Greta is home, at long last

Greta Thunberg landed back in Stockholm late Tuesday following a high-profile detention and deportation by Israel for her role in a Gaza-bound “Freedom Flotilla” mission. The 22-year-old, known for her fiery climate advocacy, found herself at the center of international controversy after Israeli forces intercepted the yacht Madleen, carrying Thunberg and 11 other activists, in international waters early Monday.

The Madleen, organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to deliver symbolic aid and challenge Israel’s nearly two-decade-long blockade, set sail from Sicily on June 1. Thunberg, joined by figures like French-Palestinian European Parliament member Rima Hassan, aimed to highlight Gaza’s looming starvation crisis. But the mission was cut short when Israeli commandos boarded the vessel, detaining the crew and towing the yacht to Ashdod port. Israel’s Foreign Ministry deported Thunberg and three others, two French and one Spanish activist, on Tuesday, while eight others remain detained, refusing to sign deportation papers.

Thunberg, who has long shunned air travel for its carbon footprint, was photographed boarding a flight to Sweden via France, prompting criticism from some quarters. Speaking at Paris’s Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, she accused Israel of “an illegal act” by intercepting the boat and holding activists “in the bottom of the boat” against their will. She dismissed a viral image of an Israeli soldier offering her a sandwich as a “PR stunt,” calling allegations of performative activism “ironic” given Israel’s actions.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz branded Thunberg “anti-Semitic” and claimed the activists refused to watch footage of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, which killed 1,200 people. Israeli officials dubbed the Madleen a “selfie yacht,” arguing it carried minimal aid and served as “Instagram activism.” U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in, calling Thunberg a “strange” and “angry young woman” in need of “anger management classes.” Thunberg fired back, saying, “The world needs many more young angry women,” reaffirming her defiance.

Thunberg’s lawyer claimed she was briefly held at Givon prison, an Israeli migrant detention facility, before her deportation. Her plea for Swedish government intervention was rebuffed by Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, who said Thunberg bore responsibility for traveling against official advice. Protests in Stockholm demanding her release reportedly overwhelmed Sweden’s consular hotline, delaying aid for other citizens abroad.