Greta Thunberg has spoken for the first time since her release, having been deported from Israel after attempting to deliver aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israel announced today that 171 more members of the Gaza aid flotilla were deported to Greece and Slovakia after they were intercepted.
On arrival to Athens, Thunberg was handed roses and greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters before a microphone was placed in front of her.
Speaking to reporters, she said: ‘This [mission] is a last resort. It is a shame. I could talk for a very long time about my mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment, trust me, but that is not the story.
‘What happened here is Israel, whilst escalating genocide and mass destruction with genocidal intent, is attempting to erase an entire population, an entire nation, in front of our very eyes.
‘They once again violated international law by preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza while people are being starved.’
She stressed that Israel is committing genocide, enabled by ‘our own governments’ and called for people to end that ‘complicity’.
The activist was greeted with cheers and shouts of people calling her a hero. She quickly denied that she is a hero but only a citizen doing the ‘bare minimum’.
(Picture: Reuters)
Her speech comes after she was held in a cell with bedbugs and forced to kiss the Israeli flag before her release.
Other freed detainees have claimed that the climate change campaigner was dragged by her hair and beaten in front of them, accusations which the Israeli embassy has called ‘complete lies’.
Thunberg was among 437 activists on board the Global Sumud flotilla, which was intercepted by Israeli forces this week before they could deliver aid to Gaza.
Israel’s foreign ministry issued a statement, accompanied by photos of Thunberg at the airport, saying all participants’ legal rights had been upheld and the only violence involved an activist who bit a female medic at Israel’s Ketziot prison.
Among nine members of the flotilla who arrived home in Switzerland, some alleged sleep deprivation, lack of water and food, as well as some being beaten, kicked, and locked in a cage, the group representing them said in a statement.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson rejected the allegations.
Spanish activists also alleged mistreatment on their arrival in Spain late on Sunday after being deported.
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‘They beat us, dragged us along the ground, blindfolded us, tied our hands and feet, put us in cages and insulted us,’ lawyer Rafael Borrego told reporters at Madrid’s airport.
The Guardian has reported that it has seen correspondence from Swedish officials detailing a visit to Thunberg in her prison cell.
The email read: ‘The embassy has been able to meet with Greta. She was informed of dehydration.
‘She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food. She also stated that she had developed rashes, which she suspects were caused by bedbugs.’
Thunberg was part of the 40-boat flotilla, which was intercepted by the Israeli navy on Thursday and Friday.
The mission is the largest effort of its kind, aiming to reach Gaza, where 2.4million Palestinians live under an Israeli blockade.
It is the second time she was arrested, after a similar attempt earlier this year saw her confined and then deported.
Israeli prison officials have faced accusations of torture and degrading treatment of prisoners on numerous occasions.
The Israeli embassy called the latest allegations ‘complete lies’.
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