Climate activist Greta Thunberg has responded to President Donald Trump after he recommended the Swede should go to ‘anger management class’.
The 22-year-old was deported from Israel to France today (June 10), where she will in turn be flown to Sweden, after claiming to have been ‘kidnapped’ by Israeli forces on ‘international waters’ while en-route to provide aid to Palestinians in the early hours of yesterday morning (local time).
A pre-recorded video was posted on social media of Thunberg making claims that she and a group of 11 other activists had been intercepted on the water; however, Israel’s Foreign Ministry described their voyage as ‘a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity’.
She can be heard saying: “If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces – or forces that support Israel.”
Following the incident, Donald Trump was asked his thoughts on the matter. “She’s a strange a person,” the POTUS said. “She’s a young, angry person. I don’t know if it’s real anger; it’s hard to believe actually.”
“I saw what happened,” Trump went on. “She’s certainly different. Anger management. I think she has got to go to anger management class. That’s my primary recommendation for her.”
He also dismissed her kidnapping claims, adding (via Reuters): “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg.”
Now, after the climate campaigner’s plane touched down in France, she was asked for her thoughts on the 78-year-old’s comments.
Greta Thunberg was traveling on board a ship carrying aid for the people of Gaza when Israel forces intercepted the vessel (Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images)
“Well, I think the world needs a lot of more young angry women to be honest, especially with everything going on right now – that’s the thing we need the most,” she replied.
Thunberg was then asked by reporters if she could clarify whether she signed papers to recognize that she illegally entered the country.
She replied: “I did not recognize that I entered the country illegally I made it very clear in my testimony that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought there against our own will in into Israel.”
Thunberg pictured while being deported from Israel back to Sweden via France (X/Israel Foreign Ministry)
Thunberg later detailed the mission she and the rest of the crew on board the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s vessel had embarked on – ‘to break the siege and open up a humanitarian corridor’ to the Gaza Strip.
“Right now [it is] more important than ever because of the siege and because of the the systematic starvation of over two million people, and the and the full-blown live stream genocide,” she explained.
“This was a mission of attempting to once again bring aid to Gaza which is desperately needed and but also to to send solidarity and say that we see you, we see what is happening and we cannot accept just see witnessing all this and doing nothing – that can never be an option.”
Israel continues to condemn and fiercely reject any allegations of genocide.
