Turkish Witness: Israeli Forces Dragged Greta Thunberg Across Deck, Forced Her to Kiss Israeli Flag.
She's been detained TWICE in 4 months for delivering food and baby formula. 450 activists.
Who Is Greta Thunberg and Why Was She Detained?
If you don’t follow international news closely, here’s what you should know:
Greta Thunberg is the 22-year-old Swedish climate activist who became a global icon at age 15 for her school strike for climate change. She’s addressed the United Nations, been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize multiple times, and inspired millions of people worldwide to demand climate action.
But recently, she’s expanded her activism beyond environmental issues.
Greta joined 450 activists from 44 countries on what’s called the Global Sumud Flotilla. A convoy of 40-42 boats attempting to deliver humanitarian aid (food, medicine, baby formula) to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.
Gaza has been under an Israeli naval blockade for 18 years. The United Nations has documented severe food shortages and what it calls “famine conditions” in parts of the territory. International aid organizations have struggled to get basic supplies to civilians, especially since the conflict that began in October 2023.
The flotilla’s goal is to break through Israel’s naval blockade in international waters and deliver aid directly to people who need it. Similar humanitarian flotillas have attempted this before most famously in 2010, when Israeli forces killed 9 Turkish activists on a Gaza-bound aid ship, sparking international outrage.
This was Greta’s second attempt in four months. She was already detained and deported by Israel in June 2025 for the same mission.
WHAT HAPPENED:
🚢 40-42 boats intercepted carrying 450 humanitarian workers trying to deliver humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and baby formula.
⚠️ Turkish journalist witnessed Greta being dragged across the deck and allegedly forced to kiss an Israeli flag.
🔁 Second detention in 4 months - she’s been arrested twice this year for the same humanitarian mission.
💰 Our tax dollars funded it - $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel.
📊 Zero aid delivered despite roughly 450 activists from 44 countries attempting to help 2.3 million people under blockade.
When did feeding starving children become a crime?
Timeline
October 1, 2025. Mediterranean Sea, International waters.
Israeli naval forces intercept 40-42 vessels carrying 450 activists from 44 countries.
Their goal was to break an 18-year naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to 2.3 million people in Gaza.
The cargo included baby formula, medical supplies, food, and water.
Every boat gets boarded. Every person detained. All supplies seized. Greta Thunberg is on one of those vessels.
This is her second attempt in four months. She was detained in June for the exact same thing.
Turkish journalist Ersin Celik was on the flotilla. He didn’t mince words about what he witnessed: Israeli forces dragged Greta across the deck and forced her to kiss an Israeli flag. His words: they “tortured” her and “exhibited her like a trophy.”
Other activists from the 137 deportees who landed in Turkey reported:
3 days with insufficient food and water
Bedbug-infested detention cells (Greta stated she developed rashes)
Extended periods zip-tied and kneeling on hard surfaces
Limited access to legal counsel
Bloodstained prison walls with mothers’ messages scrawled for their children
When Swedish officials finally met with Greta, she was severely dehydrated. She reported being made to sit on hard surfaces for extended periods. The official Swedish Foreign Ministry email to her family explicitly stated: “She has received insufficient amounts of both water and food.”
Israel’s official response: These allegations are “complete lies.”
Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s actual response: He’s “proud” of the harsh conditions and said activists should “think twice” before approaching Israel again.
Number Breakdown
The Flotilla:
40-42 vessels intercepted in international waters
450 people detained from 44 countries
137 deportees sent to Turkey on October 4th
0 humanitarian supplies delivered to Gaza
One of the largest flotilla ever attempted (previous attempts: 5-10 boats)
The Gaza Crisis:
2.3 million people living under blockade
18 years - The length of the blockade (anyone under 18 has never known life without it)
95% of Gaza’s arable land destroyed or unavailable
33% of population in “astonishing levels of desperation” (UN World Food Program)
67,000+ deaths since October 7, 2023 (Gaza Health Ministry)
Famine conditions documented by UN Integrated Food Security Phase Classification
A 22-year-old woman has been arrested twice this year for attempting to deliver baby formula to children experiencing famine.
The American Angle
Your tax dollars paid for this.
The Israeli naval vessels that stopped civilian boats in international waters? American-funded.
The detention facilities with bedbugs where activists went days without food? American-funded.
The military apparatus that intercepted 40-42 boats, detained 450 people, and deported them within 72 hours while violating international law?
American-funded.
Specific number: $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel.
The diplomatic fallout was immediate:
Colombia expelled Israel’s entire diplomatic delegation
Turkey opened formal investigation, called it “an act of terrorism”
Italy, Greece, Spain stated public criticism/concern.
International outcry across dozens of nations
But the aid never reached Gaza. And the United States has been silent and complicit.
450 people from 44 countries attempted something objectively humanitarian: to feed hungry people, and got treated like criminals in international waters.
These weren’t random activists:
European lawmakers from multiple countries
Members of Parliament
Lawyers and journalists
Human rights workers
When did attempting to feed starving people become a security threat?
Words from Greta
After her first detention in June, sitting in a detention facility, about to be deported, a reporter asked about the conditions.
Her response:
“The conditions were absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now.”
Where We Are Right Now
We live in a timeline where:
✓ Delivering basic necessities like baby formula is classified as a security threat
✓ Humanitarian workers get detained in international waters
✓ A 22-year-old shows more moral courage than most world leaders
✓ Helping people eat becomes grounds for arrest
✓ We spend more time debating the helpers than helping
What does that say about us?
The Political Calculation
A powder keg for 2026:
Poll data shows American Jews long assumed to be a monolithic pro-Israel bloc, are sharply critical of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Young voters across all demographics are demanding accountability.
Yet both parties remain paralyzed, terrified of being labeled “anti-Israel” for stating obvious truths.
You cannot claim to support human rights while funding the interception of humanitarian aid vessels in international waters.
You cannot lecture other nations about international law while bankrolling its systematic violation.
The Global Sumud Flotilla wasn’t trying to smuggle weapons. They were trying to deliver medicine to children dying of preventable diseases. They were trying to bring food to families drinking contaminated water.
They were trying to do what the international community, including the United States, has utterly failed to do: uphold basic human dignity.
Another flotilla is already being organized.
More activists will attempt this again. More people will risk detention, deportation, and harsh treatment. More international condemnation will follow.
Because some people see mass suffering and can’t just scroll past it.
Greta Thunberg is one of them.
Whether you agree with her methods or not, whether you support Palestine or Israel, whether you think she’s brave or misguided, she’s doing something most of us still fail to do.
She’s being proactive.
Free Gaza
Greta is already back in Sweden, speaking to reporters and already planning her next move.
But the 2.3 million people in Gaza? The mothers writing their children’s names on prison walls because they don’t know if they’ll ever see them again? The families choosing which child gets to eat today? They’re not fine.
And they won’t be fine as long as American politicians prioritize AIPAC donations over humanitarian law. AIPAC spent over $100 million in 2024 elections alone, with 96% of its backed candidates winning. Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders’ attempt to condition aid to Israel on human rights compliance failed, garnering support from only 11 senators.
The question isn’t whether these allegations are true.
The question is why the United States continues to fund a government that:
Intercepts humanitarian aid in international waters
Detains peaceful activists without adequate food or water
Maintains a blockade the UN says creates famine conditions
Treats a 22-year-old trying to deliver baby formula like a terrorist
And the answer is that they’re betting you won’t care enough to make them stop.
Prove them wrong.
No Kings: October 18th
If reading about Greta’s courage made you want to do something, here’s your chance.
Saturday, October 18th. Nationwide day of action. All 50 states.
It’s called No Kings.
America has no kings. Power belongs to the people.
What it’s about:
Defending democracy against authoritarianism
Opposing military deployment in civilian communities
Protecting due process
Defending free speech
Rejecting the concentration of power
Basically everything that matters if you give a damn about living in a free society.
How to participate:
Go to nokings.org and find an event near you
Can’t find one? Host one!
Show up on October 18th
Bring people who care
If Greta can get detained twice for humanitarian work, you can show up for a few hours to defend democracy.
No thrones. No crowns. No dictators. No kings.
See you there.
Drop your take in the comments. Disagree? Why? Share your opinion with us.
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Sources & Documentation:
Primary Sources:
Al Jazeera: “Greta Thunberg mistreated by Israeli forces in detention, activists say” (October 4, 2025)
CNN: “Global Sumud Flotilla: Greta Thunberg and other activists detained” (October 1, 2025)
The Guardian: Swedish Foreign Ministry correspondence (October 4, 2025)
Times of Israel: Israeli government statements and Ben-Gvir quotes (October 4, 2025)
Washington Post: “Gaza aid flotilla intercepted by Israel” (October 2, 2025)
Haaretz: Detention conditions and Swedish diplomatic communications (October 4, 2025)
This is independent journalism. No corporate sponsors. No sanitized narratives. Just the facts you need to make informed decisions.
I admire and respect Greta and have paid attention to all she’s done in the past and now. Thanks for reporting this. I’m very upset about how they’ve treated her, and of course also about how Israel is behaving. Also I did not know about that Pac and it’s extremely disturbing. I also very much admire and respect all the people putting the aid boat project together. I’ve written several times about Gaza and also other countries where people are starving due to the destruction of USAID. No one should ever starve, anywhere, especially children. The current administration is cruel beyond belief, and seems to get more brutal and evil with each day that passes. I recently wrote about the need for empathy in government (and really in all we do), and this bunch has none—zero. There’s something really wrong with Netanyahu too.
I am Jewish and very much against the crimes he’s committing every day he doesn’t stop causing horrifying suffering in Gaza.
Susan Cooke, Substack blog: The Serene City
Outrages. The USA 🇺🇸 needs to stop funding these criminals. But that won't happen because right now we have our own right-wing fascist corrupt regime in power. One that we Americans should topple.
Right of Revolution: The Declaration of Independence states that when a government becomes destructive of the people's rights and aims to reduce them under "absolute despotism," the people have the right and duty to throw off such a government and institute a new one.