot who has no idea what she is doing and needs stuffed animals to make international statements
— PoIiMath (@politicalmath) October 22, 2023
Greta knew. pic.twitter.com/mr7qNoPDyT
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 20, 2023
Greta will do anything for attention.
— Laurie (@laurieinri) October 20, 2023
Thank you @GretaThunberg pic.twitter.com/CnPugJPakq
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) October 21, 2023
Stick with climate change
— Shane O'Shea (@shane074penny) October 22, 2023
@GretaThunberg who’s going to tell her they don’t even recycle in Gaza
— Phyllis (@phyllisfreilich) October 22, 2023