Greta Thunberg, a Swedish climate activist, was speaking at an event in Amsterdam when a man snatched her microphone and accused her of speaking at a climate demonstration in the Dutch city on behalf of the Palestinian people. The woman asked a Palestinian and an Afghan woman to speak, but the man leaped onto the platform and cut her off.
According to the man, Thunberg made the march a political occasion. The 20-year-old climate activist was confronted by him, and he remarked, “I came here for a climate demonstration, not a political view.” He grabbed Thunberg’s microphone, flung it on the ground, and turned to leave the platform.
Thunberg, at the event, said “As a climate justice movement, we have to listen to the voices of those who are being oppressed and those who are fighting for freedom and for justice. Otherwise, there can be no climate justice without international solidarity”.
Thunberg asked the man to “calm down” and after he was removed from the stage, she joined the crowd in chanting “no climate justice on occupied land”.
The crowd chanted “Palestine will be free” before the mic was snatched. Another activist had to truncate her speech at the same rally after she said, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The man wore a blazer bearing the name of a group called Water Natuurlijk, whose identity was not immediately apparent.
An previous social media post by Thunberg titled “Stand with Gaza” sparked discussion and even prompted an answer from the Israeli army. The Education Ministry of Israel said that it will be eliminating any mention to Thunberg from curricula in schools.