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Sailing to Gaza: Greta Thunberg’s Latest Anti-Israel Publicity Stunt
Police officers detain Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, during an Oily Money Out and Fossil Free London protest in London, Britain, October 17, 2023. Photo: Reuters/Toby Melville
Greta Thunberg is on her way to save the people of Gaza.
The 22-year-old Swedish climate crusader is one of 12 anti-Israel activists sailing to the Gaza Strip on the vessel Madleen, allegedly to bring aid to the embattled enclave and to challenge Israel’s naval blockade.
Even though the boat is still days away from reaching the coast, it is already making news due to the high-profile status of some of those onboard. Along with Thunberg are Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, French politician Rima Hassan, and Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad.
As social media becomes inundated with images of the activists galivanting on the high seas and mainstream media outlets like the Associated Press, ABC Australia, and CBS News are beginning to report on the vessel’s “humanitarian mission,” it is important that news consumers understand why there is a blockade of the Gaza Strip and are aware of the sordid history of past attempts to break the blockade.
Greta Thunberg’s so-called “freedom flotilla” encapsulates the delusion and hypocrisy surrounding the Israel-Gaza war.
This isn’t a humanitarian mission—it’s a Mediterranean leisure cruise. Participants are smiling, swimming, and filming TikTok videos. This is self-serving… pic.twitter.com/eUzhsXW54r
— Maccabee Task Force (@MacTaskForce) June 3, 2025
The Blockade of Gaza: A Brief History
Following Hamas’ violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, both Israel and Egypt restricted maritime traffic off the coast of Gaza to curb weapons smuggling by Hamas.
In 2008, Israel declared the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Gaza a war zone, and reserved the right to inspect ships entering that area. Then, in 2009, Israel implemented a total naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Since the imposition of the naval blockade in 2009, there have been several incidents of the Israeli military intercepting ships carrying weapons bound for Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups.
This includes the Victoria, which was intercepted in 2011 carrying 50 tons of Iranian weapons, the Klos-C, an Iranian arms ship that was seized in 2014, and a weapons-smuggling vessel disguised as a fishing boat that was intercepted in 2016.
Along with the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, there are also restrictions on the importing of goods through the land crossings between the Gaza Strip and both Israel and Egypt that are also meant to contain Hamas’ ability to bring in weapons and other goods intended for its terror infrastructure.
While the Israeli-Egyptian land and maritime blockade of Gaza might appear to be harsh, it is a legal necessity that provides basic necessities for the people of Gaza while also serving as a deterrent to Hamas’ terror campaign.
It should also be noted that, contrary to its depiction as such by some activists and journalists, the blockade of Gaza is not a “siege.” Aside from a brief two-month period (March-May 2025) during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, there have never been extended periods of time when food and other necessities were entirely barred from entering the Gaza Strip.
Attempts to Break the Blockade
For almost as long as the Gaza Strip blockade has existed, activists have attempted to break it, placing greater emphasis on public attention than actually bringing aid to the people of Gaza. Even in this current case of the Madleen, organizers have admitted that the limited amount of aid on the ship is “symbolic.”
The most famous attempt to break the blockade was in 2010, when Israeli forces intercepted a naval flotilla (led by the ship Mavi Marmara) as it attempted to reach the Gazan coast. After Israeli naval commandos boarded the lead ship, a violent confrontation broke out between the “peace activists” and the soldiers, resulting in the deaths of 10 Turkish activists and the wounding of several Israeli soldiers.
The Turkish organization that organized this flotilla, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH), reportedly has ties to Hamas and was more focused on confronting the Israeli blockade than providing aid to the people of Gaza. The aid, which was offloaded in Israel, was later refused by the Hamas authorities in Gaza.
Now, 15 years later, the IHH continues to be involved with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is sponsoring the latest blockade-breaking attempt by the Madleen.
As the publicity campaign around Greta Thunberg and the Madleen continues to gather steam, will the media provide their audience with a proper context for understanding Israel’s blockade of Gaza, or will this latest stunt merely serve as a lightning rod for false narratives and misleading information about Israel’s war against Hamas?
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Sailing to Gaza: Greta Thunberg’s Latest Anti-Israel Publicity Stunt first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.