A pro-Palestinian camp in Dortmund has been shut down by police. The decision was initially motivated by the planned participation of climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was described by the authorities as “violent”.
Recently, Thunberg has gone from being a politically and media-acclaimed figure to a much more controversial one – after her climate alarmist actions and statements were increasingly replaced by anti-Israel activism – something rarely appreciated by Western leaders.
In Germany, police on Tuesday went so far as to shut down an entire pro-Palestinian protest camp, citing Ms Thunberg’s planned presence and initially justifying the decision on the grounds that the activist was “potentially violent”.
For reasons that are unclear, the wording was removed the following day and instead it was stated more vaguely that “recent events related to Thunberg as a person were taken into account in the assessment”.
‘Complicit in the genocide’
The police also claimed that Thunberg’s celebrity and presence risked attracting more protesters than “allowed”, and that this was also a factor in their decision to disband the camp.
Greta Thunberg herself is highly critical of the decision, saying that “the German state is complicit in the genocide in Gaza”.
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“We must all stand up against the oppression that activists face just for speaking out against the genocide and occupation in Palestine. In Dortmund, in all of Germany and all over the world. We will not be silenced; liberate Palestine”, she further writes in a statement on Instagram.