A man snatched the microphone at Thunberg and accused her of delivering a pro-Palestinian message at a climate rally in the Dutch capital. Her speech was interrupted after she invited an Afghan woman and a Palestinian man to speak.
The man claimed that Thunberg turned the march into a political event. He said as he approached the 20-year-old climate activist:
Came here for a climate demonstration, not a political view.
He snatched the microphone from Greta Thunberg, threw it on the ground and walked off stage. At the event, Thunberg 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.
At the event, Thunberg wore a traditional Palestinian headscarf known as a Keffiyeh. She asked the man to “calm down” and, after he was removed from the stage, joined the crowd chanting:
No climate justice on occupied land.
According to the BBC, the crowd had been chanting “Palestine will be free” before the microphone snatching incident. At the same rally, another activist had to interrupt her speech after she said “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The identity of the attacker could not be established. The man was wearing a jacket with the name of the group Water Natuurlijk.
Thunberg’s previous social media post, “Stand up to Gaza,” sparked discussion and even a response from the Israeli army. Israel’s Education Ministry said it would remove any mention of Thunberg from school curricula.
The incident occurred during The March for Climate and Justice, which drew a reported 70,000 participants and was described as the biggest climate protest in the Netherlands. The event drew demonstrators of all ages, as well as political leaders, including former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans.
Tackling climate change is one of the key policy areas for political parties contesting the November 22 general election, and many participants expressed hope that the protest would influence the election.
