Activist halts Thunberg’s pro-palestine chant at rally
A MAN wrestled a microphone away from Greta Thunberg over pro-palestine chants at a rally in Holland.
Ms Thunberg’s speech was briefly interrupted by the incident on Sunday, which saw the man climb on stage before grappling with her in front of thousands of onlookers.
The crowd were chanting “Palestine will be free” as he clambered up to confront the 20-year-old Swede.
“I have come here for a climate demonstration, not a political view,” he said, as he unsuccessfully tried to rip the microphone from her before being dragged away.
Appearing unshaken by the incident, Ms Thunberg told the protester to “calm down”. She then began chanting “no climate justice on occupied land”.
Earlier in the day, another activist had her speech cut short by the rally’s organisers after she used the contested phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Local police said around 70,000 people joined Sunday’s march through Amsterdam to demand immediate action against climate change. Organisers said the turnout was the largest ever at a climate protest in the Netherlands.
The incident involving Ms Thunberg came after Israel announced last month that it would remove all references to her from its school curriculum after she expressed support for Gaza.
The Israeli education ministry acted after Ms Thunberg was photographed holding up a sign that read “stand with Gaza”.
“This stance disqualifies her from being an educational and moral role model, and she is no longer eligible to serve as an inspiration and educator for Israeli students,” the ministry said.
Ms Thunberg has denounced the Hamas attack on Israel as “horrific” but faced criticism after posing with a stuffed blue octopus, a symbol associated with anti-semitic tropes, in a social media post on Oct 20 calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the conflict.
She later deleted the post after it provoked a swift backlash.