OPINION:
Swedish global warming scold Greta Thunberg was arrested after trying to break an Israeli naval blockade with a motley troupe of pro-Palestine agitators last week. Now, she is about to be deported to Greece.
Ms. Thunberg was one of more than 400 aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which sought to whisk its way through an active combat zone off Israel’s shore. About 140 activists were returned Saturday to Turkey or Spain on regularly scheduled commercial flights.
The rest, including Ms. Thunberg, await imminent removal. Swedish Embassy officials visited the social media diva, who complained about intolerable conditions in her cell. Presumably, it lacked Wi-Fi access, and the food wasn’t up to her expectations. Detainees are also furious that they haven’t been supplied with hundreds of free attorneys to drag out proceedings with “due process.”
Flotilla organizers said their mission was to deliver aid to the besieged people of the Gaza Strip, but the 40 participating ships never had a chance of evading the military vessels patrolling the Mediterranean coast. After each was stopped and searched, no aid was found.
“It’s pretty much an empty room,” an Israeli police spokesman said in a video showing the interior of the ragtag fleet’s largest boat. “While we’re processing this boat, there’s one thing missing, guys: all this aid that they were supposed to bring into Gaza.”
If the journey’s conclusion was a dud, at least there was suitable drama along the way. Ms. Thunberg posed for pictures with the international press as she set off from Barcelona at the beginning of last month.
An excursion that should have lasted a few days took weeks because crews spent more time bickering and taking selfies than exercising proper seamanship. When a dispute arose on board about who was the most faithful servant of Hamas, a mutiny ensued. Ms. Thunberg was thrown off the movement’s leadership council and the diesel-powered, carbon-dioxide-spewing flagship on which she set sail.
Locals reportedly spotted the climate critic lugging her giant suitcase onto a less-prominent vessel, the Alma, while the flotilla was docked in Tunis. Thus reconfigured, the selfie yachts weighed anchor only to have their radio frequencies jammed by someone playing “Lay all of your love on me,” a 1980 hit song from the Swedish pop band ABBA.
“It was horrific that this can happen in international waters, close to Greece. I mean, in Europe,” the traumatized flotilla leader Yasemin Acar told NBC.
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir thinks his country has been too lenient on the recidivist intruders. “I think they must be kept here in an Israeli prison for a few months, so that they can smell the scent of the terrorist wing,” he said on X.
While the petulant partisans who had been released were busy giving interviews about how their “abduction” was a “war crime,” real leaders were working behind the scenes. President Trump announced Saturday that a ceasefire was within reach.
“After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas. When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be immediately effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Ms. Thunberg’s shouting “Free Palestine” was effective in attracting flattering global coverage of her antics but nothing more. Don’t expect her to express any gratitude toward Mr. Trump if he accomplishes what she couldn’t: stopping the bombing.
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