Greta (the Great) Thunberg: twice detained, twice undaunted

Detained not once, but twice for her unflinching support of Palestinian rights, Greta Thunberg’s evolution from environmental sentinel to humanitarian champion now resonates from Stockholm to Gaza

THE WORLDVIEW

October 7, 2025

THE arc of Greta Thunberg’s activism continues to surprise, unsettle and inspire: it’s a tale of audacity, conviction and empathy that now stretches far beyond the climate barricades. If she once seemed destined to be, above all, the world’s climate conscience, her repeated detentions in defence of Palestine have indelibly marked her as a witness to injustice that knows no boundaries.

Greta’s most recent and widely reported detention — by Israeli authorities, after she sailed with the Global Sumud Flotilla towards besieged Gaza this month — was not the first time she put herself at risk for the Palestinian cause. Months earlier, Greta had already walked into the centre of the controversy, joining students and activists at the University of Copenhagen in September 2024.  

Donning a black-and-white keffiyeh — the symbol of Palestinian resistance — she was detained after peacefully occupying the central administration building to demand an academic boycott of Israeli universities. Inside, police swept through the corridors as protesters called for solidarity and tangible action. Greta and several others were released hours later, but not before her image, resolute and unbowed, travelled across continents, galvanising support and drawing ire.

This earlier episode — largely overshadowed by the subsequent flotilla drama — revealed the evolution of Thunberg’s advocacy after the October 2023 eruption of violence in Gaza. At rallies in Milan, London and Paris, she called on her audience to connect the dots between climate catastrophe, wars, and occupation, insisting that “the fight for climate justice is also a fight against militarism and oppression.” Her presence energised youthful marches, banners and moments of silence, making clear she saw climate and humanitarian crises as intertwined strands of global injustice.

Thunberg’s unwavering stance saw her endure not only police arrest but public and official rebuke. Israeli authorities removed references to her achievements from parts of their educational curriculum; climate activists and sympathetic governments scrambled to balance her message with regional sensitivities. Yet Greta pressed on, amplifying Palestinian voices on social media, lending her platform to solidarity groups, and—crucially—refusing to let horrific attacks, propaganda, or threats undermine her plea for an immediate ceasefire and dignity for all civilians.

Then, in autumn 2025, Greta’s journey took her on a far more perilous course: sailing aboard the aid flotilla that sought to pierce the blockade of Gaza. Alongside more than 400 activists and medics, she was intercepted on the high seas by Israeli naval authorities, arrested, and detained under conditions many described as humiliating and inhumane. Witnesses say Greta was forced to hold or kiss the Israeli flag, paraded in front of fellow detainees, and made to endure psychological intimidation—a calculated spectacle meant to discourage future dissent. Yet as news spread and images circulated, it became evident that far from diminishing Greta’s influence, the ordeal had elevated her in the eyes of many, especially the young and the dispossessed.

Upon her deportation to Greece, Greta delivered a thunderous rebuke to world leaders: “There is a genocide going on in Gaza and our international institutions are betraying Palestinians. The Global Sumud Flotilla sailed because governments failed.”

Her speech, tinged with indignation and sorrow, resonated across the Muslim world and reverberated through universities and activist circles everywhere. Arrested twice — once in the corridors of academia, again on the open sea — she had demonstrated a rare willingness to match her convictions with tangible, high-risk solidarity.

Her journey underscores the transformation of climate advocacy into a tapestry of humanitarian resistance, where the right to food and safety in Gaza is as urgent as the fight to save forests or glaciers. Thunberg’s message, shaped by years of activism and sharpened by her own experience of neurodiversity, remains uncompromising: “Justice is indivisible. Our silence feeds violence.”

In the tale of Greta Thunberg, it is not arrests or scorn that linger longest, but the echo of courage multiplied. Twice arrested for Palestine, she is once again twice undaunted — a reminder, perhaps, that hope, like the tides, cannot be arrested for long.

Sources: Arab News, Le Monde, Dawn, BBC, Reuters, Wikipedia, France24