Israel to remove Greta Thunberg from school curricula over pro-Palestine comments

The Israeli education ministry said it will remove climate activist Greta Thunberg from school curricula after she published a post over the weekend holding an anti-Israel sign reading "stand with Gaza".

Thunberg, who was detained at a climate protest in London earlier this week, faced criticism over the weekend from Israel supporters over a pro-Palestine post on X, formerly Twitter.

"The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected," Thunberg said, as the Israel-Hamas war escalates and threatens to become a regional conflict.

Week 270. Today we strike in solidarity with Palestine and Gaza. The world needs to speak up and call for an immediate ceasefire, justice and freedom for Palestinians and all civilians affected.#FreePalestine #IStandWithPalestine #StandWithGaza #FridaysForFuture
Thread🧵 pic.twitter.com/0hVtya0yWO

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) October 20, 202

The Israeli military made statements against the Swedish climate activist on Friday, after her public support for Palestinians, and said a "genocide" was being committed in Gaza. 

Israeli military spokesperson Arye Sharuz Shalicar told Politico that "whoever identifies with Greta in any way in the future, in my view, is a terror supporter", falsely claiming that Thunberg is "sweeping the terror of the Palestinians or Hamas and Islamic Jihad under the table as if it did not exist".

He later apologised for his comments and told the website in a follow-up statement: "I spoke out of a deep sense of pain and my words do not reflect my personal views or those of the IDF."

.@GretaThunberg, Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets which have BUTCHERED innocent Israelis .

The victims of the Hamas massacre could have been your friends.

Speak up. https://t.co/giHNJxeF6N pic.twitter.com/Z4orsm2UjD

— Israel ישראל 🇮🇱 (@Israel) October 20, 2023

Thunberg has commented on Palestine and the Israeli occupation before.

In the 2021 Gaza war, Thunberg tweeted: "Devastating to follow the developments in Jerusalem and Gaza. #SaveSheikhJarrah" in response to a post by Canadian author Naomi Klein calling the Israeli strikes "war crimes".

Thunberg also posted: "To be crystal clear: I am not 'against' Israel or Palestine. Needless to say, I’m against any form of violence or oppression from anyone or any part. And again — it is devastating to follow the developments in Israel and Palestine."