STOCKHOLM – We at the Right Livelihood Foundation urgently call upon the State of Israel to immediately and unconditionally release 2019 Right Livelihood Laureate Greta Thunberg, currently in detention following her participation in the Global Sumud flotilla. We echo calls for the immediate release of all human rights defenders, journalists and humanitarian workers detained in connection with efforts to bring aid to civilians in Gaza. We also call on Israel to stop its ongoing genocide and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.
We are deeply alarmed by credible reports that Thunberg has endured harsh and demeaning conditions in Israeli custody: deprived of sufficient food and water, made to sit on hard surfaces for extended periods, held in a cell infested with bedbugs and allegedly forced to hold flags for photographs. Further, other flotilla participants have described that she was dragged by her hair, assaulted, and paraded wrapped in the Israeli flag as a “trophy.”
Such treatment constitutes a clear violation of Israel’s obligations under the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees and require the humane treatment of civilians in all circumstances.
We condemn such treatment of a peaceful climate and human rights activist in a nonviolent humanitarian action.
Thunberg’s detention is intrinsically connected to the broader mission of the flotilla, whose aim was “carrying humanitarian aid… to break Israel’s illegal and inhumane siege,” as she explained on social media on September 22.
“Israel is systematically starving and bombing millions of people aiming to erase an entire population as a continuation of decades of occupation, apartheid and deadly oppression. Under international law states have legal obligations to act to stop this, end their complicity and apply real pressure. They are not just completely failing to live up to those obligations, but actively choosing not to,” she wrote in the same post.
In line with Thunberg and the flotilla’s mission, we call on Israel to:
- End the maritime blockade on Gaza, which has for years strangled the flow of essential goods to the civilian population;
- Allow unfettered humanitarian aid, medical supplies, food and clean water into Gaza without interference or obstruction;
- End the ongoing genocide and mass suffering in Gaza.
The international community must also escalate pressure on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all hostages and on Israel to release all other prisoners that remain illegally detained.
Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood’s Executive Director, said:
“The international community must act decisively and demand that Israel uphold international human rights and humanitarian law. Thunberg’s detention is not merely an act against one individual, but an assault on the right to peaceful protest, humanitarian aid, and the essential solidarity that connects us as human beings across nations. The world will not stand idle while blockade, forced detention and genocide persist.”
