They Seized Greta Because Her Morals Are Louder Than Their Bombs

By Emma Goos

Greta Thunberg has never been polite to power — and that’s exactly why they fear her. She has stared down presidents, prime ministers, oil executives, and billionaires armed only with science, courage, and a moral spine. But her most dangerous act yet? Daring to tell the truth about Palestine.

On June 9, 2025, Thunberg boarded a humanitarian ship bound for Gaza. The Madleen carried peaceful volunteers and desperately needed aid. No weapons. No threats. Just medical supplies, solar panels, and solidarity. And yet, over 100 miles from shore—deep in international waters—Israeli naval forces stormed the ship, dragged activists to shore, and detained them like criminals. Greta was deported. Others remain imprisoned.

Thunberg called it exactly what it was:

“We were kidnapped on international waters and brought against our will into Israel. This is a clear violation of international law and maritime conventions. We did nothing wrong. We were carrying aid, peacefully” (qtd. in McKernan and Beaumont).

This was not a mistake. This was not a misunderstanding. This was piracy. Armed kidnapping in open water. A warning shot to anyone who dares stand with Gaza. And the world, as usual, has barely raised its voice.

You might be asking, why does this matter? It’s just one ship.

Because Gaza is not just under siege — it’s being destroyed. Israel controls the air, land, and sea. It bombs water infrastructure, bulldozes farmland, blocks clean energy, and strangles aid. This is environmental warfare. It’s apartheid with a carbon footprint. And when Greta Thunberg — one of the loudest climate voices alive — dares to connect the dots, the world responds not with applause, but with arrests, smear campaigns, and silence.

As she said upon deportation:

“This is not just a humanitarian catastrophe, it’s an environmental catastrophe… You cannot bomb water treatment plants and then talk about sustainability” (qtd. in Kingsley and Nissenbaum).

And let’s say it louder: Criticizing Israel’s government is not antisemitism. Don’t you dare twist this into an excuse for hate. Jewish communities around the world are not responsible for the policies of a militarized apartheid state. If your “activism” veers into antisemitism, you’re not helping — you’re doing the oppressor’s work for them. Fight for Palestinian liberation and against antisemitism. There’s no contradiction in that.

Greta’s action was not performative. She didn’t post a flag or hashtag and move on. She put her body on the line and tried to bring real aid to real people. For that, she was abducted, mocked, and deported — by the same kind of men who called her a “hysterical little girl” years ago.

Her response?

“We need more young angry women. That’s the only way things change” (qtd. in Associated Press).

She’s right.

Update: July 14, 2025 — The Blood Hasn’t Stopped

More than a month has passed since Israeli forces stormed the Madleen and abducted its passengers, and the situation has only grown more horrific.

At least 12 international activists are still imprisoned in Israel. They have not been charged with any credible crime. Legal experts from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned their detention as politically motivated and illegal under international law. Israel refuses to release the Madleen’s humanitarian cargo. Critical medical supplies, water purifiers, and solar panels are still sitting in a port while Gazans suffer.

Inside Gaza, conditions have deteriorated into a nightmare. Since June 9, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in a relentless campaign of airstrikes and shelling. Entire families have been erased. Residential neighborhoods have been flattened into dust. Hospitals have run out of antibiotics, anesthesia, and clean water. Aid trucks are blocked at the border. The United Nations warns that famine is imminent in several areas, with children already dying from malnutrition and dehydration.

The death toll in just five weeks has already surpassed the first two months of last year’s war. These are not “collateral casualties.” They are deliberate outcomes of a military strategy that treats human life as disposable.

Meanwhile, the international response has been shameful. Western governments have issued platitudes about “restraint” and “both sides” while continuing to arm and fund the Israeli military. The same governments that preach about human rights have watched the slaughter unfold and done nothing. Their silence is complicity.

But silence does not have to win.

Mass protests have already erupted in London, Berlin, New York, and dozens of other cities. A Global Day of Action has been called for July 20 to demand an immediate ceasefire, the release of the detained activists, and full humanitarian access to Gaza. Organizers are calling for unprecedented turnout.

If you are reading this and staying quiet, understand what that means. Every day you do nothing, more children die. Every day you choose silence, you are siding with the oppressor.

The blood hasn’t stopped. The bombs haven’t stopped. The blockade hasn’t stopped. But neither has resistance.

Now is the time to act.

Take Action Now

Call your representatives. Demand they:

• Support an immediate ceasefire.

• Demand the release of the detained activists.

• Push for unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Find your U.S. Senators and Representatives at house.gov/representatives and senate.gov.

Write letters to the editor. Post. Organize. Speak. Disrupt the silence wherever you can.

Every day of silence means more children buried. Every day of inaction is another day stolen from Gaza.

You cannot claim to care about human rights and turn away now.

Get angry. Get organized. Get loud. And never let them tell you solidarity is a crime.

 Associated Press. “Israel Deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza-Bound Ship She Was On Was Seized.” AP News, 10 June 2025, https://apnews.com/article/7d6868f213dfcf78969f8e3d982788c6. Kingsley, Patrick, and Dion Nissenbaum. “Greta Thunberg Deported from Israel after Attempt to Deliver Aid to Gaza.” The New York Times, 10 June 2025, https://www.nytimes.com. McKernan, Bethan, and Peter Beaumont. “Middle East Crisis: Israel Deports Greta Thunberg after Gaza Aid Boat Seized.” The Guardian, 10 June 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/jun/10/israel-gaza-aid-boat-madleen-activists-deported-greta-thunberg-middle-east-crisis-latest-updates. Times of India. “Donald Trump Reacts to ‘Kidnapping’ of Greta Thunberg: ‘She Should Do Anger Management.’” The Times of India, 10 June 2025, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/donald-trump-reacts-to-kidnapping-of-greta-thunberg-she-should-do-anger-management/articleshow/121737517.cms.