Topics: Greta Thunberg, World News, News, Israel, Politics, Palestine, Gaza
Greta Thunberg has made a number of damning allegations against members of the Israeli military this week, claiming she was both abused and ridiculed whilst detained over five days last month.
Speaking to the Swedish outlet Aftonbladet, the 22-year-old claimed she was beaten by guards, after the Freedom Flotilla vessel that travelled on from Barcelona last month in a bid to deliver aid to Palestinians suffering in Gaza was intercepted by Israel. She and 437 activists, parliamentarians and lawyers were detained for almost a week as a result.
After the group were transported to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert - a facility traditionally used to hold suspected terrorists and Palestinian security prisoners - she says she was both physically and mentally tortured.
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On top of this, Thunberg accused a number of officials of leaving foul graffiti on her luggage, including the words 'Wh*re Greta', an Israeli flag and an erect penis. She also accused guards of stamping on her famous frog hat.
"I saw maybe 50 people sitting in a row on their knees with handcuffs and their foreheads against the ground," Thunberg recalled.
"They dragged me to the opposite side from where the others were sitting, and I had the flag around me the whole time. They hit and kicked me."
She continued: "Then they ripped off my frog hat, threw it on the ground, stomped and kicked it, and kind of threw a tantrum."
Of the Israeli representatives she encountered during her detention, Thunberg added: "The guards have no empathy or humanity, and they keep taking selfies with me. There's a lot I don't remember.
"So much is happening at once. You're in shock. You're in pain, but you go into a state of trying to stay calm."
Recalling the conditions she was forced to endure a bug-infested cell, where her hands were bound and she received very little water, being forced to drink from a tap near a toilet sink.
The water supply, she added, made a number of her fellow detainees unwell.
"After a while, my hands were put in cable ties, very tight. A bunch of guards lined up to take selfies with me as I sat there," Thunberg continued.
The activist also alleged that, during one incident, Israeli officers had cornered her and 59 others into a small cage that was placed in direct sunlight. As a result, she says, a number of detainees fainted.
"Then guards came and said, 'We are going to gas you,'" Thunberg claimed. "It was standard for them to say that. They held up a gas cylinder and threatened to press it against us."
Despite her claims, however, she insisted she didn't wish to detract attention from those suffering the politically-weaponised famine in Gaza that had previously been inflicted by Israel.
"Personally, I don't want to share what I was subjected to because I don't want it to make headlines and 'Greta has been tortured," she bravely insisted.
"Because that's not the story here."
On 6 October, Thunberg was finally deported to Greece.
LADbible Media Group contacted the Swedish Foreign Ministry for comment.
