#OccupiedPalestine #GretaThunberg
“They kicked me every time the flag touched my face" -- Greta Thunberg on her days in Israeli captivity
Beating, kicking, and threats of being gassed in cages.
Greta Thunberg and several others from the flotilla are now sharing details about their five days in Israeli captivity – and how Swedish Foreign Ministry staff left them without help.
Aftonbladet’s investigation shows how the Foreign Ministry downplayed the abuse in its communications.
Her red suitcase lies in the hall. 'Whore Greta' someone has written in large black letters. Around the text: an Israeli flag and an erect penis.
The bag was confiscated by the Israeli military from the boat – and returned to her like this. She laughs.
– They’re like five-year-olds!
We meet Greta Thunberg at home in the shared accommodation where she lives with friends. Autumn sun streams in through the windows. We drink coffee. The walls are covered with posters from demonstrations around the world.
She only slept for half an hour last night. A nightmare about bombed boats woke her up.
She doesn’t want headlines about herself and the torture she says she was subjected to. That was one of the first things she said on the evening she returned home, at a press conference in Sergels Torg together with several of the other Swedes who participated in the large Global Sumud Flotilla that attempted to bring emergency aid to Gaza.
And she stands by that.
– This is not about me or the others from the flotilla. There are thousands of Palestinians, hundreds of whom are children, who are being held without trial right now, and many of them are most likely being tortured, says Greta Thunberg.
The story, she emphasizes, is about international solidarity, about people coming together to do the work that governments are not doing.
– And above all, it's about the people who live in Gaza.
But there is a lot of public interest, and the way she was treated reflects something.
– This shows that if Israel, with the whole world watching, can treat a well-known, white person with a Swedish passport this way, just imagine what they do to Palestinians behind closed doors."