Renowned Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg accused German police on Wednesday of threatening and silencing pro-Palestine activists. The accusation was made a day after police in Dortmund shut down a four-month-old protest camp that Thunberg had been invited to join.
“Police said that they would arrest me if I went there,” Thunberg tweeted on X. “All this just because the students had invited me to speak at their event, and I had been to a [pro-Palestinian] protest in Berlin the day before that police had stormed. Germany is threatening and silencing activists who speak out against the genocide and occupation.”
The German police claimed on Tuesday night that, “Recent events linked to Thunberg have led to her being assessed as a participant who is willing to commit violence.” This statement was later withdrawn by police, who claimed that it had been an “internal error”.
Later on Wednesday, a police spokesperson said that an explanatory statement on the matter was being prepared. The police have said that the camp in Dortmund had been shut down because Thunberg’s appearance could attract more people than was originally permitted.
Thunberg has repeatedly expressed her solidarity with the Palestinians and accused Israel of committing genocide. The German government’s commissioner for anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, has accused her of making “anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic” statements. Zionists and their supporters often conflate legitimate criticism of the Zionist state of Israel with illegal anti-Jewish racism.
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