Greta Thunberg wears Palestinian headdress as Swedish climate change activist attends banned anti-motorway protest in France
- The climate protestor has been criticised due to her support for Palestine
Greta Thunberg has worn a Palestinian headdress while attending a banned anti-motorway protest in France.
The Swedish climate change activist, 21, joined protestors in Saix where police had fired tear gas and made arrests the previous day.
Thunberg came as part of a delegation of French, Belgian, Swedish and Spanish activists to the site near the southwestern city of Toulouse.
French authorities had banned the gathering, where a new motorway is planned, because of 'risks of serious harm to public order'.
Wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, Thunberg said: 'We are here to stand in solidarity with the people who are resisting this project and this madness.
Greta Thunberg, 21, joined protestors in Saix, wearing her Palestinian keffiyeh, where police had fired tear gas and made arrests the previous day
She told the crowd :'We are here to stand in solidarity with the people who are resisting this project and this madness'
'Unfortunately, these kinds of projects are not unique to France but are happening all over the world and are a symptom of a global crisis.'
The Palestinian keffiyeh is a distinctly patterned black-and-white traditional headdress which became a prominent symbol of Palestinian nationalism since the beginning of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
This signal of support by Thunberg for the Palestinian cause is the most recent in a number of instances since the Hamas attacks of October 7.
In October the climate protestor deleted her 'I stand with Gaza' social media post after critics claimed the stuffed octopus in the photo could be viewed as an 'anti-Semitic' symbol.
Thunberg claimed the octopus toy helps with her autism but quickly replaced the post with a new picture - cropping the octopus out.
After the episode she was criticised by The Campaign Against Antisemitism for not expressing any sympathy for the biggest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust following the October 7 attacks in which 1,400 people were killed.
The climate protestor added: 'Unfortunately, these kinds of projects are not unique to France but are happening all over the world and are a symptom of a global crisis'
This visual signal of support by Thunberg for the Palestinian cause is the most recent in a number of instances since the Hamas attacks of October 7
The Palestinian keffiyeh is a distinctly patterned black-and-white traditional headdress which became a prominent symbol of Palestinian nationalism since the beginning of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict (stock photo)
In November a Thunberg speech was hijacked by a man who grabbed the microphone and told her 'I've come for a climate demonstration, not a political view' after she invited a Palestinian and an Afghan woman on to the stage.
Thunberg then grabbed the mic back and repeated: 'Calm down.' After a brief pause she started chanting: 'No climate justice on occupied land.'
Before Thunberg took to the stage, the event was briefly interrupted as a small group of activists at the front of the crowd waved Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.
Thunberg's repeated interventions on the conflict have caused her to come under fire from Jewish groups.
Volker Becker, the president of the German-Israel Society DIG said her outburst marked 'the end of Greta Thunberg as a climate activist,' and that 'from now: Israel hater is the main job'.
In October Greta Thunberg shared a photo in which she was seen holding a sign reading 'Stand with Gaza' but she deleted the post after her toy octopus was accused of being an anti-Semitic symbol
An anti-Semitic propaganda cartoon by one of Nazi Germany's most famous cartoonists Seppla (Josef Plank) - which shows Winston Churchill as an octopus in a cartoon warning of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy. The cartoon depicts an octopus with a Star of David over its head and tentacles encompassing a globe
Greta Thunberg addressed tens of thousands of people wearing her Palestinian keffiyeh in November
Her speech was hijacked by a man who grabbed the microphone and told her 'I've come for a climate demonstration, not a political view' after she invited a Palestinian and an Afghan woman on to the stage
However at the protest in Saix, Thunberg focused on her role as a global figure in the fight against climate change.
It comes as she had four cases thrown out at Westminster Magistrates' Court last week, following her arrest for protesting in London on October 17.
French authorities had banned the gathering in Saix, where a new motorway is planned, because of 'risks of serious harm to public order'.
But protest organizers Cabanade had gone ahead with the protest and on Friday, French police fired tear gas and made arrests at the site.
The organisers had hoped for a big turnout on Saturday, but only about a hundred showed up under a steady rain.
Environmental activists face riot police officers during a demonstration against the A69 motorway project on Saturday
Environmental activists face riot police officers in a rain-soaked field during a demonstration against the A69 motorway project on Saturday
Riot police stand on the train tracks facing the protesters at the demonstration in southwestern France on Saturday
Protesters wearing masks sit on the stage at a demonstration against the A69 motorway project between Toulouse and Castres, in Saix, in southwestern France
But about 350 metres away, activists had created a so-called 'zone to be defended' (ZAD in French) on private land with camp toilets, signposts and cabins.
Police Friday cleared pallets and trolleys used to block a small road running alongside the field, which is close to the route of the planned A69 motorway linking Toulouse and the town of Castres, as well as alongside a rail line.
On Saturday they fired tear gas at the activists but didn't penetrate into the ZAD itself, which is on private land and not infringing any laws. An AFP photographer saw activists return the tear gas cannisters with tennis rackets.
'A hundred individuals blocked the railway between Toulouse and Castres and placed obstacles on it,' the local prefecture said in a statement. 'The individuals had set up three barricades and set one on fire, but the gendarmes managed to reopen the municipal road which had been blocked.'
Environmentalists have protested several times in recent months along the planned route of the A69.
Thunberg's presence 'allows us to fully inscribe the movement against the A69 at the international and national level,' one the protest's organizers No Macadam said Friday.
The government is determined to complete the A69 project which will cut travel time between Toulouse and Castres by 20 minutes and should open in 2025.
'Dear Greta Thunberg, the A69 autoroute responds to a vital need for the Tarn and its inhabitants,' the president of the local Tarn department said Friday.
