Greta Thunberg and Sumud Flotilla activists reach Greece following detention in Israel

A group of activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, including Swedish environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg, have arrived in Greece after being detained by the Israeli army while attempting to deliver aid and break the blockade on Gaza.

Following their deportation by Israel, Thunberg and the other activists were received at Athens International Airport, where they were welcomed by supporters chanting “Freedom for Palestine.”

Speaking to journalists at the airport, Thunberg said that what is happening in Gaza is “a genocid1e taking place before the eyes of the world,” stressing that the international community and governments “have taken no real step to stop Israel’s war crimes.”

She added that the Global Sumud Flotilla represents “a story of global human solidarity.”

“Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening,” she said, according to Reuters. “What we aimed to do with the Global Sumud Flotilla was to step up when our governments failed to do their legal obligation.”

Thunberg continued, “The leaders who are supposed to represent me are still fuelling genocide, death, and destruction. They do not represent me.”

She urged the world not to look away from Gaza, saying, “Believe me, I could talk about the mistreatment and abuses we faced in Israeli detention, but that is not the issue. The real issue is the deliberate genocide Israel is committing in Gaza. They are trying to erase an entire people before our eyes.”