As young, educated and outspoken people, we should look up to Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg has consistently been on the right side of history; from protesting climate change since she was just 15, to protesting  what is now considered by leading authorities as a genocide in Gaza. She bridged two vastly different societal issues into the same moral conundrum, stating that one “cannot have climate justice without social justice”. By giving young people the platform and confidence to share their voice, Thunberg has been paramount to highlighting Gaza and other humanitarian crises.

The Freedom Flotilla is able to perfectly encapsulate the international resistance to ongoing conflicts. The diverse and multinational crew from France, Sweden, Brazil, Turkey, the Netherlands and Germany, on a British boat, embodies an international community fatigued by inaction from their own countries. Interestingly, more countries are, to some extent, speaking out, even our own hesitant and hypocritical English government. Thunberg, being the most famous one aboard, can use her privilege to defend and protect  other politicians and journalists onboard the Madleen, some of whom are still detained by Israeli authorities at the time of writing. [E.N.: all crew members have now been sent home.]

From rescuing stranded Sudanese refugees at sea, fleeing a massively underreported genocide with severe consequences for the entire region, and enduring their capture by Israeli forces, the crew remained focused on their moral grounding. It seemed that Isreal could not allow entry of the boat – although only loaded with humanitarian aid – into what has been described by the Red Cross as worse than “hell on earth”. 

Since 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Secretary Yoav Gallant have faced arrest warrants for crimes against humanity from the International Criminal Court (ICC). You would imagine the international community then taking action and making Israel accountable for its crimes – but its complicit inaction has made the accomplishments of individuals even more admirable.

UNICEF, Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and other major charities supporting children and those in conflict have estimated up to one million children to be at acute risk of starvation if consistent aid in Gaza drops. The reported bombing of hospitals, schools and safe zones is rapidly causing the loss and devastation of entire families and generations. This is highlighted as the husband and 9 children of Dr Alaa al-Najjar died tragically in an Israeli strike on their home in a safe zone.

These charities have also expressed grave concern for the ongoing genocide in Sudan; 11 million people have been forced from their homes, and 13.6 million children are at severe risk. This vastly underreported conflict has been so, in my opinion, due to racism. In Sudan and Gaza, widespread racism and Islamophobia persists, however the extent of that in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo has led to blackouts in reports from almost all western media. Thunberg mentioned racism after she arrived back from Israeli detention as the reason for international inaction. This may be hinting at the comparison of international action against Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. 

This reminds me of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Reporters from western media would say “Now the unthinkable has happened to them. And this is not a developing, third world nation. This is Europe!” (ITV), despite the fact that there has been conflict in Ukraine since 2014. Or as a Telegraph journalist reported, “They seem so like us. That is what makes it so shocking. Ukraine is a European country. Its people watch Netflix and have Instagram accounts, vote in free elections and read uncensored newspapers. War is no longer something visited upon impoverished and remote populations.” I cannot find similar humanising statements for Palestinian, Sudanese or Congolese people fleeing persecution.

We are all human, and the current geopolitical situation makes war even more likely, even in the UK. We should never define those who are treated with dignity based on the colour of their skin, the language they speak or the God they worship.